The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1910-06-09
"GUINEA CHARLES" IS DEAD.
1.-THE Children of Bamberg versus
Guinea Charles"

Hush, children, old Guinea Charles
is dead.
For years and years an old man
has been the defendant in the suit of
the "Children of Bamberg VS.. Guinea
Charles" The case is now closed;
the defendant has entered his last
plea and the little folks are enjoined
from again hurting at him the ia
miliar call of the guinea and thus
entering into and Joining in the ac-
cusation made years ago that the old
man had stolen some of the pa
track, pa-track" family owned by
fellow citizen now dead. His name
was familiar to everybody, old men,
young men, boys and girls and little
children of all ages. Have you heard
of him. No. Then you have read your
self out of the party of 'Bamberg
boys and girls and you are stranger
to Bamberg child life. AS each little
Cu1lu Ill IuS Io"u udo Oil liAF0o az eAA~
age of very few years, they have
learned to lisp the "pa-track, pa.
track" of the guinea to hurl it at
the old man as he and his little sor-
rel mule went by. He in turn an
swered each with shake of his
whip and a call of warning that he
would "get them after dark, you just
wait" To the hearts of the little
ones this was fraught with serious
meaning; to the older ones it was the
long and well-known reply of
Jolly old man assuming wrath where
there was none and giving the ap-
pearance of injured innocence when
there was knowledge on his part that
no harm was intended. Many is the
time that, Old Guinea Charles has
passed through the business section
of the town on quiet summers day
and had to fight his way by warding
off the pelting of the cries from boys
and men as well as they each in turn
took up the cry of "pa-track, pa
track" and guinea, guinea, guinea
The accusation against the old man
has become somewhat of a tradition
and each generation has taken up
the cry with renewed vfgor. But the
old man is dead and eighty-fve years
of honesty on his part, spent in try
ing times and times less trying, de-
mand that his name be vindicated
and that further charges be Cancelled
and his true worth be made known.
This is the truth: Old Guinea
Charles was an honest negro; simple
as a child himself, he was very fond
of children and although. his days
have been often full of teasing cries
of children and his dreams filled
with the thoughts of his tormentors,
he was always to the last the same
old honest Guinea Charles. And old
Guinea Charles knew that he had
never stolen the guinea; and he knew
that others knew that he had never
stolen the guineas and he also knew
that others knew that he knew that
he had never stolen the guineas, and
that was the reason he was always
the same old Guinea Charles, the lit
tie old man with the sorrel mule
and the little whip. Often, how often
have you seen the old fellow? Of
ten, old fellow, have you teased the
old man. But that is gone now. The
little sorrel mule and the little, old
wagon will know their master no
more.
Old Charles was in the war. Would
youu believe it? Death itself is Of
en- the only thing that brings out such
facts. He was once a young man;
that seems hard to believe of an old
negro, eighty-five years old, and
shrunken to very small proportions.
But he followed his young masters
through the war. He was the proper
ty of Mr.. Henry Mcmillan, of the
Colston section, and when Mr.. Nc
Millan's two sons Messrs. Carey and
Pinckney, went to war, Charles went
too. Charles was in the same COM
pany that went from this section and
was in Hagood's crowd of fighting
men.
There has been a number of cha
racters locally famous such as old
Woodberry, of whom it is believed
that he never had a home, and whose
motto seemed to be, ''do nothing and
dress as little as the law will allow
Old Wash Brabham, the greatest UNI
pire ever on the scene of action, of
whom it was known that no team
could ever win If he was umpiring
for Bamberg; and whose mouth was
undoubtedly the biggest ever grown
in these parts; and others, some
,ivinp some dead hit of any of these