The Goat Man

[gwalchmai]

The Goat Man was a fixture of life in the South in the 50s & 60s. My dad would always pull over and visit with him and his goats whenever we'd encounter them.

https://www.themoonlitroad.com/legendary-goat-man-charles-ches-mccartney/

The Goat Man’s Traveling Show

Upon arriving at his chosen campsite, usually on the outskirts of some town, the Goat Man’s first responsibility was to feed and water his goats. He would then build a campfire out of whatever sticks and trash he could find lying around and cook his dinner. The final touch was to throw a couple of junk tires on the fire that he kept stocked in his wagon. He claimed that the thick, acrid smoke chased the mosquitos away and added a distinct flavor to his food. But the burning tires more than likely served a more ingenious purpose: to attract visitors.

Thinking there had been a car wreck, curiosity seekers already held up behind his slow-moving caravan would rush over to the campsite at the sight of the smoke. There, they would find the Goat Man drinking flesh goat milk from his herd, which he claimed had kept him healthy for years. He would then offer up a plethora of novelties for sale: booklets on his travels, picture postcards, proprietary medicines, sewing materials. Whether folks bought something or not, he always thanked everyone for coming out.

All of the money he raised either went to the maintenance of his goats or to a series of churches he planned to build throughout the South. The Goat Man claimed to have been ordained by the Pentecostal Church, and refused to travel on Sundays so that he could preach in a booming voice to the crowds gathered around his wagon. One of his tiny churches, the Free Thinking Christian Mission in Jeffersonville, Georgia, stood for several years until vandals burned it down. When I asked him about this, he sadly shook his head. “Takes all kind of people to make a world,” he said. “And I think we got ’em, all right.”

For those hardy visitors who could stand the stench and the constantly bleating goats, the Goat Man would eagerly recount stories of his travels and offer opinions on his three favorite subjects: God, politics and women. He claimed modern day preachers were only interested in the Almighty Dollar, and warned of upcoming race wars and economic depressions. He also tried to generate interest in a run for the Presidency on a third party ticket. By the late 1960s, he claimed to have been married three times, fathered children by each of his wives, and to have received over 25 additional marriage proposals. “The Good Lord gave me three wives, which proved to be three too many,” he would often say. “The Good Book says that there’ll be seven women for every man. Somebody can sure have my other four.”

[gwalchmai]

Not just in Georgia, either.

 

[Huaco Kid]

"Why does that one only have three legs?"

::burp:: "Wha'd you say?"

[railfancwb]

I recall reading about goat men who used their herd? flock? to groom rugged landscaping around buildings. 

[ChuteTheMall]

Don't be burning tires around here.

[gwalchmai]

14 hours ago, Huaco Kid said:

"Why does that one only have three legs?"

::burp:: "Wha'd you say?"

"Can't eat a goat as nice as that in one setting..."

[ChuteTheMall]

"I dindu muttin'"  

[gwalchmai]

3 hours ago, railfancwb said:

I recall reading about goat men who used their herd? flock? to groom rugged landscaping around buildings. 

When I lived in ATL I knew a lady who had a goat tribe which regularly stayed in her yard, trimming. They'd drop 'em off for a few days every month. Apparently, it was cost-effective. 

[janice6]

4 hours ago, gwalchmai said:

When I lived in ATL I knew a lady who had a goat tribe which regularly stayed in her yard, trimming. They'd drop 'em off for a few days every month. Apparently, it was cost-effective. 

I stayed at a motel/hotel in New London, PA and woke to a herd of sheep manicuring the lawn adjacent to the building.  They said it was "expedient".