Sarah S. Cohen Wolfe

Born in Charleston to Rabbi Hartwig Cohen (1784-1861) and Deborah Marks Cohen (1801-1888), Sarah S. Cohen (1827-1888) married wealthy upcountry merchant and enslaver, Saling Wolfe (1817-1893), in 1841. Making a home in Winnsboro, Sarah gave birth to at least thirteen children as Saling managed S. Wolfe—a dry goods store—and oversaw a large farm.

Facing economic decline following the Civil War, Saling sold his dry goods stock to his brother Jacob (b. c. 1826) and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1866. Based on surviving newspaper records, Sarah likely remained in Fairfield County with her children. While working for her brother-in-law in 1868, Sarah publicly declared that she would begin operating as sole-trader—or an independent female merchant—in Winnsboro the following month.

Operating under the name S. S. Wolfe—as she was also called in her obituary—Sarah continued to raise her young family while selling clothing, shoes, and dry goods. When Saling returned to Winnsboro around 1869, he appears to have focused his attention on the farm and left the family’s mercantile pursuits to Sarah. S. S. Wolfe ultimately closed in 1871, and Sarah passed away a year later.