Sheriff Hampton 1

At least two and probably three of the Yoknapatawpha county sheriffs are named "Hampton." They are all named, or nicknamed, "Hub," except for one "Hope Hampton." They appear in five novels and one short story. While the scholarly consensus is that there are two Sheriff Hamptons, our data suggests that there are three: grandfather, father and son - or perhaps great-grandfather, grandson and great-grandson. In either case, this is the earliest Hampton, who is is county sheriff in two novels, both set around the turn into the 20th century: The Hamlet and The Reivers. In the first novel he arrests Mink Snopes; in the second he makes sure the "Negro girl" whom Boon shoots by mistake gets to the doctor's, but then tells Maury Priest that "a new dress," "a bag of candy" and "ten dollars" for her father is enough to "settle" her claim against Boon (15).