Edgefield County, SC
Total population (1850): 39,262
Enslaved population (1850): 22,725
Percent slave: 58%
Extant nineteenth-century inquests: 524
Date range: 1829-1899
Percentage of violent crimes in county sample: 39% (202/524)
The small, rural district of Edgefield, South Carolina was the Deadwood of its day, amassing a reputation for murder and mayhem unique in the nation. Forget the gangs of New York, the toughs in tailored suits strutting about Edgefield's Court House Square were up for almost anything. Take this typical exchange between Thomas Cherry and Charles Cobb.
Cherry: "You Damn puppy."
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "Do you mean to call me a Damn puppy?"
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "If you call me a Puppy, I will ag you in the face."
Cobb: "You are nothing else."
With that Cherry stabbed Cobb through the face with an umbrella.
"If we over in Edgefield insult each other, there is generally a fight or a funeral afterwards," noted Ben Tillman, one of the ten men of the district to serve the state as governor. Like Tillman, circuit judge Thomas Mackey took an almost perverse pride in the region's reputation. "I am going to hold court in Edgefield," he told a friend, "and I expect a somewhat exciting term, as the fall shooting is about to start."
Like most reputations, Edgefield's was at once deserved and exaggerated. At 39 percent, Edgefield County does have the highest proportion of violent crimes in the CSI:D sample. At 35 percent, Greenville County is not that far behind. More important, Edgefield's reputation for affairs of honor masks the mountain of dishonorable violence revealed by the morgue. Men spoiling for a fight on the street are rarely much different at home. In June 1893, Bill Gasten was sitting near his wood pile when his wife emerged from the house to draw some water from the well. Something she said set him off and he grabbed up a walking stick, hit her with it, then threw her down and began choking her. Emerging from the kitchen, her sister grabbed up the stick and told Bill to "let his wife alone." She had just started back to the kitchen when Bill cracked her head with a hoe.
Edgefield County, SC Inquests
Name![]() |
Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type | Death Method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | August 5, 1878 | at the residence of H J Wright | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | June 14, 1891 | at Kenny Grave Yard | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
infant child | infant child | July 24, 1892 | at Promised Land School house | Unknown | |
infant male child | infant male child | January 3, 1894 | in Edgefield County | Natural Causes | |
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Infred Padgett | July 12, 1848 | at the Joal of Edgefield | Natural Causes | ||
Isaac | negro man | December 1, 1856 | at a point on the South Carolina Rail Road [?] Brooks Mill creek | Accident | train |
Isaac Boseley | July 5, 1880 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | pistol | |
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
Isaac Jones | July 1, 1881 | at Ridge Spring | Natural Causes | ||
Isaac Matthias Jones | October 14, 1858 | at the house of Lewis Jones (Sr) at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | knife | |
Isaac Oliphant | November 9, 1882 | at Ritch Thomson | Accident | ||
Isaah Golden | August 27, 1860 | at Silverton Beach iland | Homicide | knife | |
Isah Zimmerman | December 26, 1881 | at the Residence of W F Ste[?]eies | Accident | pistol | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Isham Glover | August 10, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
J. D. Ouzts | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield | Homicide | pistol | |
J. D. Wells | December 14, 1890 | at Edgefield C.H. | Natural Causes | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
J. F. Styron | April 21, 1891 | at residence of J. F. Styron[?] | Accident | ||
J. H. Christian | July 21, 1856 | in the village of Edgefield in Room No 11, in B. J. Ryans Hotel | Homicide | pistol | |
J. Hancock | June 13, 1859 | at J. Hancocks | Suicide | shotgun | |
J. J. Jennings | November 16, 1860 | at J J Jennings | Suicide | ||
J. M. Long | October 10, 1891 | at J. M. Longs | Homicide | ||
Jack | negro boy | May 14, 1852 | at the house of H. W. Posey | Accident | |
Jack Taylor | April 11, 1892 | at the house of Hal[?] Miles | Natural Causes | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Jacob Long Jr. | December 19, 1848 | at Jacob Longs | Suicide | razor | |
James Bledsoe | May 15, 1893 | at Dr D.P. Lalsrones[?] Residence | Homicide | pistol | |
James Blocker | May 6, 1897 | Accident | train | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
James Edward Settle | boy | March 9, 1884 | on Henry Hill Plantation | Accident | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
James L. Hill | January 10, 1867 | at James L Hills | Accident | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes | ||
James Miller | March 29, 1847 | at the house of James Miller | Suicide | rope | |
James Mitchell | February 18, 1879 | at L D Laudrums | Natural Causes | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
James Ramsey | December 12, 1869 | at the residence of Andrew Ramsay Sr | Homicide | pistol | |
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
James S. Aiton | June 19, 1893 | at J.S. Aiton deceased | Suicide | pistol | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Jane Glover | January 12, 1883 | at Handy Tanks House on John Wir[?] plantation | Unknown | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident |