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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Frank Milton | child | January 26, 1894 | at Sanders Loricks | Natural Causes | |
Sis Bonham | child | February 18, 1894 | at M.B. Davenports | Accident | |
William Padgett | February 22, 1894 | at W.D. Readys plantation | Homicide | ||
Susan Medlock | April 7, 1894 | at Johnston | Homicide | ||
Lula Smith | child | June 22, 1894 | at James A Satcher's Plantation | Homicide | |
Wade Medlock | July 12, 1894 | at Benjamin Boatwrights Plantation | Unknown | ||
Emaline Jackson | August 27, 1894 | at Dr Childs Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Ben Lowman | September 14, 1894 | at W.[?] L. Rawls Mills | Homicide | pistol | |
Tandy Holmes | September 21, 1894 | at or on Dr. W.C. Prescotts Plantation | Homicide | ||
John McKinny | September 26, 1894 | at W P. Lipfords[?] | Homicide | ||
Robert Parks | September 27, 1894 | at Parkville | Homicide | lick | |
Whit Terry | October 19, 1894 | J.K. Corleys Place | Homicide | ||
Will Collens | October 20, 1894 | at Gaines SC | Homicide | ||
Steve Yeldell | October 28, 1894 | at Edgefield | Accident | cart | |
infant Boy | infant Boy | October 29, 1894 | at [?] Coleman | Natural Causes | |
Joel W. Warren | November 9, 1894 | at Joseph Mirren[?] House | Natural Causes | ||
Bluford Abney | November 14, 1894 | at M.A. Colemans plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
J. B. Whittle | November 28, 1894 | at Mrs Whittles | Natural Causes | ||
infant, child | infant, child | November 29, 1894 | at the plantation of J. P. Roton | Natural Causes | |
Ana May Blocker | child | December 2, 1894 | at Ben Boatwrights farm | Natural Causes | |
Mary Blocker | December 6, 1894 | at R H Parks | Accident | strychnine | |
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Wily Royal | January 7, 1895 | at J.S. Hancocks | Accident | pistol | |
Lawrence Frazier | child | January 14, 1895 | at D.B. Holingsworths | Accident | |
Joe Weston | January 31, 1895 | in Edgefield County | Homicide | ||
Mid[?] Griffin | February 2, 1895 | at the Govelace[?] Place | Natural Causes | ||
infant child | infant child | April 14, 1895 | at Charley Moors | Homicide | |
Jno. C Swearingin | April 24, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
Henry Burt | June 21, 1895 | at Henry Burts | Homicide | knife | |
Wallace Halloway | June 25, 1895 | at Edgefield Court house | Accident | train | |
Hugh Wetherford | June 25, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | train | |
Albert Brunson | June 26, 1895 | at Edgefield CH | Accident | train | |
Ben Culbreath | July 24, 1895 | at Jno A Corleys plantation | Accident | horse | |
Fed Martin | convict | September 1, 1895 | at Poor House and CH | Unknown | |
Ann Kimball | September 4, 1895 | at China grove church | Homicide | ||
Henry Parks | September 14, 1895 | at Parksville | Homicide | ||
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Willie G. Harris | March 25, 1897 | at Edgefield CH | Homicide | ||
James Blocker | May 6, 1897 | Accident | train | ||
Rufus Harling | September 16, 1897 | at Clarks Hill | Homicide | ||
Hammond Frasier | November 6, 1897 | at Trenton S.C. | Homicide | pistol | |
W. T. Mathis | November 11, 1897 | at the Yeldell place | Natural Causes | ||
Griffin Mays | November 20, 1897 | at W. H. Pordew | Unknown | pistol | |
Dave Parkman | December 16, 1897 | at Cheatham place | Homicide | pistol | |
infant | infant | January 10, 1898 | at Johnston | Homicide | |
Richard Stevens | February 21, 1898 | at Johnston S.C. | Natural Causes |