Ever get something or someone on your mind and can’t “shake it?” Had one of those times recently and thought about Dick Hilburn. For older folks in the Bladenboro area, Dick Hilburn is a name to remember. He was born without legs, and only one arm. He was a proud man who, according to all accounts, was very talented.
Dick lived about 2 blocks, maybe less, from the stoplight in Bladenboro at the intersection of NC 410/131 and 242 north.
He was born on January 11, 1918 and worked daily as an adult, either at his home or traveling with a carnival or road show. He was the first tattoo artist I ever heard of, and he was a painter. It was not unusual to see commercial trucks in his yard and him doing the lettering on the side of the door, or wherever it was needed.
Dick married a normal lady and in their travels, they met and began to travel with ‘The Frog Boy,’ Carl Norwood, an African American who was born with about the same features as Dick. Mrs. Hilburn became the business manager for Norwood.
You would see Dick, traveling on his skateboard, pushing himself forward with his good right arm, sometimes several times in a day, heading into town, when he was at home. He apparently was not content to sit and do nothing. And, according to published accounts, he managed his own business while on the road traveling around the world in ‘show business.’
On one occasion, he was ordered to Bladen County Court for some kind of ‘fracas’ at his home, maybe a disagreement with his spouse. He went to court, but like many, he became frustrated with the pace of the ‘house of justice’ and left. Headlines in local paper….’Local legless, one armed man escapes from 14 law enforcement officers’. Either he had arranged, or caught a ride back to Bladenboro.
He was born on January 15, 1918 and died in 1971. He is buried in Lewis cemetery in Bladenboro, according to numerous accounts.
For more on this interesting individual, Google, Dick Hilburn, the quarter man or use his full name, Richard Daniel (Dick) Hilburn.
He was, according to those who knew him best, a strong-willed, smart, hard-working man, with, an unusual handicap.
Today’s Dixie Youth baseball team from 1977, we again use the info provided by the Southeastern Times.
Center Roads Dixie Youth Majors:
Billy Baxley, Lawrence Butler, Brian Rankin, Rodney Guyton, Ronnie Britt, Chris Thompson, Bobby Pait, Fran Pait, Kindall Guyton, Danny Hood, Davy Evers, Lloyd Guyton and the coaches were James Pait and Wilbur Carroll.
Next, it will be the Clarkton Majors.
I am known at the gym as the “before picture.”
Velcro – what a ripoff!
I like to hold hands at the movies…which always seems to startle strangers.
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