The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1876-07-06
0ldTime Marriage.

Utu lliut MhLttatOos u
ID. Mackley in jackson 20. } stasdard.
Some years ago l described the mode
of conducting marriages in this county
in the early days. Even the courtship
and marriage engagements were entirely
different then from now. There was
much less familiarity among young folks
then, but / think there was more love
and respect for each other.
Young men who meant business would
20 counting once in a week, or if the
parties lived at some distance mi in
two weeks. If there was no serious OBJ
i~ections to the visit of the young man
the family would retire by eight or nine
o'clock, and the young folks would bring
their chairs before the fire, close together,
and be seated, and talk until one or two
o'clock, or sometimes all night. 1t will
be remembered that there was but one
room in the cabin, and the family would
all be sleeping very near to the place
where the young folks were sparkling.
They had to whisper very low if they
had any secrets to communicate.
Now let me suppose that the parties
have become engaged. The young man
before he leaves in the morning finds an
opportunity to ask the father for his
daughter. If consent be given, perhaps
the mother is called out and consulted.
Then the wedding day is fixed, and the
neighbors are invited to the distance of
three or four miles. On the morning of
the wedding the neighbors of the bride
assemble, and. those who desire mount
their horses and go to meet the BRIDE
groom and lis party. Ordinarily the
company by this time consists of twenty
to thirty couples, mostly young folks.
When within half a mile of the brides
residence the procession stops, and by
agreement some two of the most daring
and expert horsemen prepare themselves
by taking off their hats and tying red1or
yellow cotton handkerchiefs around their
heads. They then give a yell which is
plainly heard at the residence of the
bride, and they start their horses at full
speed. 1t is an exciting and dangerous
race. There is only a path through the
woods, and the ground is often rough,
and deep hollows to cross, and great logs
lying across the path. The crowd at the
house, men, women, and children, all
come out. Some one, perhaps the
) brides father, has a bottle of whisky in
his hand. The bottle generally holds 9
quart. 1t is a large, round bottle, with
a twisted neck, and around the neck are
: pieces of notched tissue paper, ribbons
! etc. He holds up the bottle, and thu
! foremost horseman gets it and takes 4
drink, and then gives his competitor {
: drink. They both ride back to tn,
: crowd, when the bottle is passed from
front to rear of the procession, all (meI
: and women) taking some. They do no
: take much, and the quart bottle is no
! entirely emptied.
! When a boy I was almost as mucl
! pleased to see the men run for the bottll
? at a wedding as the boy of to-day j
pleased to see the wonderful game OF
|, base ball. 1t was so exciting. Well d.
. 1 remember seeing two young men once
. whose horses were side by side, coming
! at full speed, and each man was strikin!
: with a large switch in the face of tn
: others horse, to beat him back IS j
were. Near the house a fallen tree la,
: across the path, and the horses leapet
over it as safely as the Englishman'
: horse leaps the hedge when engaged in
Q fox chase.
: The bridegroom rides in front of or a
i the head of the procession, and som
( young mi is by his side. He ha
, also his attendant or attendance" as i
J was termed. They all ride three time
around the house, when they ahght AM
( hitch their horses to the fence. Til
. bridegroom and his attendance enter tn
I house first. The bride and her attend
2. a,oo aro eaofad ond fwo ~ n NJ cao 70 or
+ by their side. The ladies are dressed i
white cambria, and bobinet capso thei
= heads. These caps fit closely over ID
y top of the head, with a great frille
) border at the front and backof the necl
and a projection on the back part of th
y top of the head six to eight inches higl
T. The men shake hands with the ladi,
and take seats in the vacant chair
Then the preacher or Squire steps 70
I ward, asks for the license, calls the pa
y ties upon the floor and marries then
u They take their seats, when their frient
i shake hands with them and wish the
!. much joy.n Next dinner. Then alltt
- afternoon there is a good time, talkiI
and joking. The older men tell fghtiI
- and hunting stories, while the young
q men engage in pitching quoits or dollar
u hopping, Jumping, wrestling, scufdin
ETC., and, if there is plenty of whisk,
" sometimes fighting. Before night IL
7, dancing commences and continues a
night. / have often heard the thumpiI
E. of the feet on the puncheon floor a di
u lance of half a mile.
Next day the crowd go to the res
o. dence of the bridegroom's father, to ha'
n the Unfair, and precisely the same pc
10 formances are gone through with exec
!" the ceremony of the marriage itself.
p Next morning after the Unfair Il
parties go to their homes, and the ne
married folks go to their own cabin az
commence the journey of life, as happ
no doubt, as the young folks are now.
le The last one of these weddings that
re saw vas more than forty years ago, b
r. | attended one on the Greasy Ridge,
us Lawrence County, in the year 1847, an
re | do not know but that they observe Il
h same customs to this day.
70 Perhaps some of my young reade
d will say / have drawn upon my imagin
re ton, or have ~caricatured the perfor1
lg ance, but / appeal to all the men al
II women in the county who resided here
long ago as fifty years TO say if l ha'
le described it half as funny as it real
IS, was.
Supplemental Declaration.
The Washington National hteNsqenc
lately contained the following article
of relation to Charles Carroll, of Caro-
as ton, the only survivor in 1926 of the m,
ia. who signed the Declaration of Amefic.
Or Independence: