50 years ago ... January/February 1959.

Everybody liked Old Charlie. His small shoe shine stand next to the courthouse had been there for nearly as long as anyone could remember. Some thought it had been there as long as the courthouse itself. Everybody said "Hello" to Charlie and he always returned the greeting. His familiar figure, busy at work, seemed like a permanent part of the main street scene. He was the town's only Negro resident.

But one day he was not at his usual stand. Old Charlie had become ill and had quietly died. No one knew of any relatives and he had lived alone. Funeral services were arranged--and then a question arose. Where should old Charlie by buried? There was only one small cemetery Some thought he should be buried there, just like anybody else. Others strongly disagreed. The town faced its first race problem.

Viewpoints were discussed. Almost everybody had an opinion and expressed it. Solutions were offered, discussed, and rejected. A special committee was formed, but it could not reach a decision. Finally, Old Charlie was buried a little beyond the cemetery's edge. A plain marble stone marked the place.

But that was thirty years ago. The town and the cemetery have grown. And now the weathered, plain marble stone rests almost in the middle of the cemetery.

Alfred C. Clarke, "Old Charlie"