Random Inside Charles Manson's Messed Up Childhood (12 items)

(#11) He Ran Away From Boarding School

When Manson was 12 years old, his mother was desperate to get him under control and tried to put him in foster care. Instead, he ended up at Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, IN.

According to Manson, his mother visited him sporadically and always promised they would live together again soon. Tired of waiting, he finally ran away and went to his mother's house. She sent him back to school the next day. Manson, who never lived with his mother again, wrote of the experience:

I was bitter and I knew real hate.
(#8) He Threatened His Cousin With A Sickle

In an interview with biographer Jeff Guinn, Manson's cousin Jo Ann recalls an incident that took place while Manson was living with her and her parents. Allegedly, Manson found a sickle in the yard and took it to Jo Ann's room, blocking her way out. When she asked him to move, he said, "Make me." She pushed him out and latched the screen door, which infuriated Manson. He slashed the screen, and Jo Ann maintains he would have used the blade on her, too, given the opportunity.
(#6) His Uncle Made Him Wear A Dress To School As Punishment

Biographer Jeff Guinn related a story about Manson's childhood. When Manson was 5 years old and living with his family in West Virginia, his uncle reportedly forced him to wear his cousin Jo Ann's dress to school as punishment for crying in front of his first-grade class. In the biography, Guinn shares his perspective:

It didn't matter what some teacher had done to make him cry; what was important was to do something drastic that would convince Charlie never to act like a sissy again.
(#3) He Set His Neighbors' Christmas Presents On Fire

While Manson's family never had much money growing up - he didn't get many Christmas presents - he recalls his neighbors having toys of all kind.

One year, the only present Manson received was a Superman hairbrush. His grandmother told him it would make him fly, so he kept brushing his hair, trying to "take off." When the neighborhood kids made fun of him, he gathered up their toys and set them on fire.

Later in his life, while the Family was living on Spahn Ranch, Manson forced his followers to abandon their possessions, like books, watches, and even eyeglasses.
(#1) His 16-Year-Old Mother Didn't Give Him A Name

The baby who would become Charles Manson was born on November 12, 1934, in Cincinnati, OH, to 16-year-old Kathleen Maddox. His father was likely a transient worker named Colonel Scott, who took off shortly after finding out Kathleen was pregnant.

When he was born, his mother neglected to give him a real name and simply listed him as "No Name Maddox" on his birth certificate. She later named her son after her father, Charles Milles, and had a short-lived marriage to William Manson, who gave the boy his last name.
(#10) He Was Illiterate And Aggressively Anti-Social

After stealing cars with a group of fellow 16-year-olds in 1951, authorities sent Manson to the National Training School for Boys in Washington, DC. They ordered him to stay there until he turned 18. Upon arrival, he tested with an IQ of 109, normal to average intelligence. Education officials soon realized Manson was illiterate.

After further diagnostics, his caseworker deemed him "aggressively antisocial." When psychiatrists examined him, they noted how Manson's sense of inferiority in relation to his mother was so intense, he had to "suppress any thoughts about her."