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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charley Ryan | May 9, 1892 | at T. H. Ramsford Plantion | Homicide | ||
Mary | female Slave | January 13, 1853 | at Isaac Bowles[?] | Accident | |
infant child | infant child | December 9, 1891 | at a colored cemetary | Accident | |
Clem | slave, boy | October 3, 1858 | at Tabitha Abney's | Accident | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Ned Dozier | September 27, 1893 | at MJ Holsteins | Homicide | ||
Richard Lundy | December 7, 1891 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
Ernest Bean | April 6, 1884 | at the Mill of B[?] Hill | Accident | ||
Nelson Smith | freedman, boy | October 4, 1866 | at Andrew Warts | Homicide | |
infant | infant | December 15, 1892 | at Mr. Pleasant Grave Yard | Accident | |
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Hampton Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Eldrige Padgett | February 9, 1859 | at Eidson Padgetts | Accident | ||
John J. Cobb | July 23, 1843 | at William Elkins Mill Pond | Suicide | ||
Luther Harris | May 26, 1899 | at the plantation of George F Towns | Homicide | ||
Ed Glover | July 8, 1882 | at Poore House | Accident | ||
A. G. Howard | February 28, 1860 | at Grannet Ville Depot | Accident | ||
Cooper | slave | March 17, 1852 | at the plantation of L.H. Mundy decd | Natural Causes | |
Robert J. Butler | September 15, 1864 | at Hamburg | Homicide | ||
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Aggy Latily[?] | negro woman slave | June 21, 1848 | at the plantation of N L Griffin | Unknown | |
Abram | slave | October 8, 1860 | at the Residence of H. B. Raborns | Natural Causes | |
John Matthews | October 13, 1829 | at the house of William Adams | Other | ||
Dinah | Woman Slave | May 22, 1849 | at Allen Griffith | Natural Causes | |
Dudley Roundtree | August 10, 1856 | at the dwelling house of the late Dudley Roundtree | Natural Causes | ||
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
Abram | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at Henry L Maysons | Accident | |
Esther Jeter | April 17, 1893 | at Huiets x Roads | Accident | ||
infant | infant | January 22, 1894 | at Oak Gilchrist House | Natural Causes | |
Mary Gillam | January 1, 1891 | at Mrs Francis Wrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Bright Hanpt[?] | October 6, 1881 | at Bright Hanpt[?] | Unknown | ||
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
William Perry | January 7, 1894 | in the county and state aforesaid | Accident | ||
Callen O'Neall | November 11, 1855 | at Luke Havirds[?] | Accident | ||
Julia Banks | September 4, 1891 | at Mr Banks Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Sallie Busch | August 21, 1892 | at Lewis Beans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
B. J. Mims | January 20, 1885 | at the Residence of Capt B J Mims | Natural Causes | ||
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Gus Blocker | August 18, 1892 | at the plantion of July Blocker | Homicide | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
John Webb | March 26, 1899 | at Edgefield Court House | Homicide | ||
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Mike | negro man | September 13, 1844 | at Dr John D. Nicholsons Mill | Accident | |
Joseph Powel | August 18, 1879 | at [??] | Accident | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Charles | negro man | February 27, 1850 | at Scotts Shoals on Savannah River | Accident | |
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident |