A Step Back in Time            By Bobbie Sue Shelton

The Goat Man

Who remembers the ‘Goat Man’ who came thru Eagleville? I’m sure the people who were living in Eagleville at that time remember him. Word of his arrival would reach Eagleville long before the sounds of clanking pots, iron wheels and the bleating goats. His route each year did not bring him through Eagleville very often but he is remembered camping at several different places. I remember in the 1950s when he camped under the big trees next to the home of Walter Shelton, which was located next to the creek on the south end of Eagleville, presently a vacant lot. He used the creek to water all his "babies" as he referred to his goats.

Mr.Ches McCartney, better known as "The Goat Man," was born in Van Buren Township, Keokuk County, Iowa on July 6, 1901. At the age of 14 he ran away from home and went to New York where he met his first wife, a Spanish knife thrower, while he was selling papers on the street corner. They soon married, Ches was 14 and his wife was 24. When they were expecting their first child, they decided to settle down and bought a farm in What Cheer, Iowa. Their lives were prosperous until the depression and the McCartney’s were virtually wiped out. Their horses died and all that was left were a few goats. They tried plowing the fields with them but the goats proved unsuitable for turning the earth. Ches got a job and while working with the Works Project Administration (WPA) he had a very bad accident. A tree fell across his body and he lay for several hours before found. He was pronounced dead and was taken to a morgue. He stated in an interview, "the undertaker was slow and by the time he got around to working on me, the life came back into my body and I regained consciousness. It was as if I had been raised from the dead." He was left with a permanent arm injury. After living on charity a couple of years he decided it was time to earn his own living and his life with the goats began. The McCartney family hitched some goats to a handcrafted wagon and with an ample supply of food the McCartney’s went on the road. Ches claimed to have a Certificate of Ordination from the Universal Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ and also a ministerial license issued by the state of Georgia. On the road, Ches would read the Bible or preach to anyone who would listen. It was said, at times his language wasn’t that of a preacher and could be very unpleasant. He sold booklets and pictures of his family and the goats for income during his travels. He also accepted donations from visitors who came to his campsites. Good citizens often cooked and fed him home cooking along the way. Due to the hardship of living in a wagon Mrs. McCartney soon tired of the traveling and deserted her husband and son. While on the road, Ches would take his son, Albert Gene, to live with his grandparents so he could attend school. When school was not in session, father, son and the goats would travel together returning to their home base in Georgia for short periods of time. Over the years, Ches was married two more times and had children by each of these wives.

Ches McCartney, "The Goat Man", travels through Middle Tennessee - circa 1947.

Ches McCartney was of average height with long hair and a full bushy beard. Deep wrinkles etched his face and a pea like mole protrudes from his upper lip. He usually wore dirty bib overalls and shirt, a faded baseball cap and brogans. At times he dressed in goatskins to attract a crowd during his travels. As expected, he was very much in need of a bath and smelled very much like his goats. He washed his clothes in the goats watering tubs and hung them on the wagon to dry. Cooking was over an open fire. He often built his fires with paper, twigs and rubber tires he’d pick up along the road. He claimed the black smoke would keep the insects away. He milked the goats and would drink the milk straight from the jar. He believed the warm goats milk contributed to his good health.

The "Goat Man" estimated his approximately *50 years of travels from 1937 to 1987 took him over 100,000 miles in 49 states. He normally traveled only 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. On Saturday he rested and on Sunday he observed as a day of Worship. He walked many of those miles riding only when he got tired of walking. He often let some of the goats especially the babies ride in the tarp covered wagon, which he also used for sleeping. He usually traveled with approximately 30 goats, 12 to 15 goats pulling the cart-wagon contraption and the others were tied to the sides and back. Many, many items hung from his traveling home which resembled a junk yard; pots, pans, buckets, tools, license plates, old tires, wire, bottles, canvas and kerosene lanterns to name a few. He stated, "On cold winter nights my goats are the finest electric blanket I can find. The colder it gets, the more goats I cover up with. Thirty degrees is a one-goat night and below zero is a five-goat night." Ches McCartney claimed the goats taught him a lot over the years. "They don’t care how I smell or look. They trust me and have faith in me, and this is more than I can say about a lot of people." He also stated "I’ve been cursed, beaten, shot at and denied access to public accommodations, but I managed to keep on the move with what little money I make selling books and pictures. People come out and ask me why I go up and down the road," he said. "Well, it’s nobody’s business where I go. A lady asked me when I last had a bath and I told her probably when my parents bathed me 65 years ago. What business is it of hers? I know I’m dirty, but I ain’t got no banker’s job."

The McCartneys - Ches "The Goat Man", his wife and his son, Albert Gene.

In 1970, Ches McCartney’s home base was in Jefferson, Georgia. His home was a two-room shack off a busy highway in Jeffersonville, Georgia. His home also served as a chapel. It had a small metal steeple and several crosses were tacked onto the front of it. He had no electricity or running water and contained only an old wooden bench that served as a table, a rickety chair and a mattress that was on the floor. When the old Franklin stove doesn’t put out enough heat to overcome winter’s cold, McCartney slept with his goats. In May 1978 this home caught fire but McCartney was able to escape without serious injury. His next home was in an old converted school bus parked on a two-acre lot west of Jeffersonville.

In August 1985, Ches McCartney mysteriously disappeared from his home area and law enforcement officials issued a missing persons bulletin. He was located in October in a Los Angeles hospital. He said he’d gone west to romance actress Morgan Fairchild, but he ended up getting mugged instead. When asked how he got to California, he replied: "On the bus and the plane. You know, I’m always on the go. He flew home a few days later.

In 1987, The Goat Man’s wandering days came to an end due to a tragic incident on Signal Mountain outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee where he was mugged late one night. He awoke to find a gash in his head that required 27 stitches to close. To his horror and sadness, eight of his goats lay dead, their throats slashed. After a short stay in the hospital, he returned home parked his wagon and never took it on the road again. A few months later he entered the Eastview Nursing Home, Twiggs County, Georgia. According to Ches, he gave his remaining goats to Walt Disney World because, "they’d given me a good living, and I wanted to give them a good home". While a resident of the nursing home, he often entertained visitors with his stories of travel and also made a few celebrity trips. Ches McCartney, The Goat Man, died in November 1998 at the age of 97.

It will probably remain a mystery how Ches McCartney lived on the meager income he received from donations and the sale of pictures and booklet. It was rumored at one time that he was a very wealthy man, but no proof of this ever surfaced. He did file income taxes and it was reported that he drew $64.00 per month social security. "I ought to be getting $100", he stated.

In researching Ches McCartney, The Goat Man, I found information written in news article and quotes by many people who encounter him through the years different. As on any other subject, memories of different individuals aren’t always the same and in interviews, Mr. McCartney would also give conflicting information.