Family and friends of original Chuck seeking compensation for mental anguish

Chuck MacSweeny

Surviving family and friends of Chuck MacSweeny, later processed into the first Ground Chuck, are suing Wyoming cattle rancher Leon MacSweeny on grounds of misrepresentation of a beef operation and causing herd-related mental anguish.

Leon MacSweeny purportedly misled a herd of Black Angus into thinking that his 2,000-acre ranch was a vacation resort for cattle. Each of the 900 cattle was given what they were told was a combination meal ticket and swimming pool pass clamped to one ear and a leather collar with a shiny red bell.

"There were horses and tire swings and everything," said Bartholomew MacSweeny, seventh cousin of Chuck MacSweeny. "It was real nice."

Apparently the cattle rancher went so far as to bestow the MacSweeny surname upon each bull, cow, and calf. On several occasions, he called them his "snoogum woogums." He even spoke of plans to include the entire herd in his will.

They packaged him up and then on a whim they wrote 'Ground Chuck' right there on the packages. I guess they thought that was real cute.

Then on the spring morning of June 5, 1920, the cattle's vacation took an unexpected and tragic turn. Several fattened bulls, including Chuck, disappeared before breakfast. Chuck was later seen packaged and on display in the window of the local butcher shop.

"I'd been picking flowers and was strolling back through town wearing my new straw hat," said Elberta MacSweeny, Chuck MacSweeny's 98-year-old mother, now a resident of Creaking Oaks retirement home for Black Angus in Tallahassee, Florida. "I passed by the butcher shop, and there were all these tidy, square packages displayed in the window with "Ground Chuck" written on them. It was just awful."

"They packaged him up and then on a whim they wrote 'Ground Chuck' right there on the packages," added Bartholomew MacSweeny. "I guess they thought that was real cute."

Alleged nefarious intentions aside, Ground Chuck was a big hit. Brisk sales of the imaginatively marketed beef product soon prompted other meat operations to adopt a similar marketing strategy. At about 169 calories per serving with about 80 calories coming from fat, Chuck MacSweeny and subsequent "Ground Chucks" have since gone on to become an integral part of the American diet. It is especially tasty served with sliced onions and topped with tangy melted cheddar cheese.

However, this is cold comfort for the relations of the original Ground Chuck.

"He was such a good little boy," said Elberta MacSweeny as she dabbed her eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief. "He was always polite to everyone, and he had a nice fluffy coat.

"He kept his knees clean," recalled Eugene MacSweeny. "That's more than I can say about any damned Holstein."