Putnam patriot., 1930-07-17
"OLD DARNED MANI
 "OLDDARNED COAT"
Eccentric Pedestrian Known Far and Wide Throught
 the Countryside
Had Tragic Love Affsir-Wore We'd
 ding Coat and Ring

known in Nindham county 3f she "Old Darned Coat, as he was called in Rhode Island, as he roamed oyer this county as we'll as considerable portion of Rhode Island. Three quarters of a century ago there lived a monthly visitor. Darn Coat, whose death took place the first of Decem- Der 1863 He was an eccentric pedes, trian who for half a century trayeied through the western part ot knoae Island, and Windham County into Massachusetts, backward and Tor ward. hither and yon, with the cease l lessness of lifes cycle of time. lie | fled by the roadside on a bitterly cold day in the town of Sterling f An interesting but pathetic story ] of this wanderer will call to mind | tales of years ago when he visited the Pomfret Factory Village. E The last of the oldest factory ten- ement blocks still stands on the north ! side or Pomfret Street beside the majestic aterfals-somewhat pack from the street and with it's end to | Church Street-(a story and a hall structure Here seventy-five or more years ago lived Mir. and Mrs. Walter \ Birmingham who kept factory board CTS and nearby Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Smith (Joe Smith) the village black smith for the Wilkinsons where the Darned Man stopped for drink of tea and to mend himself.
 Loves Tragedy | When the subject of this article ! was a young man he was engaged to . | be married to a young lady, and the ' day for the ceremony appointed. ] Suddenly death took the intended bride. As flower of the field she was cut down. The untimely event cast a shadow over the unfortunate man l life. His reason partially left him and he became melancholy and deJect- ed. The identical coat in which he was to have been married, he eontin- ued fo wear as long as he lived. The patches and darns with which 1t was !. covered on account of occasional mis- | haps. gave rise to the name by which he was familiarly known in our region-"0ld Darued Coat or the sDarn Man" Not only his coat but vest and trousers were literally coy- cred with artistic alarming, usually in black on all his outside clothing but also his stockings he mended. He wore the ring. which his bride was to wear until 1t was almost imbedded 1 in the flesh of his finger As he wan- ! dered along the road his most ire auent attitude was with his head bent l low with his eyes attentiyely fixed up- on the ring, apparently engaged in solemn thoughts of what might have been. His lie had been spent in one long pilgrimage over the western part of Rhode Island and the eastern part of Connecticut, finding a temporary abode among friendly people until Father Time restored him to whom he SO fondlv and constantly loved.
 Talked Little
 His peculiarities We may mention. He was reticient-never asking ques- tions but would briefly answer any of him asked He was very quiet and well behaved His name and birth place were forgotten. No real name had he but wGs always known as the "Old Darned Man" He frequently ate his lunch while standing and drank his tea piping hot. The tea be- ing made by the kindly people especially for him he wished to take away the leaves for future use which request was granted by those that be- | kAtNtd III AAAA iAik HAb tb& PANN eept-that "As you render kindness unto one of the least of my bretheren you render it also unto me-" Seldom could he be accommodated over night in the Pomfret Factory Village. Rooms were full but the good people, among them the boarding house mis- tress and the blacksmith's wife, gave him food which he ate standing as he warmed himself by the kitchen fire or in the shop.
 Only a Beggar
 From "0nly a Beggar" printed in the Providence Press in 1863.
 He was weary and worn with travel, His feet could no further go,
 In chase of the beautiful phantom, That beckoned from Hong ago" With eyes. like the eyes of the maid
 en.
 Full of gentleness and truth,
 Who died on the morn of her bridal, The love of his long lost youth;
 And left him. so crazed and heart
 broken.
 To wander alone through life.
 Its joys and it's pleasures unheedIng, Unheeded its turmoil and strife.
 He was bIonzed with the suns of
 summer,
 He was pinched with winters cold, His fare was but seanty and meagre, He sought no silver or gold,
 Nor honor from men; but still on-
 ward,
 With eager and restless tread
 Never turning aside one moment, He keeps his trust with the dead. How gently the moonlight is falling On the forehead white and bare, And the hands that were clasped in