Datafying Death
In this section we focus on CSI:D’s data design. In the case of each deceased we have recorded basic demographic data (name, sex, race, slave status) along with the date and location of the inquest, the coroner’s name, the owner’s name in the case of enslaved persons, and a host of other minor fields that are all described below. We should begin at the end, however, with a discussion of how we have encoded deaths.
Understanding CODs
COD1 takes one of six values: Accident, Homicide, Suicide, Natural Causes, Other, and Unknown.
COD2 breaks each of these categories into specific subcategories:
Accident subcategories include: act of god (lightning, etc.), animal (gorings, etc.), birth complications (physician malpractice), burns, drowning, electrocution, exposure, fall, firearm, head trauma, infection, injuries, overdose, poison, suffocation, transportation, oFther, and unknown
Homicide subcategories include: blunt instrument, drowning, exposure, firearm, hanging, infanticide, poison, sharp instrument, suffocation, other, and unknown
Suicides subcategories include: drowning, firearm, hanging, overdose, poison, sharp instrument, other, and unknown
Natural Cause subcategories include: Fbladder, brain, cancer, childbirth, childhood ailment, heart, illness, infection, intestines, kidneys, liver, lungs, senility, stomach, throat, other, and unknown
Other subcategories include those cases that defy clean categorization: abortion (neither homicide nor accident), alcoholism (when chronic, neither suicide nor accident), and execution (neither homicide nor accident).
COD3 further qualifies COD2 subcategories, detailing a cause of death “method.” A Homicide (COD1), for instance, can be committed with a Blunt Instrument (COD2), taking COD3 values like: cow hide, large stick, hickory clubs, fence rail, maul, broomstick, etc. A Suicide (COD1) can be achieved by Poison (COD2), taking COD3 values like: aconite, arsenic, belladonna, carbolic acid, etc.
CODSHORT is a short encapsulation of the cause of death, typically captured in four or five words. “Shot with a rifle,” for instance, or “beaten with a pitcher.”
CODLONG is a direct quotation from the historical document capturing the finding of the inquest, typically beginning: “upon their oaths do say….” Very occasionally the inquest finding in CODLONG disagrees with how the inquest has been categorized in COD1 and COD2. This only happens when it seems clear that the inquest jury was in error -- when, for instance, an enslaved woman is recorded as having died of apoplexy despite her daughter’s testimony that she was hit with a shovel. Such instances are rare, but it bears mentioning that COD1 and COD2 are not an encoding of CODLONG but an encoding of what, by a preponderance of the evidence, appears to have happened.
Accident: Act of God
‘Act of God’ is used in cases where the deceased has been struck by lightning, killed by a tornado, or crushed by a falling tree. Most of these cases involve either white or African-American men, who spent the majority of their time outdoors. In perhaps the strangest case, Broderick Mason and his enslaved girl, Cinthy, were killed by the same bolt of lightning. Lightning also stuck a tent in Chesterfield County, wounding four men and killing John Smotherman, Berry Campbell, and Sandy Purvis.
A tree falling, seemingly independent of man, is also classed as an ‘act of god.’ A sudden heavy rain, for instance, caught N. C. Smith and M. A. Smith while they were working in a field. The men sought shelter, but “a tree blew down length ways with the fence,” crushing N. C. Smith.
In 1875, a “terrible storm” spawned tornados across north Georgia and into Edgefield and Aiken, South Carolina. [1] In Georgia, the winds leveled houses, toppled outhouses, destroyed a railroad depot, and demolished a Baptist church in the middle of the service, killing three and wounding twenty-five. In Aiken, the almost completed Catholic Church “was blown down, and not a stick standing,” though no lives were lost. [2] In Florence, hailstones fell “as large as a man’s thumb” and killed a “colored man.” [3] All of these deaths have been filed as accidents because, like cave-ins and train crashes, they are cases of people simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time; however ‘natural’ they might seem, they are not a ‘natural death.’
Not all ‘act of god’ cases occurred outdoors. Lighting traveled down Charity Goldplate’s chimney and killed her in front of her hearth. Manerva Sanders was killed by falling timbers when a tornado toppled her house.
A large number of the ‘act of god’ cases in the CSI:D sample were the result of the 1896 East St. Louis Tornado. The St. Louis weather report for Wednesday, May 27, called for thunderstorms but reports did mention the potential for high winds. Businesses opened as usual as the sun rose, but clouds rolled in and the barometer fell as the day progressed. By 3:00pm, dark clouds filled the horizon and winds swere buffeting the city from all directions. By 4:00pm, the temperature plummeted and the sky took on an ominous yellow-green cast. [4] A little after 5:00pm, a tornado devastated large swaths of St. Louis, hitting the eastern part of the city especially hard. [5] The spinning cloud of dust and debris cut a wide path across blocks of residential properties, leaving in its wake fallen trees, crushed homes, and destroyed businesses. [6] “The dead were found in all parts of the devastated section,” noted one reporter, “crushed beneath falling walls, hurled against the sides of buildings, struck by flying timbers, cut by the shattered glass, shocked by the network of down wires ... humanity suffered in ways innumerable.” [7] In total, the 1896 East St. Louis Tornado claimed the lives of 255 people and destroyed 311 buildings. [8]
Sample ‘Accident > Act of God’ cases include:
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF NANCY SMITH—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that they believe that the sd. Nancy Smith? died by a visitation of God by a stroke of lightning”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIAM BRICE—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that in the dusk of the evening of the 10th day of said month as he was returning from muster in the yard or about a distance of 25 steps from the dwelling house of Jesse Wakefield in sd' district by an act of God he was killed by a stroke of Lightning”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF MANERVA SANDERS—Inquest Finding: “do say that Manerva Sanders came to her death ? by a Storm or Cyclone ? blowing down a house in which she Was in and the falling timbers Kill her”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CINTHY, BRODERICK MASON—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that the aforesaid Broderick Mason and girl Cinthy [were killed by] the visitation of God by a shock of lightning”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOHN SMOTHERMAN, BERRY CAMPBELL, AND SANDY PURVIS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say That the said John Smotherman Berry Campbell and Sandy Purvis came to their deaths by accident at the Turpentine Camp of A B Reid . . . By Lightning.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CHARITY GOLDPLATE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: that Charity Goldplate came to her death from Stroke of lightning”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF LANDRUM HOPPER—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Landrum Hopper came to his death from the effects of a stroke lightning in the field of Truman S. Weber where he had been ploughing”
Accident: Animal
As Abraham Lincoln’s many barnyard parables attest, nineteenth-century Americans had animals on the brain; they spent their days interacted within animals in the context of farming, plowing, butchering, and transportation. Animals appear often in the CSI: Dixie files as contributors to or the main cause of death. Cases in which an animal is being used as transportation—a man is thrown from his horse, carriage, wagon, or buggy—are not categorized as ‘animal’ but as ‘transportation.’ ‘Animal’ is reserved for cases where the unfortunate was gored, bit, trampled, or otherwise killed by an animal, whether wild or domestic. Joseph D. Reasonover, for instance, was kicked in the chest or stomach by a stabled horse. This horse could have been used for transit, but because he was not riding it at the time, it is classed as ‘accident > animal.’
Wild animals posed equal dangers to human life. Abram, slave of James B. Griffin was bitten twice by a poisonous snake and died from the venom. Other cases were more unusual. In 1855 Bailey & Company circus visited Kershaw County and one of the elephants killed a horse before turning on his trainer, George West. As local papers reported, "the animal seized and threw him up, piercing the poor man through the body, and mangling him otherwise in a shocking manner." [9] West died of his injuries. The Camden Light Infantry was charged with killing the elephant, but it took two days to do it "after a long and dangerous struggle." [10]
Other ‘Accident > animal’ cases include:
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ??????—Inquest Finding: “Upon their oaths do say, That he died from the rupture of the left auricle of the heart ? caused from a tussel with a young horse”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILSON HARRIS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Wilson Harris came to his death by accident caused by being run over or against by a horse ridden by John W. Wright in a race being run on the old race track at Gaffney City ... said accident being caused by his (the deceased's) own carelessness”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ABRAM—Inquest Finding: “upon there oaths do say that the deceased Abram came to his death by being bitten twice by a snake”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF W. J. SUMMERS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the deceased came to his death by the kick of a mule the property of the Father of the deceased”
Accident: Birth Complications
In the nineteenth-century, childbirth was far more deadly than it is today. In most cases where a mother or child did not survive, they died as a result of premature birth, miscarriage, or postpartum infection or illness. These more typical cases are not considered ‘Accident > birth complications’; they are considered, however sadly, a subcategory of natural deaths. ‘Birth complications’ is reserved for cases where something went obviously wrong during the birthing process; usually the doctor, the midwife, or the mother accidentally harmed an otherwise healthy infant. A baby delivered to Margret Bouer, for instance, had “Bloody foam . . . in it’s nose,” and when it was turned over “moore blood come from its mouth.” The baby had no marks of violence, but a witness concluded, “There must have been some violence.” It is impossible to be sure that violence beyond that of the birthing process was applied here, so we cannot categorize this as a homicide. Similarly we do not have enough evidence to overturn the inquest finding that additional violence or malpractice was a contributing factor, so it stands as an ‘Accident > birth complications.’
Another example of Accident > birth complications’ would include:
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF UNKNOWN INFANT—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that, according to the evidence before them, the said infants came to this death in the house of Alie Williams on Church street in Town of Cheraw one on Saturday night the other on Sunday - both form natural causes”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF MARY ROBERTSON—Inquest Finding: upon their oaths do say that deceased came to her death from internal hemorrhage, caused by having a premature birth produced by some cause unknown to the jury
Accident: Burns
Because they spent more of their time indoors around open fires and stoves, women and children were most often the victims of burns. In 1845, Ann Robertson, a free woman of color, fell into the fireplace and died of her burns. Three years later, Ester, an enslaved woman, died after her clothing caught fire. Not all burn victims were women, however. Sleeping on a highly-flammable, cotton pallet before an open fire, Samuel Brock’s clothing caught on fire; as the inquest finding put it: “Deceased caught on fiar and got burnt himself.”
House fires caused particularly widespread loss of life. In December 1853, Mike Walden’s home burned down; Eliza and Margaret Walden died as a result. An 1874 house fire claimed the lives of George, Maggie, and Luis Ratcliff while their parents were both at work. We see this pattern with particular frequency among the enslaved, where both parents had to work in the fields and children were left in drafty, flammable shacks with crude fires and kerosene lamps. Lucinda Busch, an African-American woman, left her child sitting in a chair near the hearth as she picked cotton just fifty yards from the house. Soon she saw plumes of dark smoke rising from her dwelling. As the inquest noted, the sixteen-month-old child had crawled into the fire burning its right foot, right leg and chest. This happened often enough that one coroner wrote to a magistrate in frustration: “Dear Sir: I forgot to get my old umbrella… This however, is my last inquest to hold over a dead “nigger” death caused by fire till I get the law which I wish we had a law making it a criminal neglect on the part of the mother or parents. In every case I find the mother the cause from neglect. Yours, Jno D. Blair.”
The children of poor whites were also liable to catch fire. Neither William Pitts nor his wife, who was busy “cooking turnips for his hogs, near his dwelling house,” were carefully watching five-year-old Hannah; she caught fire and died of burns later that same day. In January 1888, Fletcher McFarland caught fire while his mother, Angeline McFarland, was off fetching water at the spring. Vouching for Angeline McFarland’s motherly affection, Robert Davis described her as “a very careful person with her children, and devoted to her children.” She was not held responsible for her child’s death. Not all who died from burns were women or children. Jail fires often claimed the lives of male prisoners. In May 1936, the Chesterfield County jail caught fire. Police and community members rushed to the scene, knocked the locks off the door, and pulled the jail’s occupant from the flames. A witness claimed that the “boy in jail set fire to it,” but no one knows for certain how the fire started. Regardless, it killed twenty-five-year-old Fleetwood Moody. The Chesterfield County jail caught fire again in June 1941. This time two prisoners were killed: Joe Church and Basil Vick.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF GEORGE MITCHEL, RACHIEL MITCHEL—Inquest Finding: “upon their Oaths do say George Mitchel and his Daughter Rachiel Mitchel Came to their Deaths … by a Burn Caused from the Explosion of Kerosene oil”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF MACOMB CAMPBELL—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: That the Said Macomb Capbell came to his death by being accidently Burned”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF SAMUEL BROCK SR.—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: That the Said Samuel Brock Sr came to his death by being burned to death in his own hous supposed accidently”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BASIL VICK—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Basil Vick received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Suffocation by smoke from fire in adjoining cell, occupied by Joe Church.”
Accident: Drowning
In an era when few could swim, many drowned. Most accidental drowning victims were older children or young adults bathing, playing, or swimming near a pond, stream, or lake. While washing in Thomson Creek, Duncan Fleming swam off and drowned. Bathing in the Board River with his three friends, Edgar Daniel, was carried off by the current to his death. John Marshell Pages needed to cross a river in Chesterfield County. “Rather than go father out of our way,” he attempted to float across the river on a log; when that failed, he decided to swim across. Stepping into the water he plunged eight feet into the river; a witness encouraged him onward, “I told him to go on that he could not come back," but Pages's head went under, bobbed up once, then sank and was not seen again. In other cases of accidental drowning, children had been left alone near wells, buckets, or tubs. Ten-year-old William Sandy Littles fell into a well while his mother was in the fields. His mother admitted “that leaving him alone had not been good sense.” In Edgefield County, a thirteen-month old slumped into a tub full of six inches of water and died. As with the case of cabin fires, the enslaved appear frequently among the drowned. In a typical case, Adam, an enslaved male, drowned while escaping from the slave catcher’s dogs. Most of these have not been classed as suicides because intent could not be positively determined. Occasionally boating accidents are classified as 'accident > drowning' rather than 'accident > transportation.' These are cases where the victim attempted to swim away from a capsized boat. Will Williams capsized in the middle of the mill pond; he “said if the boat sunk he could swim out,” but he didn't make it.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILL WILLIAMS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: Wil Williams came to his Death By strangltion”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF A. R. STEEL—Inquest Finding: “the said A.R. Steel came to her death do say That the deceased came to her death by an act of Providence [?] accidentally falling into a tub of water about six inches deep”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF PETER—Inquest Finding: “upon there oaths do say that Decsd Came to his by the hand of the Almighty he was Suppond[?] as he was subject to having fits & Falling at any place where he might be. We Conclude that the Decsd fell in the Branch in a Fit on his face & Drownd”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF EDGAR DANIEL—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the deceased Edgar Daniel came to his death by accidental drowning, he, of his own accord, going too far into the deep water Broad River of J. L. Allison's place”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF AMELIA A. ALEXANDER—Inquest Finding: “Upon their Oaths do say, he came to his death by his own voluntary act in attempting to cross the mill pond when became drowned”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ABSALOM MCABEE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say he came to his death by mischange by being partially paralised and falling into water and strangled or drowned being a man of 80 years or more and very feeble”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CHARLES FLOWERS—Inquest Finding: “I find that the deceased came to his death by accidental drowning”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF DUNCAN FLEMING—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: Dunkin Fleming came to his death by accidentaly drowning while in washing in Thomson Creek”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIAM SANDY LITTLE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do Say that the Said W.S. Little came to his death by accient from falling in the well & being drowned”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ZIMMERMAN—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the deceased came to his death by accidental drowning in the waters of big Juniper creek-1/2 miles north East of the Town of Patrick, S. C.”
Accident: Exposure
Exposure deaths were typically cases of sunstroke or freezing, often aggravated by alcohol abuse. Loraine McQueen found her husband, Chas McQueen, lying dead along the roadside on a cold night in February 1895. He had a pre-existing heart condition and his wife found a half-empty bottle of whiskey on his person so it is hard to be sure if drunkenness, heart attack, or exposure actually caused his death. Given that his body was discovered outside in unusually cold weather, however, the case has been classified as an exposure death. While most exposure cases appear to have been aggravated by alcohol, some were not. One exceptional case is that of James Edward Settle, an epileptic “subject to fits” and periods of irrational behavior. His family tried “to keep him tied all the time,” but he escaped from home at fourteen. He was found dead three weeks later in March 1884, presumably from a combination of epilepsy and exposure. Other cases are even less clear. In the midst of the Great Depression, a dead man was found in a ditch in Chesterfield County. No one knew who he was or how he got there. Found during a cold spell with no suspicious injuries, his death has been labeled 'accident > exposure.'
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JAMES EDWARD SETTLE—Inquest Finding: “do say upon there [?] that said James Edward Settle Came to his death from Epellepcy and Starvation”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF LUSINDY GAINEY—Inquest Finding: “upon there oath do say that Lusindy Gainey deceast Come to his deth By Being in Sane and getting lost in the Swamp and getting wet in the cold and come to death”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CHAS MCQUEEN—Inquest Finding:“upon their oaths, do say: That Chas McQueen came to his death from some bodily ailment unknown to us and by exposure in the cold”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF MUSE—Inquest Finding: “do upon their oaths sayeth that the sd. Slave above mentioned died by the visitation of God a natural death on the 18 Instant . . . by lying in the open air the weather being very cool and he being very old and very thin clothed”
Accident: Fall
As with many COD categories, alcohol is often a contributing factor in the cases of accidental falls. In January 1917, Tom W. Walters tumbled from the loft in the feed stable. Testimony suggests he had been drinking prior to his death. Sadly, children also plummeted to their deaths by mischance. Playing outside alone, Dora Woods fell off a banister, hitting her head on the steps below. She didn't live long after the accident. Attesting to her innocence, a witness said of the toddler: “I did not push it off. I loved it."
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF DORA WOODS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say: “By accident or mishap by a fall from the banister or shelf of the piazza while playing there.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF NANCY JAMES—Inquest Finding: "upon their oaths, do say: She came to her death bye falling in a ditch”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF J. MCGEE—Inquest Finding: "upon their oaths do say that . . .the said J. H. McGee came to his death from a fall from a scaffold by misfortune or accident”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIAM GODFREY—Inquest Finding: " open [sic] their oaths do say that [deceased] did fall into a gully and being unable to get out did then and there die
Accident: Gunshot
In a society awash with firearms, accident gunshots happened with alarming regularity and increasing frequency as the century progressed. On an October night in 1908, George Williams woke to the screeching of an owl. Picking up his gun and shooting into the darkness, he killed “Grad Ma,” who had unbeknownst to him left the house earlier in the evening. Hunting, too, provided abundant opportunity for accidents. Out hunting in November 1940, W. H. Davis’s gun accidentally fired; his last words were “Lord Im shot.” Some cases in the category are more unusual. In Chesterfield County, a cat knocked a loaded weapon from a shelf, killing a human member of the household.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF NETTIE MAE BENNETT—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Nettie Mae Bennett received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by shot gun in the hands in the hands of Derk Gardin (accidental)”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF LOUISA WOODEN—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the deceased Louisa Wooden came to her death by an accidental gunshot wound in the hands of Moses Wooden”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ISABELLA MCCLAIN—Inquest Finding: “upon their Oaths do Say that She Came to her death by a Gun Shot Inflicted by one Cesar Beaty, though we Consider the whole transaction accidental”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ELI DAVID JUNKINS—Inquest Finding: “do say that the said Eli David Jenkins came to his death by being shot with a small single barrelled shot gun in the hands of Leslie Martin a colored boy some 16 or 17 years old…the said Leslie Martin did not intend or had any idea of the gun going off or doing the boy any injury whatever and believe it was entirely accidental”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF W. H. DAVIS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that W. H. Davis received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by gun shot in the hands of self-inflicted–accidentally”
Accident: Head Trauma
Excluding transportation-related head injuries, the cases in 'accident > head trauma' most often involve white men working at the time of the accident. John A. Motz was employed at Brewer Gold Mine in Chesterfield County; in October 1886, he was drilling on the east side of the quarry when a rock fell, “strick his head, and pushed it against another rock, which crushed his brains out.” A similar accident occurred to Rachal Hough two years later; at Miller’s Bridge, a piece of timber broke loose and struck him in the head. A witness said, “I went to him and picked him up and he was dead.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOHN A. MOTZ—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that John A. Motz came to his death by a falling rock from the east side of the quarry at the Brewer Gold mine where he at that time was turning a drill, 10 minutes till 2 O'clock P.M. the falling rock strick his head, and pushed it against another rock, which crushed his brains out.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF RACHAL HOUGH—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say That Rachal Hough in manner and form aforesaid came to his death by misfortune or accident”
Accident: Infections
Infections occur more frequently in the 'Natural Death' category. The cases of accidental infection only include cases in which the infection was the direct result of an accident. In March 1873, a tree fell upon Washington Cash, crushing his spine. He cut his head when a “lamp of rosin” struck him. Cash’s step-father also occasionally whipped him with a switch. One of these assorted wounds resulted in a serious case of tetanus or lock jaw, and Cash died of infection.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WASHINGTON CASH—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: that the said Washington Cash came to his death by tetanus or lock jaw caused by some accident unknown to the Jury.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF UNKNOWN COLORED MAN ABOUT 60 YEARS OLD—Inquest Finding:upon their oathes do say that the said colored man came to his death from inflamation of the left hand and arm of phlegmonous character and for want of proper attention, that he died some time about the 13th inst."
Accident: Injuries
Accidental injuries cover a broad array of deaths; as with 'head trauma' these were often work-related and do not include injuries directly related to transportation. At Anderson’s Mill in Cheraw, South Carolina, for instance, Wade Harper was operating the machinery when a loose belt “caught him,” resulting in his death. The precise nature of his injuries are unknown but it seems safe to categorize his death as 'accident > injuries.' Because the Missouri sample lists only the final inquest pronouncement, not the entire inquest, there are undoubtedly a small percentage of cases where vaguely defined ‘injuries’ (which have we classified within this category) were, in fact, the result of a fall or head trauma, infection, or something else. In one Missouri case, for instance, a man is recorded as having died as a result of “injuries received by being put in the ground before dead.” Clearly much remains to be investigated.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WADE HARPER—Inquest Finding: “Wade Harper, about 17 years old, son of J. F. Harper, of Cheraw S.C. came to his death at Anderson’s Mill, Cheraw, by mischance, without blame on the part of another person”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF EARL RIVERS—Inquest Finding: “Upon hearing the above evidence I decided that it was accidental and it was not necessary to have a formal inquiry Saul H. Reid”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF GEORGE BLAKENEY—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: That the said Geo. Blakney came to his death from the rupture of a blood vessel in the abdoman caused by some over exertion in attempting to escape from the chain gang on the 16th of Feb 1896”
Accident: Overdose
Both accidental and intentional overdoes appear occasionally in the South Carolina inquests and, in many cases, intentionality is difficult to determine. Some of what we categorize as accidental overdoses may, in fact, have been intentional suicides. So far as can be determined, however, accidental overdoses were addicts or the ill who unintentionally took too much. Nineteenth-century medicine often contained addictive substances, including alcohol, morphine, laudanum, chloroform, or opiates, and doctors proscribed such substances to treat both physical aliments and moral shortcomings. Patients received opium to treat neuralgia, rheumatism, dysenteric affections, consumption, uterine infections, and other assorted ailments. [11] Opium, meanwhile, was considered a treatment for such moral failures as “pecuniary embarrassment, disagreements, jealousies, sensualism, etc.” [12]
Given the various usages and widespread available of these highly addictive substances, accidental overdoses were not uncommon. Seeking to soothe her infant, Margaret administered “an over portion of laudnum," and the child died. In many cases, the deceased mixed alcohol and drugs. In Camden, G. W. Glenn, already in a state of intoxication, ingested hydrate chloral in November 1889; the combination proved fatal. Without any evidence of suicidal intentions, this case is considered accidental. [11] Women were apparently more likely to use these substances than men; according to a South Carolina newspaper, “ladies who in their advanced age had contracted the habit” often “carried the poison about their persons in the form of salts of opium, using it almost hourly.” [13] Even Nancy L. Staples Mendenhall, the wife of the Mayor of Greensboro, died from an overdose of morphine. [14]
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF UNKNOWN—Inquest Finding: “do say that the deceaced came to his death, they believe by taking Laudanum”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF T. CLARK SINGLETON—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said T. Clark Singleton infant did come to his death by the administration of an over portion of laudnum given to him by his mother Margaret”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF EMILY GRIFFITH—Inquest Finding: "upon their oaths do say that Emily Griffith came to her death by an overdose of morphine Given by mistake by Bettie Griffith"
Accident: Poison
Toxic substances lurked within the nineteenth-century house; wallpaper and fabric, especially with green dye, contained trace amounts of arsenic while utensils and paint contained lead. [15] Household soap contained lye and strychnine; arsenic was a normal ingredient in rat poison. [16] Carbolic acid, too, was found in disinfecting powders as well as soaps. [17] Work exposed men and women to even more toxins. Fabric flowers, containing arsenic, poisoned working women’s hands, and hatters routinely handled mercury. [18] Of all the poisons, arsenic was one of the most utilized and accidentally (or intentionally) abused, but as the century progressed additional poisons were developed and introduced in the form of medicines, cleaning solutions, and industrial by-products. Discovered in 1834, carbolic acid became the “most accessible” and the “most recklessly distributed” poison in America in the late nineteenth century. [19] Used to disinfect and dispel odors, it could be found “at the bedside of the sick, in back-kitchens, in stables, in public and private closets and urinals . . . The acid has become vulgarised, and quite as popularly known, as the most common household drug or chemicals.” [20] In that age, little care was taken to create warning labels, and the highly-toxic “oily, syrupy-looking” sulphuric acid resembled nontoxic glycerin or other dark colored syrups. [21] In September 1904, young Willie Dunlap began to choke as his mouth turned black. “It looked as if it wished to throw up & [his] mouth was block[ed].” “Lord somebody come here Lula's baby is nearly dead,” a witness proclaimed. It is impossible to know the exact poison Willie had gotten into. Willie's case was clearly an accident, but sometimes it can be hard to determine intentionally and gauge culpability in the poisoning cases. Similarly, while we try to make a distinction between overdoses (someone taking too much of something thought to be healthful) and poisonings (someone taking too much of something thought to be unhealthful), the distinctions are sometimes negligible. Certainly it does not help that many medicines at the time actually contained poison, especially arsenic, mercury, opium, belladonna, sulphuric acid, strychnine, and other potentially deadly substances.
THE STATE V. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIE DUNLAP—Inquest Finding: “We the undersigned jurious find from the evidence given that Willie Dunlap came to his death by poison administered by an unknown person to us.”
THE STATE V. THE DEAD BODY OF JANE SMITH—Inquest Finding: "upon their oaths do say that the said Jane Smith came to her death by a dose of Strychnine accidentally given her for Colomel and so the Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid, do say the aforesaid Jane Smith came to her death in the manner as before said."
THE STATE V. THE DEAD BODY OF DAN RICHARDSON—Inquest Finding: "upon their oaths do say, that Dave Richardson came to his death from the inhalation of poisonous gas in a well on the premises of T.J. Sullivan"
Accident: Suffocation
The overwhelming majority of 'accident > suffocation' cases are infants who were smothered in bed. In the nineteenth century, most mothers slept with their infants, both for lack of space and convenience for breast-feeding. “I found it dead this morning," Hattie Rogers told the coroner of her baby in 1895, "I don’t known how long it had been dead it sucked about midnight.” "I went to sleep while it was nursing," Eady Young said of her infant in 1877, "& when I woke in the morning I found the child dead." Such inquests typically found that the child had been "overlaid by its mother." Today we would probably diagnose some of these cases as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), but as it is often impossible to know whether the child died of natural causes in the night, smothering, or SIDS, so we follow the nineteenth century practice of classifying them as accidental suffocations. While both white and African-American infants died from suffocation, juries disproportionately accused black women of killing or neglecting their infants where as white mothers were found innocent of wrong-doing. While a small minority of cases, a few adult men died of suffocation, often as a direct result of a natural disaster or work-related accident. In 1879, for example, an “amount of Earth falling” suffocated Enoch Douglass.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF UNKNOWN INFANT—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do Say That the deceased came to his death by being accidently smothered by his mrother on the first day of July A D 1880”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF UNKNOWN INFANT—Inquest Finding: “upon there oaths do say That the said Infant Child came to his death from som cause or causes unknown to the Jurors and that there was no foul play”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF UNKNOWN INFANT—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say That it came to its death by natural causes sometime between midnight and day on Feb the 3rd 1894”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIE HENDRIX STRICKLIN—Inquest Finding: “I have this day helt a perliminary examination over the dad body of Willie Hendrix Stricklin and from the evidence of witnesses I do not deam it nesary to hold an inqest but from Such witness find that the sed Willie Hendrix Stricklin came to his dath from none others than natural causes”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOHN RUFUS RUSSELL—Inquest Finding: upon there oaths do say that the said John Rufus Russell come to his death by suffocation Caused by accidentally falling with head downward into a hole in a pile of seed Cotton
Accident: Transportation
For the majority of individuals in the early and mid-nineteenth-century South, horses, mules, and oxen fulfilled most of their transportation needs. Drunken tumbles off mules, spooked horses, and wagon accidents were common transportation mishaps in these early years. About sunset on December 22, 1877, B. G. Hunter fell of his horse near Hick’s Mill in Chesterfield County. While racing, a horse tossed Pickens M. Brown up against a nearby tree in 1882. On the night of January 1, 1935, T. B. Weatherford, an African-American man, consumed some whiskey, mounted his mule, and rode off toward Thompson Creek Bridge. He was found dead the next morning lying on his face and beside him “was little over ½ pt. whiskey, hat, & torn sack.” In addition to the fall and prolonged exposure, he had been gashed by the mule’s metal shoe.
As the century progressed, new modes of transportation hurtled men and women along at ever-increasing speeds while safety standards remained minimal. Faster, heavier, and stronger than its mortal namesake, the 'iron horse,' for instance, brought an alarming rate of mortality to South Carolina. C. B. Griggs, who for all appearances was drunk on whiskey, “was hardly able to get on the train” at Hartsville and “he kinda fell off of the train at McBee when he was getting off.” He died from the fall. Employees, too, died. A railroad worker “attending to the usual duties of a train hand” discovered Harry Fort on the track “facing down.” He “came to his death by being accidently mashed between two cars while cappling them at Cases Depot” in Cheraw, South Carolina. Trains and drunkenness were a particularly fatal cocktail for those with the misfortune of living or drinking near railroad tracks. James Sellers had run off, “drunk & cursing,” from the South Carolina police; he was next spotted “setting down or stooped over” on the railroad tracks by an oncoming train conductor who “applied brakes in emergency grabbed white cord saw stop signal” and “did all I could do to stop.” The train failed to stop and Sellers died of his wounds. At 7:00am on September 1933, the Seaboard Air Line Rail ran over Duncan Oliver in Cheraw, crushing the skull and causing the “evacuation of the brains.” Oliver had been seen buying a drink the night before and, according to another witness, he “was pretty well lit.”
Like trains, the introduction of motorized vehicles after the turn of the century dramatically scaled up the number of deaths related to transportation. In the early days, most automobile drivers were white men, and they therefore make up the majority of the perpetrators of vehicular accidents. Victims, as passengers and passerbyers, include men, women, children, and African Americans. In the early 1900s, slow-moving, horse-drawn wagons precariously shared the road with fast-moving automobiles as the traditional and modern worlds literally collided on country roads in rural South Carolina. “It was raining, or if such a thing is possible, raining and sleeting” when Robert Gregory’s Chevrolet collided with Murray P. Humphrey’s wagon in March 1937. The wagon did not withstand the blow and Humphrey died. As more and more cars appeared in the late 1930s and early 1940s, automobiles began more frequently to collide with other automobiles. In September 1942, Devoid Gulledge came to his death while riding in the back of a truck. A trailer, coming down the road in the opposite lane, slammed into the truck and Gulledge was thrown to his death. First mandated by states in 1903, driver's licenses were relatively uncommon in the early years. Only in 1930 did South Carolina require that drivers obtain a license and, in 1933, mandated driver’s exams. [22] Still, not everyone complied. At the scene of a fatal automobile accident in September 1933, a witness claimed that both the driver and his passenger had been overindulging in whiskey. To top it all off, the driver said “he don’t have Driver License and never has.” As is the case with many deaths on the site, alcohol was a massive aggravating factor in the number of transportation accidents -- so much so that rare is the twentieth-century inquest that does not mention the driver’s state of sobriety or intoxication. Attempting to determine if, what, and when the driver drank, the 1935 investigation into the death of Ford Rayfield determined that Cleo Perdue, the truck’s driver, had drank a full bottle of alcohol, labeled at 70 percent alcohol by volume, not long before the accident. Without breathalyzer or blood tests to determine precise blood-alcohol levels, coroners depended upon witnesses for establishing degrees of inebriation. In the 1937 case of John Rushing, a witness determined that the driver and passenger “were drinking, but not drunk.” When pressed further, he admitted that the driver was “high. . . enough to weave around a little.” Concurring, a second witness said “Well, the boy driving walked like he was drunk.” Accidents resulting from intoxication were more likely labeled as “careless” or “reckless” by the coroner’s inquest even if the driver was not legally held responsible for murder. In an era before state-regulated automobile inspections, it is also true that there were many cars on the road with malfunctioning brakes, misaligned steering wheels, or other mechanical problems. Driving home from the Union Methodist Church in McBee, South Carolina, Miss Thelma Moore’s brakes failed. “I was going around a turn and I noticed then that it got faster and I don’t know, maybe I was mashing on the gas. I pumped the brakes and the clutch but couldn’t do anything,” claimed the twenty-one-year old driver. She killed three members of the Atkinson family. On Highway No. 9 in Chesterfield County, G. W. Hutford’s car hit Juanita White coming home from Sunday School. According to one witness, G. W. Hutford was not to be blamed since Juanita White “ran out from behind [a] bus just in time to [get] hit on. . . Mr. Hutford assisted [us] in every way possible [and] told Mrs. White he was very sorry” for killing her daughter.
Some 'accident > transportation' deaths are a little more exotic. In the Missouri sample, deadly elevators appear in surprisingly large numbers. At the 1853 World’s Fair, Elisha Graves Otis first demonstrated the elevator safety break, consisting of spring-activated metal jaws located within the elevator shaft. If the elevator cable or rope snapped, the metal jaws latched in place, holding the elevator aloft. [23] A few years later, in 1857, a New York department store opened the first commercial elevator. As the century progressed, elevators appeared with increasing frequency, and by 1873, the Otis Company alone had installed 2,000 of them. [24] Like their horizontal counterparts, however, these “Vertical Railways” were frightfully unsafe. [25] “It is an instinct fear of men to feel a peculiar horror about failing from a great height,” claimed The Harpers' Monthly, and such fear was justified the magazine concluded. While most accidents occurred as a result of careless riders, many were “due to unprotected hatchways, and other kinds of neglect to provide safety apparatus.” [26] As the first members of society exposed to such technological advances, white men in urban areas, especially those working near a freight elevator, most frequently found themselves involved in elevator-related accidents. Whether plummeting inside a malfunctioning elevator, falling from a raised elevator, or being caught underneath a descending elevator, such accidents were just another urban battle between modern engineering and human flesh.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BARTHOLOMEW DARBY—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that his death was caused by his horses running with his waggon & throwing him from his saddle against a stump & the wheel of the waggon running over his head or neck & breaking his neck & deeply cutting him under the right ear”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF STEVE YELDELL—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Steve Yeldell came to his death by accidently falling out of his cart and breaking his neck”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF H. R. MCLEOD—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths aforesaid, do say, that the aforesaid H.R. McLeod came to his death by means of an accident unavoidable”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JAMES SELLERS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that James Sellers received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Seaboard Train #2 in the hands of W. W. Shoemaker”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF HART BYRD—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: that Hart Byrd came to his death due to careless & reckless driving at the hands of Luther Reynolds”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF DEVOID GULLEDGE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Devoid Gulledge received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Transport Truck in the hands of Gordon Deardorff”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOSHUA JOHNS—Inquest Finding: upon their oaths do say that Joshua Johns received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Fred W. Hinson with automobile in the hands of an automobile accident
Homicide: Blunt Instrument
Before the Civil War, most homicides were not committed by gun. Instead, in an altercation men tended to grab whatever was handy, brick, stick, or rock. Domestic violence and spousal abuse cases also make up a large percentage of this category. William Kimball beat his pregnant wife, Ann, and tossed her across a fence. Ann prayed to God “that he would beat her no more.” Called to attend the birth, the midwife told William, “it was a scandal to beat up women this way look at this childs head what a fix its head is in.” The infant was stillborn, and Ann died just a few days later. Other cases involve marital infidelity or suspicions of it. Friendly Gowdin suspected that his wife, Sarah, “was on terms of criminal intimacy” with Eisex Brown. In February 1869, Sarah met Brown behind the barn and had sex in exchange for twenty-five dollars. Friendly Gowdin caught them “in the act of cohabitation” and hit Brown on the head with a large stick. Eisex Brown ended up dead and Sarah never received the payment. Enslaved African-American men also appear regularly as both perpetrators and victims. The 1856 case of Henry is a one of many examples of slave-on-slave violence. During a fight in a cotton patch, Henry opened a knife and dashed at a man identified as Jr. Jr. killed Henry with a hoe. In other cases, slave owners or overseers bludgeoned slaves to death. In 1845, a plantation overseer inflicted a “moderate whipping” on Elizer and “then tyed her with much difficulty and left her tyed.” Declared an act "calculated to destroy life," Elizer died from her beating.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF HALLOWAY THOMAS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Halloway Thomas received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Being Struck with Chair in the hands of Willie Robinson (alias Jack)
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CESAR—Inquest Finding: “upon their Oaths do say … believe said negro came to his death by a sever blow given him by Jerry one of said Watsons negroes not with the intention to Kill”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BAYLIS EDWARDS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say … that he came to his death by a blow from a [?] on the throat from an unknown hand”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ELIZABETH BOWING—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that they believe the said Elizabeth Bowing came to her death by abuse inflicted on her by the hand of Priscilla Robertson”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF HENRY—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said male salve, came to his death from a blow upon the left side of the head, from a hickory stick in the hands of a negro slave name Elbert (said to be the property of Evans Permenter[?])”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ANDREW—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that … Andrew came to his death by a lick on the head on the right side inflicted by Ben a slave of A.P. Butler with a half of rail done in the heat of passion while in an affray
Homicide: Exposure
Homicidal exposure is rare in the CSI:D sample, reserved for cases of criminal neglect, usually of dependents or children. The case of Jane Arnold is one clear example. At four in the morning, Jane knocked on the door of a neighboring farmhouse, and, although it was a cold November morning, she decided not to stay. Instead, she retreated to an abandoned schoolhouse, where she gave birth and fled. Her baby died of exposure that night. Maght Hill was in the late stages of pregnancy when she was dismissed from her job at the factory and found herself without means of support. About a week later her infant was found dead, "lying under the bridge with its head about half covered with mud & water."
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF INFANT MALE CHILD—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said infant male child was killed and homicideed by some person or persons (or by some means) to the jurors unknown”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ELICK YOUNGBLOOD—Inquest Finding: “upon their oathes do say that the said Elick Youngblood come to his death near S R Warren water gin on Polys[?] Branch ... from Exposure Caused by the wilfull Neglect and cruel treatment of Eliza Hunt[?]”
Homicide: Firearm
The victims and perpetrators of gun violence were overwhelmingly men. Most were killed at close range, and perpetrators usually knew their victims as neighbors, friends, or family members. The old adage “never bring a knife to a gunfight” was not one that hot-headed southerners always heeded, and it was usually the one wielding the gun who survived. At a dance in Chesterfield County, Marion Johnson, Daniel Wilkes, and Archie Woods got in a car together. Fueled by alcohol, such friendly gatherings could turn violent at a moment’s notice. Looking at Johnson, Woods proclaimed “I know you and I’ll get you and I’ll get you and I’ll make you loose your job.” Punctuating his speech with profanity he said, “God Damn it, Ill get you.” The men got out of the car and into a scuffle. Woods pulled a knife. Johnson pulled a gun, and shot his former friend.
A minority of inquests in this category are related to robbery. In these cases, the victim, usually the robber, and the perpetrator were men unknown to one another. For example, in Chesterfield County, the owner of John A. Anderson’s Store hired a guard since “it had robbed twelve or more times recently.” Wallace Turner, hired jointly by Anderson and the local police to perform guard duty, assumed a hiding place near the front door and hunkered down to wait for sunrise. In the wee hours he heard the screen door swing out and the lock click open. Turner sprung from his hiding place, grabbed his flashlight, and wrestled the robber to the floor. When the burglar got the upper hand in the fight, Turner shot twice and the robber, Howard Braxton, died of his wounds.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CLARA BURRESS—Inquest Finding: “do say that she Clara Burriss came to her death by a pistol ball fired in the hands of William Pringle Cook fired at Caty Burress….do say William Pringle Cook did kill.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CAREY ASHLEY—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Cary Ashley came to his death … from a pistol shot wound from the hands of Benjamin L. Jones”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BENJAMIN F. JONES—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said B F Jones was wilfully Killed by one Charles Price in the Store house of the above name W B Griffin … by shooting him the said B F Jones with a gun commonly Known as a shot gun in the left side of chest below the left Nipple”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF AARON HUGHES—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that said Aaron Hughes ... was feloniously killed and murdered by being shot in the mouth with a small ball and being struck a severe blow across the nose and ... then dragged across the road into the woods … by some person or persons to the jurors unknown”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF AMBROSE—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that the said Negro man slave Ambrose came to his death early in the morning of the twenty-forth of September instant by buck shot discharged from a gun presented at him by Kirkland Harmon … [the shot] entering his back loins & hips”
Homicide: Infanticide
Miscarriages, late-term abortions, and infanticides can be difficult to differentiate, not least because nineteenth-century doctors and coroners struggled to determine the precise cause of death for infants. On April 15, 1879, Dr. W. A. Harrison was called to examine the body of a male infant of an unwed mother suspected of infanticide or abortion. If the child was born dead, either from miscarriage or abortion, Harrison said, the lungs would be a “thin, black membrane” that “would sink immediately in water.” If the child had drawn breath and been born alive, the lungs would float. In this instance, the lungs floated and the mother was accused of “ignorant neglect. . . without intent to murder the child.” Other cases were more clear-cut. In 1829, Mrs. Welsh “complained of a suppression of the menses.” To produce an abortion, she ingested savin powder, “oil of turpentine,” “oil penny royal,” and “tincture of iron.” Nothing worked so she killed the newborn and hid the body in the smoke house, “concealed in a jar with lime.” In 1868, Lula Collins wrapped her newborn in a bloody bit of cloth and tossed it down the well. She may have been trying to conceal an interracial liaison. African-American infants feature prominently within this section though many of the mothers may have been falsely accused by masters who resented the loss of property. To classify these cases, however, we had to rely on the testimony we have, however flawed it may be. Harriot’s infant, for instance, died under suspicious circumstances in July 1849. The inquest determined that “upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid Harriot and Amy and Jenny did then and there feloniously cause the death of the said chile contrary to the peace and dignity of the state.” We do not know with complete certainty if this was infanticide or accidental death. The preponderance of the testimony, however potentially biased, indicates infanticide and we have classified it as such.
While exceptionally rare, a few infanticides were committed by men. Abraham Rabon Jr. often beat his pregnant wife, and one witness testified that “she was bruised over one of her eyes verry bad.” A second witness noted that she “Saw the lump on the Childs head I am certain that it was hurt verry bad think its death was Caused from Wounds and blows inflicted upon the mother of the infant.” The infant died as a direct result of this spousal abuse.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BLACK CHILD—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid Harriot and Amy and Jenny did then and there feloniously cause the death of the said chile contrary to the peace and dignity of the state.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF FREEDWOMAN—Inquest Finding: “do say that the said infant came to its death by strangulation by the hands of its mother Clary Williams, a freed woman in the town of Anderson.immediately after its birth”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF INFANT—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that ... the said child ... came to its death from injuries received at the hands of Mary McKeys, Lizzie Mills, Paul Mills, and Alexander Mills, all of whom we deem cognizant of and accessory to the death”
Homicide: Poison
From rat killer to common medicines, poison could be cheaply bought or obtained in the nineteenth century with minimal suspicion. Devoid of any distinctive taste or smell, arsenic mixed well with cooked food or could be dissolved in cold water. In other cases, a dose of medication could be intentional increased to achieve a fatal effect. Surrounded by death during the Civil War, Arthur Suggs bought some arsenic for killing rats, or so he claimed. Instead he poisoned his wife, Nancy; their marriage had been under strain for some time, and “she thought her life was in danger.” Arthur, for his part, blamed Nancy for their marital issues and said “it is your fault and you shall be Sorry for it the longest day [that] you live.” In this he was probably right as death by arsenic is quite agonizing. Typically lasting between two and forty-eight hours, arsenic kills relatively slowly; in their final hours, the victim experiences difficulty swallowing, extreme stomach pain, watery diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting up of both fresh and coagulated blood. The coup d'grace, if they live that long, is tenesmus, the uncontrollable expulsion of ulcers and fluids from the anus -- a bad end, indeed. [27]
THE STATE V. THE DEAD BODY OF NANCY SUGGS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that she came to her death by Arsenic and that the same was administered by Arthur Suggs at his own residence”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF LEWIS GREEN—Inquest Finding:"do say that the said Lewis Green came to his death by poisioning with arsnick at the Williamston Hotel. . . on the night of the seventeenth day of September. . . the said poison being administered at the said Hotel somewhere about the thirteenth day of September...the medium of a certain sponge cake or pudding by some person or persons unknown"
Homicide: Sharp Instrument
Sharp objects are the third-most prevalent type of murder weapon in the CSI:D sample, after firearms and blunt instruments. The death of Andy Padgett is a typical case in this category. In July 1891, Andy Padgett and Rufus Dent “were talking and bragging on their manhood.” The conversation soured and Dent plunged a knife into Padgett’s body. At the time, “Andy was drunk -- Rufus was Sober.” Alcohol is a contributing factor in many, if not most, of these knife fights. Not long before sundown on March 15, 1940, Shorty, Lonnie, Mary Jane Streater, Zetto Lowery, Collins Jefferson, and Mose Lowery gathered in the yard near the porch; all were drinking, but some were drunker than others. Unsurprisingly, a fight broke out, and a chain, a brick, and a Swiss knife entered the fray. When the dust settled, Mose Lowery lay dead on the road from a knife wound. In addition to fights, many of these homicide cases arise from suspected marital infidelity or male rage at home. James Bowman found his wife, Dorothy Mae Bowman and Alfonso Hancock “having sexual intercourse” at the “Smithfield Colored school house” in August 1948. Arriving at the scene, he stabbed Hancock twice and then turned to stab his wife. Dorothy survived; Hancock did not.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BRITTON MCCLENDON—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say, that Britton McClendon Came to his death by a wound inflicted by the hands of Felix Hubbard at the house of deceased … Said wound was caused by a large Hunting knife”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOSEPH J. ROLLINS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the aforesaid Joseph J. Rollins … feloniously did Kill against the peace and dignity of the same state aforesaid”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ABRAM RABON—Inquest Finding: “upon their Oaths do say that Abram Rabon Jun'r of the State and District aforesaid did feloneously with a Kinfe … stab and Kill the said Willis Rabon … and further saith that Abraham Rabon Sen.r and Duke Rabon were Accessories to the same”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ALLEN S. BARKSDALE—Inquest Finding: “do say that Allen S. Barksdale came ot his death by an axe in the hands of Mary A. Gray on the night of 22nd June 1876 in self-defense in her own house and yard with several wounds with a mortal wound inflicted with ^the edge of^ an axe upon the top of the head to length of 3 inches severing in the skull bone.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ADELINE AGNEW—Inquest Finding: “do say that…the said Adeline Agnew was killed and murdered by a knife in the hands of Shadrack Webster.”
Homicide: Suffocation
Most cases of suffocation were accidents or infanticides and have been classified as such. The 'homicide > suffocation' cases are more typically acts of domestic violence, spousal and child abuse that resulted in death by strangulation. In an atypical case, an enslaved woman named Sunaka strangled two African-American children with a glove. More typically, Joe, “a negro man belong to Omey Patterson” grabbed Mary by the neck and choked her to death.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF TWO NEGRO CHILDREN—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that a negro woman named Sunaka Another of said children property of said Ellis Palmer did … choake the said children with a glove”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF MARY—Inquest Finding: “Upon their oaths do say, that … the said Mary came to her death by being choked, by Joe, a negro man belong to Omey Patterson, who confined to us that he was the murder, and purpetrated said deed on Sunday 16th inst. Showing us where he had Killed her near the above named Plantation”
Suicide: Drowning
Methods of committing suicide varied widely, but men and women living near a pond, stream, or lake had the option to submerge themselves. Mr. Goodall drowned himself in a boatyard near Camden, while John J. Cobb selected William Elkin’s Mill Pond for the site of his suicide. Of necessity the enslaved often chose the most affordable and readily available methods of suicide, and drowning fit those qualifications. Confronting a choice between lifelong slavery and self-emancipation, Nancy walked into the Saluda River. Lovina ran away from her owner, Dr. H. M. Holks, in September 1860. Caught in the act of self-liberation, she faced immediate recapture and plunged “in to the pond of here own free will before the dogs reach her." Facing the jail or death, Aleck, an enslaved man, also chose drowning. Seeking to escape her abuse husband, Jane Soseby tried to find a river to drown herself in, but never could so she reluctantly hanged herself.
Lacking a nearby pond, river, or stream, some unfortunates chose to drown themselves in the well. Early in the morning, A. M. Hill walked to the well, neatly hung up his coat and hat, and then jumped in; the well had “plenty of water . . . to drown a man.” The distinctions between accidental drowning and suicide are occasionally murky, especially in era when few could swim. Drinking after he received a “moderate correction with a small whip,” an enslaved boy named Daniel walked to a nearby river. He was found awhile later near a rock “lying there with his head under the water and part of his feet under the water his body on the rock." He may have committed suicide by drowning or he may have accidentally tumbled into the creek while drunk, it is hard to say which.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOSEPH HANCOCK—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do Say That the Said AM Hill in manner and form aforesaid then and there voluntarily him Self did kill againce the peace and dignity of the Same State afoesaid by drowning him Self in a well on the 19th day of March AD 1879”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF GOODALL—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that the said Goodall not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil at the boat yard near Camden … then and there himself voluntarily and feloniously downed [himself]”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOHN J. COBB—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say, that Doct John S. Cobb, here lyind dead, came to his death by then & there being alone, in William Elkins mill Pond aforesaid, himself voluntarily and feloniously drowned … then and there himself, voluntarily & feloniously as a felon of himself Killed and murdered”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF DANIEL COLEMAN—Inquest Finding: “do say upon there oaths . . . not having god before his eyes and at the instigation of the Devil Commited Suiside by drounding himself in Broad River”
Suicide: Firearm
As with the homicides, relatively fewer men and women committed suicide by firearm before the 1860s. Andrew Craig was an atypical case. In 1813, he shot himself with a loaded gun. Under the pretense of squirrel hunting, Allen, a “negro man,” obtained a gun and killed himself, claiming he would rather be dead than take another whipping. By the second-half of the nineteenth century, firearms seem to have flooded into the south, and a prevalence of means always creates a prevalence of ends. In 1858, Wesley Wever placed the muzzle of a double-barrel shotgun “in his mouth, and pulled the trigger with his toe, as he had one shoe off.” [28] Remembering him after his “melancholy suicide,” the local paper described him as “an interesting young man. . . with bright hopes and glowing prospects ahead.” [29] In 1876, Abemolie Gilreath hollowed, “O lord, farewell world” and shot himself twice with a Colt Pistol. J. J. James also wanted to die, and he asked his children to kill him, but they refused. Instead, he lay down in bed, grabbed a pistol, and tried to shoot himself, but his wife intervened wrenching the gun away and running for help. While she was gone, James shot himself at close range. By the turn of the twentieth-century, the overwhelming majority of male suicides were accomplished with a gun. Described as a quiet, introverted man who “always acted like he was staring in space,” Lt. Nathanial T. Hildreth “didn’t mix” with the other soldiers on the military base in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. In October 1941, he walked off in the wood near camp and shot himself. His comrades found the body “lying sprawled out. His trigger finger was bent and the chamber was still brought back. His left hand was on his pocket and his 45 was lying beside him. There was blood on his glasses, jacket, on the left side of his hat band, and a couple of spots on the ground . . .” His motive remains a mystery.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WESLEY WEAVER[?]—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Wesley Weaver by the discharge of a double barreled gun, held in his own hands, … then and there voluntarily and feloniously himself did Kill”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF FRANK LITTLE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say: That the said Frank Little, being of unsound mind, did upon the 16th day of May A D 1886 in his house, with a gun, did then and there himself voluntarily and feloniously kill”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF RENA MCFARLOW—Inquest Finding: “We the under signed Find that Rena McFarlow Came to Her deth By a pistol Shot By Her own Hands”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF R. BOYD EUBANK—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that R. Boyd Eubank received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by 12 gauge Shot Gun in the hands of R. Boyd Eubank—Intentionally”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF GILES SUMMER—Inquest Finding: “doth say upon their oaths that the said Palmer A. Higgins … not having God before his eyes but being seduced by the Devil on the 24th day April inst. with force and [?] in his own yard … did with a rifle gun feloniously shoot a ball at the said Giles Summer ehich entered at the upper part of the wind pipe, passing through the easophegus and penetrating the third or fourth cervical vertebrae thereby destroying the spinal marrow”
Suicide: Hanging
Hanging was another readily available, relatively inexpensive method for those seeking to end their lives. With a bit of rope costing only “12 cents,” Matthew Gambrell hung himself in 1843. In June 1876, Lucy Hancock found her husband dangling from a rope in the wagon shelter. He had expressed suicidal intentions before, and the family had been “watching him for some time [since] he has tried several times to kill him self.” Slaves, too, had open access to rope, and hanging was second only to drowning among enslaved suicides. In a typical case, Benjamin F. Landrum whipped Ann for refusal to work. Rather than remain enslaved, Ann hung herself in his plantation shop. After her death, a previous owner described Ann as having “the worst disposition of any negro he ever Knew . . . she was Just of devlish disposition enough to Kill herself.” In the middle of the Civil War, Aron, a slave, choose a similarly dire form of self-emancipation, hanging himself “with a vine to a dogwood tree.” While macabre, nineteenth-century Southerners were intimately familiar with trees and timber, and suicide inquests are often specific about the genus of these “hanging trees.” Dogwoods, white oaks, walnuts, and hickorys seem to have been the most prevalent. Most suicides used rope, but not all. Described as a “Negro wench,” Flora accomplished her hanging by putting one end of a horse bridle, “of the Value of One Dollar,” around her neck, and slinging the other end around a building joist.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BILL—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Negro man slave Bill did with a piece of Hickory bark by his own hand feloniously hang himself by the neck against the peace and dignity of the state”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF DICK—Inquest Finding: do say upon their oaths that the above named Dick not having the fear of God before his eyes but being moved and seduced by the instigation fo the Devil did voluntarily hang himself with a small rope on a limb of a walnut tree
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF CELIA KING—Inquest Finding: “do say the said Celia King…came to her death by hanging herself with a hank of cotton thread and suspended to a bush.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF D. M. RICHARDS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said D.M. Richards voluntarily & feloniously himself did kill being of unsound mind”
Suicide: Overdose
As a method of suicide, overdoses appear less frequently in the South Carolina inquests. Even so, a South Carolina newspaper declared overdose “Satan’s Second Choice for the Killing of Mankind.” [30] The most common overdose involved morphine followed by laudanum, chloroform, and other opiates. The first mention of cocaine appears in 1895, and a supposed overdose of ‘Tincture of Canibus Indica’ occurred in 1876. In the nineteenth century, qualitative evidence suggests that more women used laudanum, morphine, and opiates; indeed, according to one source “the vice is more prevalent among women than among men.” [31] Despite this, relatively few women appear as overdose victims in CSI: Dixie, and most overdose cases involved men who mixed laudanum, morphine, or opiates with large quantities of alcohol. In July 1851, Samuel Bates ingested “a quantity of laudanum” in addition to an unknown quantity of alcohol. In some cases of overdose, intentionally is unclear, but Bates expressed sufficient suicidal intentions that it has been classified as such. He told a witness, for instance, “that he intended to kill himself by taking laudanum, he produced what appeared to be a vial wrapped in paper, said it contained laudanum and that he intended taking it.” A few years later in 1859, John Sulivan mixed a similar concoction of excess laudanum and alcohol. In this case, witness testimonies do not reveal suicidal intentions, but the inquest finding makes this a clear case of suicide. Other cases are harder to determine. The distinction between suicide by overdose and suicide by poison, for instance, may seem quite fine, and we considered collapsing the categories. Someone who overdoses on chloroform or laudanum may be an addict with no suicidal intention, however. This is rarely the case for someone who knowingly drinks a bottle of poison.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JAMES MOORE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said James P. Moore came to his death from the effect of anodynes administered by himself; but whether with the intention of taking his life or not the jury are unable to say.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF SAMUEL BATES—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Samuel W. Bates cause to his death from drinking and taking into his stomach on yesterday morning a quantity of laudanum”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JOHN SULIVAN—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that the aforesaid John Sulivan not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and secluded by the instigation of the Devil at and in the dwelling house of B. D. Garrison in his bead the said John Sulivan being then and there alone died by the excessive use of ardent spirits and laudunum voluntarily and felonisouly and of his nature afore though did drink and use the said ardent spirits and laudunum until he died.”
Suicide: Poison
Suicide by overdose and suicide by poison both involve ingesting a toxic dose of chemicals. In instances of poison, individuals typically ingested carbolic acid, bitter almond oil (which presumably contained cyanide), lye (often used as a detergent or cleanser), acconite (wolf’s bane), strychnine, Paris green, arsenic, belladonna, or chloral hydrate. In December 1888, William Belcher ingested “poison of some kind.” His wife, Mary, believed his death a suicide since “his mind was afected some what” and “he had said that he was in trouble, was going to kill him self.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIAM BELCHER—Inquest Finding: “uppon the oaths do say we the jurors do say that Mr. Wm. Belcher ... came to his death by taking poison of some kind unknown to the jurors”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF DANIEL—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Daniel came death by disease unknown to us”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF M. F. ANDERSON—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said M F Anderson came to her death by taking an overdose of Strychnine and that the said M F Anderson in manner and form then and there voluntarily and feloniously herself did kill against the peace and dignity of the same State aforesaid”
Suicide: Sharp Instrument
The suicidal also used sharp instruments, mostly knives and razors, to end their lives. According to a witness, Ephraim Mayfield had not “been right for some time” and “frequent[ly] seemed to wish death.” In the spring of 1847, he walked outside his dwelling house, unbuttoned his shirt collar, carefully turned his shirt down to expose his neck, and then, with both hands, sliced an eight-inch long, two inch deep gash in his neck with a “small double bladed knife with the big blade.” He was found dead in a pool of blood. In Greenville, Mrs. Mattie Charles left the house with a knife and Bible on a Thursday morning in 1869. After a bit of religious reading, she slit her own throat; in her suicide note, she claimed “that she was not fit to raise her children.” [32] After her death, the local newspaper was full of praise, describing her as “a lady of excellent character” who “seemed happy in her marriage.” [33] Most suicide victims, especially before the Civil War, received far less public sympathy. William Milhous sliced his own throat with a pen knife in May 1807. The inquest finding determined that he “Came to his Death By the temptation of the Devil and for want of the Grace of God diloniously homicideed himSelf Cuting his throat with a Small Pen Knife.” Not all of the sharp instruments were knives. While shaving, Alexander Rogers intentionally slit his throat with the razor. Angeyline Hainey used Henry Ivey’s razor to end her life. Unlike drownings or overdoses, suicides by sharp instrument are clear in their intentionality.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF BELFAST—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that the said Belfast [did] voluntarily & feloniously ... kill and murder himself with a knife by stabbing himself in the neck”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ALEXANDER ROGERS—Inquest Finding: “after said examination and due deliberation are of opinion that the said Alexander Rogers caused his death by cutting his throat with a razor, he being in a state of mental derangement at the time caused by fever”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF WILLIAM MALONE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Wm Malone came to his death by cutting his own throat with a pocket knife in a state of mortal derangement near his own house”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ANGEYLINE HAINEY—Inquest Finding: “upon oath do say … the said deceased did kill and distroy her own life by means of cutting her own throat with the Raisor of Henry Ivey which was found lying with her dead body”
Suicide: Other
Some suicidal cases defy our attempts at classification, and these have been labeled as 'suicide > other.' These are typically cases where the information is specific but the method was unusual. The sample, for instance, includes perhaps two dozen cases of people who variously jumped to their deaths, purposely leapt in front of a train, immolated themselves, or died by gas inhalation. George C. Mitchell, for example, jumped "from the house top into the yard while laboring under derangement.” An African-American woman, Earnestine Rewie, had been living with Joe Wilson “for about four years, as man and wife.” Both were drinking one evening in April 1944 when Rewie walked to the middle of the room, stepped over a sewing machine, light a match, and set her dress on fire. Wilson “asked her what she was trying to do, kill her self, and she said 'that is all right.'” Joe put the fire out, but Rewie then walked into the kitchen and intentionally set herself ablaze for a second time. This time, she died of her burns. It is unknown if Rewie was seized by a sudden urge to die or whether the alcohol gave her liquid courage. All of these situations do not fit neatly in any of the existing categories and so get classified as 'other.' 'Other' also includes a few cases where the inquest finds that the case is a suicide but fails to clarify the method.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF EARNESTINE REWIE—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that Earnestine Rewie received in Chesterfield County a mortal wound by Burns . . . She came to her death by burns—probably accidental”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF J. J. JENNINGS—Inquest Finding: “upon there oaths do say that . . . on his own premises Murdered himself by fireing his Gin house and was found with in the same”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF J. M. SCOTT—Inquest Finding: “uppon there oaths do say that Decsd came to his death by coluntarily jumping into Mr Thomas Bishops well which was beyond Douby from the Testimony of the witness Caused by Insanity which it appears Decsd was subject to at times”
Other: Alcoholism
Despite living in the age of temperance reform, alcohol abuse was rampant, especially among white men in the nineteenth and early twentieth-century South. In South Carolina, it was not an uncommon sight to see a drunk sprawled across empty barrels near the local printing office or a man “Intoxicated so that he could not walk without staggering.” Alcohol use and abuse were contributing factors, and sometimes the direct cause, in a wide range of deaths, but we have not classified any of these as 'other > alcoholism.' 'Other > alcoholism' is reserved for those cases of chronic alcoholics who appear finally to succumbed to their illness, dying by no other contributing symptoms, illnesses, or factors. These individuals, the overwhelming majority of whom were white men, were described as "habitually" drunk, frequently drinking to excess, and inebriated at the time of their death. Angus McQueen ended a long lifetime of alcohol abuse after consuming “one gallon of spirits” in one sitting; R. Mackgrath guzzled a flask containing a “½ pint of gin.” In another typical case a witness declared that “deceased was very drunk as his custom was to drink every night after work about 1 or 2 oclock last night.” Not all individuals within this category, however, were regular drinkers or alcoholics. All we know about Willie McDuffey is that he drank too much whiskey on a December evening in 1892. Struggling to remain upright and conscious on the wagon ride home from the Courthouse, he told his wife, “My head is about to kill me & want some hot coffee.” After his death, his wife concluded that “he had Drank too much Whiskey” and died as a result of alcohol poisoning. Without a suggestion that McDuffey was a habitual drinker, we are forced to classify his death as an accidental overdose rather than as alcoholism.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF H. P. CHURCH—Inquest Finding: “Upon their Oaths the Jurors aforesaid do say, that the said H. P. Church . . . had been intoxicated for several days or weeks and in that situation he decd . . . died in consequence of drinking intoxicating liquors to excess”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF ANGUS MCQUEEN—Inquest Finding: “do say upon their oaths that the deceased came to his Death by the combined effects of Cold, Intoxication, and the falls he had therefrom.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF R. MACKGRATH—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said R Mackgrath came to his death … by an act of Providence, or some other cause unknown to the Jurors probably by the effects of ardent Spirits”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF GABE WILKY—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say that the said Gabe Wilky came to his death . . . from his own impudence & excessive use of alcohol and the visitation of God”
Other: Abortion
As historian Leslie J. Reagan has noted: “An abortion induced at home by the woman herself was the most invisible to observe at the time and remains so to the historian now.” [35] Even so, cases of abortion appear regularly within the CSI:D sample. Most of these cases involve women ingesting herbs, poisons, or other medicines to induce early labor, expel the fetus, and restore menstruation. Other women inserted instruments, often mundane household tools or objects, into their uteruses. [36] In 1893, a Chicago woman employed a button hook after steam, hot water, douches, and medicine failed to “empty the uterus.” [37] Concerned about being stigmatized by evidence of pre-marital sex, unmarried women, or their families, turned to abortion to avoid shame and dishonor. [38] In Monroe, Georgia, twenty-three-year-old Mary Cunningham was regarded as a “young lady . . . borne of good character until recently.” After a sexual “liaison . . . with a young man in the town,” she performed an abortion on herself but it somehow became public knowledge. Rather than face a criminal proceeding, she poisoned herself with strychnine. [39]
The Palmetto State had its own share of abortion deaths. In 1811, Elizabeth Hornsby denied being pregnant. When asked “if she was with child, as such report was in circulation” she denied the rumor, but, according to Mrs. McGrave, “Elizabeth took hold of her belly with both her hands & squezed it up in a very violent motion.” Called to Elizabeth's residence to tend her “cold,” another witness delivered a “female child which appeared to lack about two months of coming to its full term. The child was alive & made some noise like crying, lived about over hour & there expired.” Given the concealed pregnancy, this case appears to be an abortion and is labeled as such. The case of Martha Gibson is even clearer. Aided by Ann Williams, a woman “in the habit [of] giving stuff to women to have an abortion,” Martha Gibson ingested “red bay bark tea, the ashes of dried corn cobs, some kipps” to terminate her pregnancy in May 1829. The deceased fetus was found in a state of decay. Other cases are less clear. M. A. Lipscomb, in the late stages of pregnancy, had either an abortion or a miscarriage in March 1880. Hearing an infant’s cry, a witness came upon a strange scene: a recently-born "child was on one side of the fence” and the mother was “hanging across the fence, facing the child.” Given the unusual circumstances, the witness thought it looked like a failed abortion attempt. Not all witnesses reached the same verdict, however. In her testimony, Jane Lipscomb said her sister was simply ill, “Suffering for serveral days with diarrhea” and taking pills obtained from a Dr. Westerfell, a local medical practitioner. Whatever the case, the child lived, and Elizabeth died.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF INFANT—Inquest Finding (Abortion): “do say upon their oaths that the infant female child came to its death by injury received before its birth … and they are of opinion . . . that the injury which said infant child received . . . was done to it by its mother while it was yet in her womb”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF INFANT—Inquest Finding (Abortion): “do say upon their oaths … that upon the examination of the dead body [it] was found in such decayed state that nothing could be seen to satisfy us.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF M. A. LIPSCOMB—Inquest Finding (Abortion or Miscarriage): upon their oaths do say that the said deceased came to her death from hemorhage caused by premature labor, said labor produced by diarrhea”
Other: Execution
Nineteenth century state governments executed individuals for various crimes, including rape, robbery, assault, and murder. Source limitations preclude precise calculations, but at least 531 individuals died from legal execution in South Carolina from 1865 until 1962, the vast majority of them African-American men (461 African Americans, 68 whites, and 2 native Americans). [40] Execution is not a natural death nor is it typically considered a homicide, so these cases fall within the “other” category. While prevalent in South Carolina, few examples of execution appear in CSI: Dixie's South Carolina dataset, probably because there was no mystery about how they died. In Missouri, where the coroner and medical examiner were more proactive, we see several execution inquests. Alfred Blunt, “the negro-wife murder,” was hanged in 1887. [41] Preparing to meet his maker, he was baptized just days before his execution at the St. Louis jail hospital. [42] In 1886, Robert Grayor murdered one Berry Evans, and Grayor, described by the local German-language newspaper as “der Neger,” was hanged for his crime. [43] In 1891, Henry Hanson, a white male, murdered his wife and was sentenced to death by hanging. [44] Not all executions were carried out after a deliberative trial. In these instances, the deceased typically died during a violent confrontation with police while resisting arrest. In 1913, Jim Davis, “the negro desperado,” made headlines in South Carolina when police officers surrounded his cabin in Middlendorf. Davis barricaded himself in the home and, aided by his wife, prepared for a siege. Finding a good vantage from inside the house, Davis shot the sheriff in the right leg, put a bullet through the deputy’s left hand, and killed Mr. King, a member of the police posse. Law enforcement then set fire to the house. Rather than surrender, Davis burned to death inside the home. [45] While unusual, this case has been classified as an execution since it was carried out by law enforcement and therefore can't cleanly be described as a homicide and certainly was no accident.
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF W. BOGGAN CASH—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths do say: "That deceased came to his death on the morning of the 15th day of May 1884, at his place from gunshot wounds at hands of Deputy Sheriff E. T. King and Posse while resisting arrest.”
THE STATE VS. THE DEAD BODY OF JIM DAVIS—Inquest Finding: “upon their oaths, do say: that Jim Davis came to his death from wound and burns while resisting a regular and lawful posse lead by the Sheriff of the county who were trying to arrest him.”
The Daily Phoenix (Columbia, S.C.), 23 March 1875.
The Daily Phoenix (Columbia, S.C.), 23 March 1875.
The Daily Phoenix (Columbia, S.C.), 23 March 1875.
Julian Curzon, ed., The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, May 27, 1896: Being a Full History of the Most Terrifying and Destructive Tornado in the History of the World (Cyclone Publishing Company, 1896; reprint: Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1997), 19-20.
Curzon, ed., The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, 19-20.
Curzon, ed., The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, 2.
The Butler Weekly Times (Butler, Mo.), 04 June 1896.
Curzon, ed., The Great Cyclone at St. Louis and East St. Louis, xv-xvi.
The Camden Weekly Journal (Camden, S.C.) 28 August 1855.
The Camden Weekly Journal (Camden, S.C.) 28 August 1855.
The Anderson intelligencer (Anderson Court House, S.C.), 27 Nov. 1879.
The Tribune (Beaufort, S.C.), 09 June 1875.
The Tribune (Beaufort, S.C.), 09 June 1875.
The Daily Phoenix (Columbia, S.C.), 08 July 1875.
James C. Whorton, The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), xv.
Alexander Wynter Blyth, Poisons, Their Effects and Detection: A Manual for the Use of Analytical Chemists and Experts, Volume 1 (New York: William Wood & Company, 1885), 297.
Blyth, Poisons, Their Effects and Detection, 145.
Whorton, The Arsenic Century, x.
Blyth, Poisons, Their Effects and Detection, 145.
Blyth, Poisons, Their Effects and Detection, 145.
Blyth, Poisons, Their Effects and Detection, 145.
Olivia B. Waxman, “This Is the Patent for the Device That Made Elevators a Lot Less Dangerous,” Time, March 23, 2017.
Stephen van Dulken, Inventing the 19th Century: 100 Inventions that Shaped the Victorian Age from Aspirin to the Zeppelin (New York: New York University Press, 2001), 168.
W. Sloane Kennedy, “The Vertical Railway,” The Harpers Monthly (November 1882), 893.
W. Sloane Kennedy, “The Vertical Railway,” The Harpers Monthly (November 1882), 894.
Whorton, The Arsenic Century, 13-15.
Edgefield Advertiser (Edgefield, S.C.), 30 June 1858.
Edgefield Advertiser (Edgefield, S.C.), 30 June 1858.
The Tribune (Beaufort, S.C.), 09 June 1875.
The Tribune (Beaufort, S.C.), 09 June 1875.
Edgefield Advertiser (Edgefield, S.C.), 07 July 1869.
Edgefield Advertiser (Edgefield, S.C.), 07 July 1869.
Leslie J. Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867-1973 (University of California Press, 1998), 42.
Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime, 42.
Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime, 41-42.
Reagan, When Abortion Was a Crime, 27-28.
The Daily Phoenix (Columbia, S.C.), 27 Aug. 1869.
Daniel Allen Hearn, Legal Executions in North Carolina and South Carolina: A Comprehensive Registry, 1866–1962 (McFarland, 2015), 8.
Iron County Register (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.), 30 June 1887.
Iron County Register (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.), 30 June 1887.
Hermanner Volksblatt (Hermann, Mo.), 19 Nov. 1886.
Chariton Courier (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.), 28 May 1891.
Keowee Courier (Pickens Court House, S.C.), 01 Oct. 1913.
