Members of the Rotary Club of Griffin learned about the “Goat Man” of Southern legend at their meeting Thursday.

“Today, we have Rev. Jimmy Hammett as our speaker,” said Charles Jones. “He is the premiere authority on Ches McCartney, also known as ‘The Goat Man.’”

Hammett then described his history with McCartney. His father, an electrician who traveled regularly from Georgia to North Carolina, brought him postcards he purchased from McCartney during his travels. In 1983, Hammett saw a picture of McCartney in a Christian bookstore at North Griffin Square and told his wife he would make a movie about him.

“I ended up making two movies about Mr. McCartney,” he said.

McCartney was born in Iowa in 1901. He lost his farm during the Depression and got the idea from the novel “Robinson Crusoe” to dress himself and his family in goat skins. People eventually began to pay to take their picture with him and he began traveling, taking up peddling along the way.

Hammett told one story about how a town thought McCartney was Jesus and treated him very well, until someone figured it out and they ended up tarring and feathering him. During the 1940s, he was suspected of being a Nazi spy and the military and police searched his wagon.

“He’s a colorful character,” Hammett said. “He was called the first hippie.”

During his travels, McCartney met Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy and others. After being assaulted on the road, McCartney retired from traveling. He set out one final time in 1985 to woo actress Morgan Fairchild in California, an episode chronicled on “Saturday Night Live.” He was mugged and severely beaten while in California and was returned to Georgia, where friends got him into a nursing home.

Although Hammett initially heard McCartney was dead, he found out through customers at his Zebulon video store that McCartney was still alive. He set out to meet him. The first time, McCartney seemed out of it and babbled, although during Hammett’s second visit, McCartney was lucid and cooperative. Hammett accompanied McCartney to book signings and other events.

McCartney died in 1998, six months after his son was killed by a youth gang that had been harassing him.

“Even when you are different today, people will not tolerate you,” Hammett said. “We need to be more tolerant of people who are different.”

Afterward, Hammett took questions from the audience. Dick Brooks asked what McCartney sold while on the road and Hammett said McCartney sold goat’s milk, pots and pans, junk and things he found.

“He was considered a tinkerer,” Hammett said.