Charlie’s wife, Lou Emma, at his grave - 1931

By the spring of 1931, with record sales crippled by the Great Depression, Poole’s career seemed to be over.
He found himself back in Spray, working in the miil, and his drinking took on marathon proportions.
His wife pleaded with him to restrain himself, but her attempts were futile.
He died in an upstairs bedroom in his sister’s log house.  He was 39 years old.