ONE EYED CHARLIE Charlie Parkhurst had the reputation of being one of the greatest stage coach drivers in the storied history of early California. Charlie was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1812 and raised in an orphanage there, later working as a stable boy for Ebenezer Balch in Worchester and then in Providence; winding up at the What Cheer Stables behind the Franklin House in Providence. A couple of Charlie’s pals, James E. Birch and Frank Stevens, got caught up in the California Gold Rush, went out and consolidated a few small stage lines into the California Stage Company and invited Charlie to join them as a driver. Soon after arriving Charlie got kicked in the face by a fractious horse and lost an eye. Over the long years One Eyed
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