Former Tifton honored for new novel

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former Tifton resident Charlie Pittman, son of the late Dr. Carl and Martha Sue Pittman, has been invited to meet with Gov. Sonny Perdue next month. Pittman’s invitation came as a result of a historical novel he recently wrote about a Georgia slave named Bill Yopp, who rose to prominence in the early 1900s. The novel has drawn much acclaim prior to its release date, which will be later this year.

Governor Perdue will proclaim March 5 as “Bill Yopp Day” in honor of the accomplishments made by the former slave from near Dublin, who was born in 1846 and died in Atlanta in 1936. The event will be attended by Pittman, several of Yopp’s descendants and numerous legislators and notable historians.

The event will also include a graveside ceremony at Yopp’s grave in the Confederate Military Cemetery in Marietta. The overall proclamation and event is being promoted as part of “Confederate History Month” in the state of Georgia.

Pittman’s novel, “Ten-Cent Bill,” will be published later this year by Tate Publishing Company of Oklahoma City, Okla., and distributed nationally in bookstores, via the Internet, audio books and e-books.

The novel is the true story of a 16-year-old Georgia slave who made the decision to join his white master as a Confederate drummer boy on the battlefield of the Civil War. As it turned out, this was only the beginning of an extraordinary life of adventure and fame for Bill Yopp. The story goes far beyond Yopp’s exploits on the battlefield and follows his life and incredible accomplishments until his death in Atlanta in 1936.

By the end of the war, the men of Yopp’s regiment had nicknamed him “The Dark Angel” because of the countless times he endangered his own life to comfort fallen soldiers, both friend and foe, as they lay wounded or dying on the field.

“Ten-Cent Bill” chronicles the maturation of a unique 70-year friendship between Bill and his former master, Thomas Yopp. Between 1870 and 1930, Bill visited over 30 countries around the world, dined with royalty, rubbed elbows with powerful politicians and millionaires, was elected to public office and single-handedly influenced the Georgia Legislature to establish pensions for Civil War veterans housed in the Georgia Confederate Soldier’s Home in Atlanta.

Dozens of major newspaper articles were written about his accomplishments in The Atlanta Journal, The Macon Daily Telegraph and other papers throughout the south from 1916-1925. Upon his death in 1936, and at the urging of Gov. Hugh Dorsey and many other influential friends, Yopp was the only black man ever buried in the Confederate Military Cemetery.

Charlie Pittman grew up in Tifton and graduated from Tift County High School in 1966. He then went on to get his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. He lives in Charlotte, where he is the owner of several Internet companies.

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