Unnamed German Carpetbagger

Character Key Number: 
3158
Display Name: 
Unnamed German Carpetbagger
Sort Name: 
Unnamed German Carpetbagger
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

Like another of the earliest settlers in Jefferson mentioned in Requiem for a Nun, this man is "German" and a "blacksmith" (183), but they are very different figures. This man is one of the "carpetbaggers" who come to Jefferson at the end of the Civil War, a deserter from the Union Army who arrives "riding a mule" and, according to the tales that were later told about him, bringing with him "for saddle-blanket sheaf on sheaf of virgin and uncut United States banknotes" - no doubt nefariously obtained (183). Eventually his family becomes part of the "town's new aristocracy" (183). (See Unnamed German Blacksmith in this index.)