As best that I can remember, the first time that I ever
heard mention of the Goat Man was from former Frisco City High School coach and
teacher Curtis Harris, who would mention this unusual folk character from time
to time in his classes. Later, when prompted, I heard my father talk about the
Goat Man as well. Sometime last year, I heard about a book on the Goat Man
called “America’s Goat Man: Mr. Ches McCartney” by Darryl Patton, and I added
it to my “bucket list” a few months ago.
My wife got me a copy of “America’s Goat Man” for Christmas,
and I started reading it on Monday of last week. I officially scratched it off
my bucket list when I finished reading it on Friday night. All in all, this
160-page book told me everything I ever wanted to know about the Goat Man.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Goat Man, his real name
was Charles “Ches” McCartney, a native of Keokuk County, Iowa. Born on July 6,
1901, McCartney became a somewhat famous American itinerant wanderer who
traveled up and down the eastern United States from 1936 to 1987 in a
ramshackle wagon pulled by a team of goats. He claimed to have covered more
than 100,000 miles and visited all U.S. states except Hawaii.
McCartney, whose left arm was mangled in a timber-cutting accident,
began his travels on July 4, 1936 when he decided to build a wagon, hitch it to
his herd of goats and begin traveling the country to preach. Leaving his old
Iowa farm, McCartney would spend the next five decades traveling all over the
country, preaching, living mostly off goat milk and selling postcards and
photographs of himself to the crowds that flocked to see him. During that time,
he was featured in countless newspaper articles, and he survived all sorts of
unusual adventures, run-ins with the law and near-misses on America’s highways.
As things go, McCartney hung up his traveling shoes in 1987
and he eventually passed away at the age of 97 on Nov. 15, 1998 in a Macon, Ga.
nursing home. Those of you wishing to visit his grave can see it today at the
Jeffersonville Cemetery in Jeffersonville, Ga.
Patton’s book was published by Little River Press in 2003,
and his book details the Goat Man’s many wanderings around the Southeast and
beyond. The book also contains scores of interesting photos that show the Goat
Man as a young traveler and up to his days in a Georgia nursing home. Much of
the book appears to have been gleaned from old newspaper stories about the Goat
Man as well as from personal accounts from people who personally encountered
the Goat Man.
In the end, how many of you have read “America’s Goat Man”
by Darryl Patton? What did you think about it? How many of you had personal
encounters with the Goat Man? Let us know in the comments section below.
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