Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-03
THE SOUTHERN CRACKER,
Strange Wedding Cerem Onics and 9th
or teculinrities of u south Carolina
Tribe.

Imagine tall, gaunt, loose iointed
man, with long grizzled hair. deep set
eyes that glow like Goals OF living fire,
high, square shoulders, STOPPING,
slouching gait skin wrinkled and dirty
beyond description hands and feet i'm
mense, the former grimy and with pro-
truding knuckles, the latter encased in
cowhlde boots with soles an inch thick
and of astonishing width; clothes beside
which Josephs coat would sink into in
Significance, 80 covered are they with
patches of divers colors-this is South
Carolina "cracker." In the region about
Greenville, the headquarters of the lille
it distillers, these specimens of humani
ty are called "tackeys !" about Aiken and
Charleston they are known as "sandhil.
lers," while here, in the capital of the
State, they are "crackers,' the name be-
ing derived, doubtless. from the fact that
when they come "to town" on state occa-
sions they subsist upon crackers and
cheese. The "crackcr" wears his trous-
crs in his boots, n big slouch hat, and,
when the crops are good, muslin shirt
but when the cotton is thin he wears a
dirty red flannel. He comes to town in Il
big wagon that is guiltless of springs
and has cover of white cotton to keep
off the sun. In this vehicle he lives when
he leaves home, carrying therein his
cooking utensils. his bed and his whiskey,
and usually his wife and children.
| The female Crackers" are in them
selves a study. They have many of the
males characteristics They are buxom,
dirty and ugly, and, it goes without say
ing, ignorant. Outside of the towns of
South Carolina newspapers are rarely
read illiterate people are to be fond on
all the farms. To illustrate this A
CRACKER about thirty years of age came
to minister in Greenville not long ago,
accompanied by a young girl of about
twenty, who was dressed i'll n faded calico
dress. After some hemming and having
the men stated that they desired to be
married. The matrimonial knot was tied
instanter, but when the divine came to
make out the certificate difficulty arose
When the cracker was asked his name he
replied John. "But what is your other
name?" asked the clergyman. 81 amt
startling reply "But what is your father S
him when you don't call him Peter q
persisted the minister, thinking he had
struck tine right track at last. 1--WE calls
given in n "that- t-settles- the-matter" tone.
In vain the clergyman questioned, but
with no satisfactory result, and what was
, his amazement when he found that the
bride did not know her family name either.
, In order to make out the certificate the
minister was obliged to use the Legal
names Doe and Roe, and the couple went
away, after paying the fifty cents. There
5 is n field for missionary work in Soutl
Carolina among these people, where i'm
/ morality reigns.
The first Monday in every month il
f ''sales day in South Carolina. All the
s ''crackers" come to town in their big wa
gons, drawn usually by mule and COW
yoked together. They camp out in tn,
suburbs, milk the COW and drink the lac
teal fluid ms they MUNICH their crackers
, and cheese. They form picturesqu,
camp, these hundreds of semi-barbarans
with their quaint dialect, their singular
attire and their novel way OF living
Y Every man brings all his Oldest scrul
r stock to trade-''swop." they call it here
: "How old is yer mule?' asks one. "Sevel
year OF come hayin' time" "Want
swop for my cow?' "Will you swol
j. even?" with a twinkle in the corner q
) his eye at the prospect of getting rid o
l. mule that could kick higher, bite hard
y CT and chuck" more viciously than an
10 "critter" in three counties. 81 recko
/ you're too anxious to swop," is the re
sponse, ms the owner of the cow tickle
: the mules heels with rye straw and jus
sr got out of the way in time to escape
kick that splintered the whiffie tree {
Il the wagon into hundred pieces, Will
n, Me two men parted, one grinning, tn
a other rather thoughtful and solemn.
"a Tho Crackers" greeting when h
oi meets one of his own class is peculiar O
r well as amusing. "Howd'y?' asks tn
nr 'n first. "Tolble, thankee, howdy yerself
n, =, replies number two. "Tolble how
~ ~ Marian" ?" "Pretty tol'ble." "How
n n Roxanny ?" pretty tol'ble, too" "Wel
at nj hows tn child'un?" "Torble." "That
ed good how's all?"
a This last question is invariably aske
no. after each one of the numerous famil
a has been separately inquired after, III
4, the families are always numerous.
d. Marriages are not always solemnize
eir among these people. If n man sees
air woman that he likes and she "takes
k shine to him"-as they express 1.-THE
'ts necessary since under the State laws,
a, marriage is legal if solemnized by nj
W ~, layman in the presence of witnesse
un ,n Some weddings do not go as "merry as
'n ,oa marriage bell" From the backwood
he among the illicit distillers, comes this I
he freshing incident:
yer The illiterate parson was marrying /,
ir- of the "crackers," the bridegroom
Dm schoolmaster said the preacher
its "An them uns who God has fined
len gether let no man"
at "Stop right yere, Dominic" said