Stagecoach bandit nicknamed “Black Bart.” Exceedingly rare ink signature, “Charles E. Boles,” on an off-white 2 x .5 slip. Information indicates that the signature was removed from a September 1864 receipt for military stores for Company B, 116th Illinois Infantry. Boles signed as First Sergeant, witnessing the other signatures. During the siege of Vicksburg, May 18-July 4, 1863, Boles had been promoted to First Sergeant. He was with General Sherman’s army, and on May 26, 1864, he received a severe wound in the right abdomen. Boles returned to his unit in August and continued the “March to the Sea” with Sherman. After the war, in 1867, Boles went to the silver mines of Idaho and Montana then, in 1871, to the gold fields of California. On July 26, 1875, the Sonora to Milton stage in Calaveras County, California was robbed by a man wearing a flour sack over his head with two holes cut out for the eyes. He carried a double-barreled shotgun and wore a long linen duster and sacks on his boots as well. His voice was deep and resonant and the only thing he said was: “Please throw down the box!” He was polite and used no foul language. These became his trademarks. Boles, like many others, read “Dime Novel” style serial adventure stories that ran in the newspapers. In the 1870s, the Sacramento Union ran a serial called The Case of Summerfield. The story's villain, Bartholomew Graham, had unruly black hair, a large black beard and wild gray eyes and dressed in black. Called “Black Bart,” he was wanted for crimes including robbing Wells Fargo stages. Boles decided to build on this fictional legend. A small crease to beginning of signature and a closely trimmed top edge, otherwise fine condition. R&R COA.
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