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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
James Frazier | Babie | October 24, 1890 | at D. B Hollingworth | Accident | |
John Young | June 27, 1891 | at the residence of John Young | Accident | ||
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Peyton Bird | colored | September 29, 1869 | at Edgefield CH | Natural Causes | |
Infant Boy Child | Infant Boy Child | June 18, 1883 | at Marsh Grobe Yard | Accident | |
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
William Prince | July 9, 1851 | at the house of John W Garrett | Accident | ||
infant, (male) | infant, (male) | April 29, 1857 | at Potterville | Homicide | |
infant | infant | March 24, 1892 | at Pinksville | Homicide | |
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Rose | three negro children | October 2, 1846 | at the house of Philip Brogden | Homicide | |
Mary Grace Aldrich | infant child | August 11, 1856 | at Graniteville | Homicide | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Lesthia Ridlehouse[Ridlehover?] | January 5, 1892 | at the Residence of Mrs Edny Mary | Accident | ||
James Booth | August 23, 1878 | at E. C. House | Homicide | ||
Robert | slave, boy | April 8, 1847 | at Edward Hampton's | Suicide | |
Tom Waldrum | colored man (Free) | January 20, 1857 | in the woods near Mr Avory Franklins | Accident | |
Robert Johnston | May 23, 1891 | at Clarks Ferry below bridge on C. & G.[?] R R | Accident | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Jim McKie | October 26, 1898 | near John starks | Homicide | ||
Thomas Rosseter[?] | August 30, 1852 | at Hamburg SC | Accident | ||
William Samuel | April 26, 1891 | at Scima[?] Hill Church | Homicide | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
Lewis | slave | May 21, 1861 | at S. H. Roggers | Suicide | |
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Willie Toney | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Isaac Grimer | December 10, 1868 | at Jacobs Branch on the Spaun Church road | Accident | ||
Rose | negro woman Slave | March 14, 1846 | at Michael Longs | Homicide | |
Edward Johnston | December 26, 1892 | at William Bushes | Unknown | ||
Sallie Busch | August 21, 1892 | at Lewis Beans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Henry | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at New Savannah in beach Island | Accident | |
Pete | slave | October 31, 1864 | at Liberty hill | Unknown | |
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Thomas Glover | August 2, 1893 | at Bill Werk[?] Residence | Homicide | ||
R. Mackgrath | January 5, 1852 | at the house of John Dobey | Other | ||
William Harlin | February 19, 1856 | at a new place sitting by Mr James Swearingem(Jr) on the Akien Road | Accident | ||
James Leppard | February 13, 1893 | at F. M. Leppards | Natural Causes |