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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Robinson | January 12, 1892 | at the plantation of E. B. Davis | Natural Causes | ||
John Shumport[?] | November 7, 1851 | at John Shumports[?] | Accident | ||
John Henry King | October 29, 1865 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Duke | negro man | March 25, 1855 | near Dennis Carpenters | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Milton Barter[?] | youth | August 24, 1849 | at Capt. Andrew J Hammonds Mills | Accident | |
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Flora Harrison | November 4, 1890 | at Liberty Hill | Homicide | ||
Ansabelle Brown | October 21, 1866 | near the Tambor[?] Soba[?] Rail Road | Unknown | ||
Robert W. Kincade | December 27, 1845 | at the house of Baley[?] Corley | Natural Causes | ||
Wade Barronton | October 8, 1860 | at Wade Barrontons Residence | Natural Causes | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Edmond Smallwood | October 19, 1892 | at E. C. Ridgells Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Young | December 8, 1890 | at Mr A. F Broadwaters Plantation | Accident | ||
Lizza | colered woman | October 7, 1866 | at the house of Thomas S. Miller | Natural Causes | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Larrence Valentine | December 28, 1893 | at Mt[?] Willing | Accident | ||
John Whitlock | boy | September 8, 1869 | at Grainteville | Accident | |
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
E. M. Whatley | August 31, 1893 | at E M Whatley's | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | November 17, 1891 | at Mr M Toneys place | Unknown | |
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
George Watkins | October 10, 1866 | at George Watkins | Homicide | ||
Dave Gillam | August 25, 1892 | at the house of Cal Smiths | Homicide | ||
Eva Blocker | February 11, 1893 | at J. P. Wrights Plantation | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | January 18, 1892 | at the Plantation of L. G. Swearinger | Accident | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
William M. Tredaway | March 27, 1851 | at the house of William M Tredaway at Beach Island | Homicide | ||
William White | December 10, 1898 | at Savanah River | Accident | ||
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
Wesley | male slave, child | October 5, 1857 | at the residence of Sophia A Tilman | Homicide | |
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Elleck | free boy | December 13, 1866 | at Johnathan Gregorys | Accident | |
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | September 9, 1891 | at Wards | Natural Causes | |
Tom | Slave, old negro man | January 12, 1853 | near the residence of Harry Scott | Accident | |
Belaus[Velaus?] | slave, boy | March 30, 1863 | at Robert Smiths | Accident | |
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Mahlon Jones | December 25, 1891 | at Landrams Farm | Homicide | ||
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Harry | negro boy | September 9, 1858 | at the residence of the Rev. J. L. Brooks | Accident | |
Hartwell Roper | June 17, 1869 | at the residence of Rev. J.P. Mealing | Natural Causes | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
Nancy Weaver | December 20, 1893 | at Edgefield Court House | Accident | ||
Edmond Price | April 30, 1892 | at Kennys Graveyard | Unknown |