Soquel News, 127 Years Ago Today: Man Grows Beard to Ground

On this date (Nov. 13) in 1884, the Sacramento Daily Union printed a brief on a Soquel man who reportedly sported a beard that touched the ground. The man vowed to grow his hair and beard until a Democrat was elected as the President of the United States.

Luckily for the man, Grover Cleveland was elected that year, narrowly beating out James Blaine to become the first Democratic leader since James Buchanan in 1856.

The full brief, originally printed in the Union's Vol. 52, No. 69, is pasted below.

Near Soquel, Santa Cruz County, lives a man who has a beard that trails on the ground. His hair hangs down over his shoulders. This man is a Democrat, and he vowed he would never cut his hair or beard until a Democratic President should be elected. He was a young man when he made this vow, and rejoices now at the prospect of being permitted to shave.

Cleveland lost his first re-election bid, but then won again in 1892. No word on the state of the Soquel man's beard by then.