ГАК
HEEL PROFILE
By Jack Conley
A Beard To Remember
This Tar Heel could claim the world's longest chin whiskers.
Of all the many distinctions that
North Carolina can claim, one
of the least significant but
nonetheless interesting is that it was
once the home of the man with the
longest beard in the world.
Sam G. Brinkley of Mitchell County
had that distinction. He allowed his
beard to grow until it was 5 feet 8
inches long, reaching the floor
and lapping over three inches.
Sam Brinkley was the son of Al¬
exander Brinkley of Meck¬
lenburg County, and a twin
brother to my grandmother,
Nancy Lurena Sparks of Snow
Creek Township in Mitchell
County.
Alexander Brinkley, the father
of Sam, was from one of Meck¬
lenburg County’s oldest pioneer
families. The Brinkleys of Scotch
and German descent were early
setters near Charlotte and were
related to the Alexander family of
Mecklenburg County. No fewer
than four of the men were signers
of the Mecklenburg Declaration
of Independence, which was
signed May 20, 1775. Alexander
was an educated man, a Baptist
minister, as well as being a school
teacher. He was also register of
deeds of Yancey County, having
married and migrated to that
mountain county many years be¬
fore the War Between the States.
Uncle Sam was born in 1850.
The early years of his life were
spent farming and teaching
school in Yancey and Mitchell coun¬
ties. Times were hard during those
days following the War. From his early
manhood, Uncle Sam had an abun¬
dant growth of beard, which grew so
fast that he had to shave twice every
day to remain presentable.
Finally, at age 26. he grew tired of
having to shave so often and allowed
his beard to grow, and grow it did.
Uncle Sam soon found that wearing
a beard of such unusual length was an
inconvenience for it was constantly
getting in his way. As it grew longer
and longer, he fell on the idea of wear¬
ing it in a silk sack, tucked away inside
his shirt and vest, leaving only a fairly
normal length of whiskers visible
That was when he first discovered
that he had real “cash money" in his
beard, and people began to pay him to
see it. He had post card pictures
printed with his beard on display, and
after showing his beard, he found a
ready sale of the cards to everyone pre¬
sent. His charge for showing his beard
was a dime to an individual and a
quarter to a group.
It wasn’t long before the owners of
the Barnum-Bailey Circus heard of
Uncle Sam and his beard, so they
hired him to travel with the circus. He
was billed “The Longest Bearded Man
in the World."
During the years that Uncle Sam
traveled with the circus, they hap¬
pened to be in Canada when King
Edward VII was visiting that part of
the British Empire. King Edward
heard about Uncle Sam and his boun¬
tiful beard and let it be known that he
desired to see him. Uncle Sam
visited the King and showed him
his beard. The king was so im¬
pressed that he gave Uncle Sam
an autographed photograph of
his own bearded self. Uncle Sam
was very proud of that picture,
and showed it to our family when
he visited us at Pcnland in 1923.
Uncle Sam was a tall, hand¬
some man. He no doubt was
popularwith the ladies of his day,
as he had much appeal in his
looks, personality, talent and in¬
tellect. He had the opportunity to
meet ladies far and near in his
travels, but he married a lady
from Big Rock Creek, near Mag¬
netic City (now known as Bu-
ladean) in Mitchell County. Her
name was Vista Street, and they
were the parents of several chil¬
dren.
Uncle Sam spent the last years
of his life at Buladean, occasion¬
ally visiting in our home. He
passed away in December 1929
at the age of 79. and now lies bur¬
ied in the Presbyterian Ceme¬
tery at the foot of beautiful Roan
Mountain.
On his gravestone, under glass, is a
full length picture of him with his
beard on full display so that all may
see that HERE LIES THE REMAINS
OF THE LONGEST BEARDED MAN
IN THE WORLD.
The post card showing Sam Brinkley and
his beard.
The Suic/October’89
25
