Charles "Charlie" Ware

Charles Ware (May 4, 1914 – March 10, 1999) was an African-American field hand in Baker County, Georgia whose shooting by a sheriff was a major turning point in the treatment of black Americans in that county.

Early life Ware was born in Baker County, Georgia to Zeddie Ware and Willie Mae (Kegler) Jenkins, who were both born in Georgia. His father died when Charlie was young. In 1920, he was living with his widowed mother and three siblings, John, Zeddie and Mary Lou, at their maternal grandparents' farm in rural Milford. He, his mother and grandmother were recorded as being "mulatto." In 1930, he may have been the 16-year-old Charlie Ware imprisoned at the "Industrial Farm for Colored Males" in Adamsville, where boys as young as 10 were incarcerated. In 1940, he was living in Micanopy, Florida and working at the Franklin Lumber & Basket Co. He was recorded as a slight man at only 5'5" and 134 lbs.

July 4, 1961 shooting On July 4, 1961, Ware was at a barbecue at Ichauway Plantation, Hoggards Mill, Baker County, owned by Coco-Cola Board Chairman Robert W. Woodruff. During the festivities, Ware allegedly flirted with the African-American mistress of the white overseer of the plantation. The overseer complained about this to his friend L. Warren Johnson, the white sheriff of Baker County.

When Ware's criminal case was brought to trial in July 1963, additional charges of drunkenness on the part of Ware at both the barbecue and on a public highway were included. Ware was found guilty by the jury, but they recommended a lenient sentence. By the time of this trial, Donald L. Hallowell had also become one of Ware's lawyers. He used the trial to challenge the exclusion of African-Americans from serving on Baker County juries.

Death Ware later moved to Albany, Georgia, where he died at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital at aged 84 following multiple strokes. He was survived by his wife, Louise, two daughters and 13 sons.