Boo Radley...

was real.

The character of Boo Radley is, according to townspeople, modeled after Alfred "Son" Boulware.

The Boulware family lived just down the street from the Lees. Son, born in 1910, got into a little trouble when he was a teenager. According to town stories Son and two of his friends -- one named Baggett and one named Sawyer -- broke into the Hudson Store to steal cigarettes. The Hudson Store's floorboards were twelve inches wide, wide enough for the boys to lift a loose one and climb through. Another town story suggests that the three teens were caught shooting out the windows of the store with a slingshot.

The boys were sentenced to attend industrial school -- reform school -- but Son Boulware's father would not allow him to go. Instead, he took Son home where he stayed for the remainder of his life. He wasn't really allowed to go out, but his friends would come by and sneak him through a window to hang out. The townspeople think that Son's father knew about this sneaking out and were okay with it. His friends would also furtively study with Son, as he was a smart young man. However, when his friends grew up and moved away, Son was left with no one.

While Boo Radley virtually never leaves the house, Son Boulware did, but he could only when accompianed by a family member.

Townspeople's accounts of the Boulware house vary. Some remember it being dilapidated while others remember that it was only unpainted. Some remember the yard as unkempt but others remember it as neat.

Son passed away in 1952 and was buried with his family in Pineville Cemetary, the same cemetary in which Harper Lee's father, mother, and brother Edwin are buried.

The Baggett boy went to reform school, returned to Monroeville and finished high school as a star athlete, and then went on to Mobile where he did well. An article in the June 28, 1928 Monroe Journal reports that Robert Baggett was honored at the Alabama Industrial School -- "awarded a medal for being the second best commander in a military drill and review staged in honor of Governor Bibb Graves."

The Sawyer boy went on to be a motorcycle highway patrolman.