The ‘Goat Man’ visited Monroeville, Alabama in October of 1959

Charlie 'Ches' McCartney, aka 'The Goat Man'

Yesterday – July 6 – marked 122 years since the birth of Charlie “Ches” McCartney in Keokuk County, Iowa.

The name Charlie “Ches” McCartney may not sound familiar to some readers, but many might remember him better as “The Goat Man.” Years and years ago, McCartney was a famous itinerant wanderer who traveled up and down the eastern United States from 1930 to 1987 in a ramshackle wagon pulled by a large team of goats. McCartney claimed to have covered more than 100,000 miles and visited every state except for Hawaii.

McCartney crisscrossed Alabama numerous times and passed through Monroe County at least once. McCartney and his herd of goats were a strange sight and left a big impression on everyone who saw them. I’ve ran into many people over the years who saw the Goat Man, and they all have vivid memories of this remarkable character.

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. My father, who grew up in Conecuh County, also remembered watching the Goat Man drive his goat-powered wagon down Evergreen’s main street in the early 1960s. No doubt there are many Monroe County residents today with similar memories of the Goat Man.

McCartney, whose left arm was mangled in a timber-cutting accident, began his cross-country 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 50 years 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 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.

It’s known that McCartney visited Monroe County in October 1959, and according to the Oct. 22, 1959 edition of The Monroe Journal, he was the “most widely-discussed visitor to Monroe County in quite a while.” The newspaper said that he set up camp at Ollie, and his traveling companions included his son, Albert Gene, and another man, who suffered a heart attack on Oct. 18. The heart attack victim, who was not named, “was carried back to the McCartney headquarters at Jeffersonville, Ga.”

The newspaper went on to say that “hundreds of residents thronged to the intersection at Ollie to see the Goat Man, apparently not repelled one bit by the pungent atmosphere in the area.” The newspaper also included a photo of McCartney and his son that was taken by Monroeville photographer Max McAliley.

For those of you interested in reading more about the Goat Man, I highly recommend Darryl Patton’s 2003 book, “America’s Goat Man: Mr. Ches McCartney,” which 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 met him.

In the end, if anyone in the reading audience remembers seeing the Goat Man traveling or camping in Monroe County, please send me an e-mail to tell me what you remember about him.