Cassius Q. Benbow

Submitted by sfr on Thu, 2019-08-01 10:05
Character Key Number: 
333
Display Name: 
Cassius Q. Benbow
Sort Name: 
Benbow, Cassius Q.
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

This emancipated slave is mentioned in "Skirmish at Sartoris" and again in The Unvanquished. Before the Civil War, Cassius was called "Uncle Cash"; he was enslaved by the Benbow family and worked as their carriage driver (66, 199). He is illiterate. During the War he "run off with the Yankees" (66, 199), but has returned to Jefferson and been appointed "Acting Marshal" by the northerners who are trying to reconstruct the town's government (66, 199). It is his possible election as Marshal that precipitates the story's climax.

Linked Characters