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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | male slave | April 24, 1859 | at A. L. Dearing Plantation | Natural Causes | |
John David Twiggs | September 15, 1864 | in Hamburg | Homicide | ||
James Reynolds | December 20, 1860 | at the residence of James Reynolds | Homicide | ||
Silvy Nix | January 1, 1891 | Natural Causes | |||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Apling | negro man | April 5, 1849 | in the woods in said district near the Lexington line on a branch of McGier Creek | Homicide | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Unknown | April 11, 1860 | at or near W.J. Walkers | Unknown | ||
Allen Holmes | March 4, 1882 | at Oscar Seigler Residence | Homicide | ||
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Violet | negro woman (slave) | March 25, 1844 | at John Dinkinses | Suicide | |
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Charles | slave | July 31, 1851 | at the house of John M. Norris Esqr in Edgefield | Accident | |
Howard Gale | June 13, 1879 | at Jacksons Holinns[?] Mill | Accident | ||
Solomon Ellenberg | February 18, 1859 | near the Residence of G.M. Ouzts[?] | Suicide | ||
Henry | negro man | June 3, 1849 | at the house of Mrs Mary Harrison | Accident | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
George Hatcher | freedman | June 19, 1867 | at B. W. Hatchers Mill on Shaws creek | Natural Causes | |
Blassingame Wise | April 27, 1848 | at or near the Negro quarter of Mrs Wiley Glover, on Savannah River | Suicide | ||
infant child | infant child | December 14, 1877 | at Dr. K N Hudsons plantation | Homicide | |
Robert Reynolds | July 30, 1892 | at J.W. Reynolds Plantation | Accident | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Edmund Brown | December 24, 1853 | at the house of Wm Merchantile[?] | Homicide | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Lucius Walker | October 5, 1869 | at James Doziers plantation | Accident | ||
Willis Asbell | December 7, 1877 | at Ridge Spring | Homicide | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Seware[?] Stuart | November 4, 1893 | at J.[?] E. Griffiths | Accident | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Charles | slave, boy | September 25, 1861 | at Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Tilman Attaway | April 14, 1849 | at the corner of the Oharer[?] old field | Accident | ||
Kizziah[?] | slave, servant | March 11, 1860 | at the residence of Mr M Lanham | Natural Causes | |
Isham Glover | August 9, 1892 | at Edgefield C.H. | Homicide | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
A. R. Steel | girl child | August 28, 1869 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Jim Brown | Child | April 19, 1882 | on Jasper Talbert Premises | Unknown | |
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Eunice Hogan | October 26, 1851 | at the house of John Briskey | Homicide | ||
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Curry | slave | March 17, 1856 | at Mrs Elizabeth Middletons Plantation | Accident | |
infant | infant | January 24, 1893 | at Clintonwards | Accident | |
Henry Turner | September 24, 1878 | at Johnstons | Homicide | ||
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Emanuel | slave | March 12, 1856 | at Matthew McGraw's plantation | Accident | |
Joseph Shaw | July 26, 1858 | at the residence of John H Shaw near Edgefield C.H. | Accident | ||
Kenneth Martor[?] | January 15, 1852 | at Thomas Samar's[?] Mills on horse creek | Accident | ||
Infant Boy Child Colored | Infant Boy Child Colored | February 15, 1883 | at the residence of Charles Coleman | Unknown | |
Learma Butler | November 7, 1890 | at W.H. Folks plantation | Natural Causes |