When the Glorious Fourth Was a Rip-Snorter written by John Parris.
Joe L. Hartley, The 90-Year Old Apostle of Grandfather Mountain, remembers when the Glorious Fourth was celebrated in rip-snortin’ fashion in these parts.
“Back when I was a young fellow,” he recalled, “we had some Fourth-o’-July get-togethers that make the ones nowadays look like a Sunday School picnic and it a-raining.
This was primitive country then. A land of saddlebags and ox-teams and wagon roads, where folks took their jollification in a whole swarm of bees–corn-shucking’s, quiltin’s, bean-stringin’s, and houseraisin’s.
The Fourth of July was the only holiday observed in these parts with any sort of organized community jollification. Which wasn’t much. Folks just gathered and worked out their fun on the spot.
It wasn’t until the Linville Company started to develop a summer resort here that the occasion took on any real organized pattern.
I never will forget the Fourth of July celebration we had here in 1892. Eseeola Inn had just been opened and there was a slew of high class folks—some of the wealthiest in the United States—staying there.
Thomas F. Parker, who was the president of the Linville Company, organized the affair. He figured it would be something to entertain his guests, which included Charles Dudley Warner, the distinguished author, Talcott Williams of The Philadelphia Press, and E.G. Rathbone, fourth assistant postmaster general of the United States.
Parker had handbills printed advertising the celebration which was to include an ox race and a sack race, all to be performed by the natives around Grandfather Mountain.
Lured by the prospect of winning a handsome prize in the form of a handful of silver dollars, the men and boys hereabout started training weeks in advance for the races. One boy stole his mother’s soap and lathered his father’s old sow to practice on.
Harrison Calloway and Will Berry took the Calloway oxen laid’em off a lane at Linville Gap, and went into training for the ox race. Others did the same, including my brother Roy. I left the ox racing to the others and practiced up for the barrel race.
Come the morning of the Fourth and such a crowd as the county had never seen was gathered here. Folks had come from miles around. Come in by foot and by wagon and buggy and sled. I reckon there was more than a thousand folks, not countin’ the ones at the inn.
Just across what is now the highway, in front of the hotel was the race track that day. The folks at the inn crowded onto the porches in their finery and settled in for the races. There’s never been anything like that ox race. I reckon there was a dozen or so young fellows that lined up on their oxen at the starting place. And when the white handkerchief was dropped they set out in the wildest confusion you ever saw.
They were mean, wild oxen, and they leaped and bucked and kicked up their heels as the young fellows applied the switch. In no time at all there was busted saddles and riders rolling in the dust. Some of the fellows went flyin’ through the air like they was shot out of a gun. Oh, it was sight to see. My brother Roy got bucked off and thrown in a thicket. He went one way and his ox went the other. When Roy come walkin’ back in, a-limpin’ and his nose a-bleedin’, somebody asked him what happened to his ox and he said he reckoned it had gone to hell.
Harrison Calloway played a trick on some of the other fellows in the race by getting his girl friend to put chestnut burrs under the oxen’s tails which caused the oxen to go wild and then stop dead still. Harrison won the race, and I reckon there would have been some fists flyin’ if the guests at the hotel hadn’t made up a purse and awarded the other ox riders as well.
After the ox race, there was the barrel race. Don’t know if you ever saw a barrel race. I don’t know who thought it up, but it was a humdinger.
They took a dozen big barrels, open at both ends, and put’em on their side about 25 or 50 yards apart over a course that wound about the town. Each fellow was given three eggs. To win, you had to out run everybody, racin’ from one barrel to the next, crawlin through the barrels, without breakin’ the eggs. I was pretty fleet of foot and I figured I was goin’ to come off with the prize. In a foot-race, nobody had ever beaten me.
Well, I got off from the startin’ line ahead of the others and managed to get through three barrels before trouble caught up with me. Somebody had driven some nails into one of the barrels and the first thing I knew the nails grabbed my shirt and there I was flat on my face and with my hands full of broken eggs. Dave Stover, a waiter at the inn, who was slim as a fence rail and had hands big as hams, won the barrel race.
Just about all the men and boys got in the hog race. They had caught a wild hog and greased it with lard. It was a wild one, if ever there was.
When the time come to turn it loose, there was about three hundred of us gathered about in a big circle. We were pushin’ and jostlin’ each other for position when the judge opened the pen and let the pig loose.
That hog was like lightnin’–greased lightnin’. It was all over the place and so were we fellows. Pretty soon the hog broke out of the circle of milling men and boys and headed toward the woods with all of us in pursuit.
Unbeknowin’ to the rest of, Harrison Calloway had sanded his hands. Coated’em good and heavy. He layed back in the beginnin’, which none of us realized until it was all over, and let us run that hog till it was tired out. I run it for three miles, had my hands on it a dozen times and couldn’t hold it. Well, right at the last when I thought the hog was goin’ to fall in its tracks and I could get it, here come Harrison and he latched on to it and it was all over.
It was some Fourth of July. Besides the races there was a big picnic dinner and speech-makin’, a heap of whoopin’ and hollerin’ and nippin’ of the jug. The late Shepherd M. Dugger, who wrote a couple books about the Linville country, was the speaker that day and his subject was Wild Oxen, Wild Hogs, and Tame Men.”
The old man paused and shook his head.
“Folks,” he said, “just don’t celebrate the Fourth of July any more like we did when I was a young fellow.”
I hope you enjoyed Parris’s piece about July 4th as much as I do! I love the language throughout the story. I’ve heard Pap use the word jollification but not anyone else that I can think of. And what about that Harrison Calloway and his sneaky girlfriend—good grief they meant to win no matter what.
Happy 4th of July to you from all the Blind Pig Family.
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Tipper, I received your e-mail just fine this morning. Enjoyed the stories about 4th of July celebrations in the country. I remember how we had to manufacture our own fun. Of course, I also remember my uncles gathering behind the smoke house to have a snort! Ed’s post reminds me of how much we enjoyed putting on a show just to scare our cousins (City Slickers) visiting from the city. Thanks for sharing all this with us, Tipper.
Tipper, I really enjoyed reading this story. Happy 4th of July. Thank you for all your wonderful blogs. God bless.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! I had visions of the entire thing, in my mind, as I read. Im sure that was a lot of fun to sit back and watch. Happy Independence Day!
Happy 4th of July to you all!
I find this story kinda sad. The rich people come from around the country and pay to watch the locals make fools out of themselves. It would be one thing if the mountaineers gathered for their own entertainment but to do it for the gratification of outsiders is depressing. Reminiscent of the bloodthirsty Romans cheering as Christians died in the Coliseum?
Ed-I don’t think they were making fools of themselves I think they were having great fun 🙂
Boy they did have a hoopin hollerin good time didn’t they. Hope everyone in the blind pig holler have a fun 4th!
What a fantastic & fun story you shared today. The first word that jumped out to me was jollification & I said to myself …”I need to include that word into my vocabulary”. Oh, those were the good ‘ole days!!! Hugs!
That was a fine 4th of July story. Mercy, they don’t even celebrate the 4th now as good as they did when I was a kid.
I think it’s a pure miracle that Harrison Calloway didn’t have the snot beat out of him behind someone’ barn. He sure deserved it. I bet dollars to doughnuts that he was known throughout his life as someone that was a cheater, lol.
Happy 4th Y’all!
Kinda funny…those same thots about not ‘celebrating’ as in years gone by. When I was young, it wasn’t wild & crazy but we did have picnics and drove to a park for fireworks. My younger sister would cry & scream from fear about 3 years in a row. Then Dad & Uncle Wilmer bought fireworks from out of state…to set them off in the back over the garden. Bit of wind came up and blew things to the north ever so slight. The fire department ended up driving thru my little flower garden to make sure their hoses could reach the barn’s roof.
Last 4th at that house. That was too much excitement for a 4 & 7 yr old sisters.
These days, hearing the neighbors set off their noisemakers is plenty even if they started Sunday night. Thinking that this year they’ll be sending them up till 1 in the morning like they’re on vacation or something.
This account reminds me of the celebration on “McClintock”.
He’s right Folks don’t celebrate the Fourth of July like they used to.
Celebrating this day has drastically changed from oxen, hog and barrel races, but one thing has not changed. Old Glory waving proudly today in our cities and small towns and people eating hot dogs, watermelon and ice cream.
I found Pap and Paul’s song “There’s A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere” in the 2014 Archives. A song so appropriate for today. Happy 4th of July to the BP&A family.
Love the story! That would have been a sight to see for sure!! Happy 4th of July to the Blind Pig gang and may God Bless America!!!
Too bad we don’t still celebrate the way they did back then! Sounds like it would have been quite a sight to behold. Happy 4th of July everybody!
Thank you, Tipper, for sharing a great story.
Yes, July 4th is a day to celebrate our freedom – and it is a day to remember that our freedom was purchased at a great price.
I worry when I see the slow erosion of freedom we have in our great country. But the fog and discouragement of that worry lifts when I turn my eyes to two things:
1. “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+2%3A1-4&version=NLT ).
2. “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (2 Chronicles 7″14, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%207%3A14&version=NLT ).
May God bless America.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, your words are so up lifting. and may God bless America. AMEN
Great story! Happy 4th of July, wishing all the Blind Pig and the Acorn American readers a peaceful, blessed and happy celebration with your loved ones! Love from Alberta, Canada
Wow, folks back then sure did know how to have fun! John Parris can sure describe things that one can imagine how they looked and felt. Great story to share Tipper on the day our country celebrates it’s independence.
Happy 4th of July to all the BPATA family and readers! God bless America!
Happy Independence Day all. So far, we’ve made it 247 years, thank God Almighty.
Love the story! I can remember the greased pig for the younger kids when we were little at the baseball field. Crafts, raffles and food. Miss those days. Happy Independence Day to you and your family
That was a delightful read. Thanks. Wish we could enjoy times like that again.Without fears. Have a blessed day.
I enjoyed this tale myself and that Calloway feller was a “sneaky Pete” if I ever did see one! Lol. I liked “thin as a fence rail and hands as big as hams!” That’s a description, alright! Funny stuff is always good to start the day! Thanks, Tipper, for the laugh! Happy 4th everybody! I hope you a day of peace, joy, good food, family and fun! God bless the USA!!! We surely need God like never before….continued prayers for you at this time, Pressleys!
What a great story. That must’ve been something to see. It put me in mind of stories my Granddaddy used to tell. Thanks for sparking that memory, he was a treasure. Hope y’all have a wonderful 4th/Independence Day. Much love from SC ❤️ Jane
Thank you for this wonderful story. They sure knew how to have a party!! Happy Fourth of July to you and your sweet family. Take care and God bless ❣️
I live this. They sure knew how to celebrate the 4th. A real humdinger.
I didn’t get the BP&A this morning, I had to come through the back door today. As a child of the 50 and 60’s, I mainly remember most of the manufacturing plants -cotton mills and such, shutting down for one week of vacation during the week of the fourth. I can remember going once or twice to a ski show at Broadway Lake near Anderson, SC. We always stayed at home this week, never had money to go on vacation, except for a couple of years when we would take my granddaddy and go to Oconee State Park for a picnic lunch, mostly likely during another day of the week because the community of Mountain Rest, SC has a big celebration each year on the day of the fourth and we would have had to drive through this community to get to the park. I think among some of their activities there may be a greased pig contest and trying to climb a greased pole. Some of these animal rights groups may now think and protest the greased pig race as being cruel. I hope everyone will have a Happy 4th. My wife’s sisters and other family members are getting together for a cookout and still will include me. John’s story describes a humdinger of a good time of having innocent fun.
I never get a notification, I don’t need one. I have Tipper’s website bookmarked. Many times I get there before Tipper does. I don’t comment early because sometimes I think about the topic before commenting. Like today! Lots of my comments don’t get posted until the next day. Sometimes I don’t comment at all. Just because I don’t leave any footprints don’t mean I ain’t been here. Sometimes I leave footprints but you don’t recognize them as belonging to me.
Great story! My little town used to have a huge Watermelon Festival. Still does but not as much ‘jollification’. Back then people caught and ate the big box turtles that lived in the sand hills. The festival called for a turtle race where they lined up and let them go – of course turtles had no idea what or where or why but they did usually take off. My 7 yo son’s turtle made it over the line first and he won a prize. He was interviewed y the newspaper and as the man held up the prize turtle and said wonder what you think of being the winner, it let go a stream of excess water and the whole crowd laughed so hard. They had greased pigs for the little boy & girls and seed spitting for older ones. So many activities for the locals to get involved in and so much fun to watch. But it grew tamer and less involving for people but more craft showing sales. Not the same for sure. The parade used to be big, all decorated by kids and people not paid decorators so it got much less fun and more commercial. Everything seems to revolve around money now. We’ve never been more wealthy but less joyful – sad how A/C took even our front porch gatherings away from talking with our neighbors. When I was little neighbors gathered in the park, kids on blankets went to sleep and others watched fireworks – all of us together. Sure miss the togetherness we once shared so often – your story reminds me of days 50 years ago for sure. Hard work and hard play.
A humdinger sure enough. Sounds like a Wild West show, a circus and a chase all rolled into one. We are a tame bunch in comparison. Reckon we have gotten fun-impaired? I used to tell my co-workers, “We have to make our own fun because nobody is gonna bring us any.” Hope all y’all have a richly blessed 247th birthday of the US of A.
I really enjoyed the story. I had never heard jollyfication before. what a great word. I hope you have a happy safe Independence Day. God bless.
My oh my – what a to-do that was!!!! Wonder if that wild pig wound up as BBQ!!!
Have a wonderful Fourth of July!!!
John Parris could sure tell a story! I’d never heard the term jollification, but his tale surely helps define it. Happy Independence Day!
Wow! We really do celebrate like it’s a Sunday school picnic and it a raining. I would have loved to see that! I’ve been through Linville plenty of times and was picturing it all. What a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing. I hope y’all have a wonderful and blessed day.
That would have been so much fun to watch. I saw it all happening in my head as I read it though.
Hope ya’ll have a wonderful day!
God bless!!
Tipper,
Thanks for posting this, I first read it in”These Storied Mountains” written by John Parris.
LeRoy
Middleburg, Fl.
It’s 5 am and I’m trying not to laugh out loud, what a hoot that must have been! Jollification is a new one on me, but I’m going to make it mine. Happy 4th ya’ll!
God bless you, and your family God bless me and my family, praise God! thank you Jesus!
Oh my goodness, what a fun time, back in the day. I loved the picture of Matt and the girls. You are such a loving family and to be envied. I love the old stories cause you can, if you so mind to, reflect and realize that even though there was a lot of hard word and sacrifice, life was really good. God Bless you all on this find 4th, and may be all reflect and appreciate those who gave us so much.