Today, we remember Laurens County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Willie James Blakely, South Carolina State Dispensary Commission Constable James Rollin Cooler, and South Carolina State Dispensary Constable Robert Hayne Pepper.
On this date in 1980, Deputy Blakely was struck and killed by a vehicle while directing traffic at the scene of a previous accident.
On this date in 1913, Dispensary Constable Rollin Cooler was shot from ambush and fatally wounded while raiding five blind tigers on St. Helena Island in Beaufort County.
On this date in 1894, Dispensary Constable R. H. Pepper was shot and killed during an anti-Dispensary riot at the railroad depot in Darlington.
