The Goat Man arrived on Hwy 558 in the Piney Woods Community, in about 1947.

Posted July 17, 2013 at 1:33 pm

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The Goat Man

by Sara N. Anderson

The “Goat Man” people called him because he always had six or eight goats pulling an old wagon cart with wheels. His real name was Charles “Ches” McCartney.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he came through Albany and Clinton County several times as he moved from place to place around the country. I remember him stopping at our house on Burkesville Road, and my mother, Jane Needham, giving him something to eat.

In addition to the goats pulling the cart, there would be others at the side and behind. It was a noisy scene, as pots and pans hanging from every crevice would be banging and goats would be bleating.

My husband, Warinner, who was going to Pine Grove Grade School at the time, remembers that when the “Goat Man” passed the school, the teacher would let the children out so they could see the oddity.

The “Goat Man” sold pictures of him and his goats on his travels. If anyone has one of his pictures, please let me know as I would like to have a copy. My address is 7712 Brewer Drive, Louisville, KY 40258.

Ches lived to be an old man, and died in a nursing home in 1998 in Macon, Georgia, at the age of 97.

Sara N. Anderson

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Chester Brown, Paul Anderson, the Goat Man, and Earl Brown in front of the old school house on Hwy. 558, in about 1947.

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Joe Dale Means, Chester Brown and the Goat Man on Hwy. 558 in Piney Woods, in about 1947.