USA > North Carolina > Chowan County > Economic and social history of Chowan County, North Carolina, 1880-1915 > Part 13
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Hog-killings are the principal gangs left. Even these have lost much of their erstwhile glory and social import- ance. The chief stimulator of hilariousness, gaiety, and good-feeling at all gangs was liquor. The knowledge of its presence was to a great many the one inducement to at- tend. With the conversion of some to total abstinence and the adoption of state-wide prohibition, strong drink has
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both lost favor and become somewhat difficult to obtain. For these reasons some no longer have liquor at their gangs. Others would gladly dispense with it, but serve it in order to have sufficient help and to keep the help in good humor. In fact not a few claim that it is absolutely essential to let it be known that there will be plenty of liquor, if one wants plenty of help.
MARRIAGES IN THE EIGHTIES
Ceremony .- The marriage ceremony was a very plain, simple affair. If the match was acquiesced in by the par- ents of the bride, the function nearly always took place at her home-church weddings occurring only at rare inter- vals, and in the rural sections hardly at all.1 As a matter of course, at least a brief ceremony was absolutely essential, in order that the law be satisfied, but this ordinarly lasted not over five to eight minutes. At the appointed hour, if everything was ready, the prospective bride and groom (the bride leaning on the groom's arm), followed by from two to six other couples (known as " waiters "), marched into the room where the guests had assembled. The person officiat- ing then either read, or repeated from memory, a short form, and pronounced them man and wife. There was no music, no flowers or other decorations, no ring-in fact, this per- formance, aside from the accompanying " waiters " (fre- quently these were omitted), was reduced pretty close to the bare essentials.
Invitations .- Sometimes a general invitation was sent out for everybody in the neighborhood to come over and " see the thing well done," and frequently the women of the neighborhood received special verbal invitations, but written and engraved invitations were seldom used. In any case, it
1 Cf. Marriage Register of Chowan County, which is preserved in the county court house.
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was customary for every one who learned of an expected marriage to attend the function if he cared to. The men always did this, and the women too, if they knew no other women of the neighborhood had been specially invited. If a meal was to be served after the ceremony, unless there had been a general invitation, only those specially bidden re- mained for it. If a couple wanted to be married privately, their only method was to keep the time and place a secret.
Festivities .- Probably a majority served meals (either dinner, or supper, depending upon the time of day) to at least a few of their close friends and relatives, while some made an effort to feed everybody who came. Frequently, however, the ceremony was performed after supper time (supper here comes about sunset, and not in the early morn- ing hours between midnight and daybreak), which did away with the expense of feeding. When the marriage was at night, the young people often would stay around till bed time and have a few games, or, if the " old folks " would permit, a dance. Occasionally the more wealthy would have two or three days of feasting and frolicking. Except in very rare instances, the only honeymoon trips ever taken was the trip from the home of the bride to the place where the two were going to try out their new venture.
Pay of Functionaries. - The ceremony was performed both by ministers of the Gospel and by justices of the peace. Neither of these functionaries ever made any charge, and it was a rare thing for either of them to receive any remuner- ation 1 whatsoever, other than the verbal thanks of the groom, and not always that. Most people seemed to think that it was conferring a favor on a man to ask him to drive his own horse five or ten miles in the cold (more than half
1 From interviews with various people on this point I should estimate that less than five per cent in the early eighties paid anything to either the magistrate or the minister.
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of the marriages took place during the winter months) to perform free a marriage service.
Choice of Functionaries .- To be married by a minister was by some few considered more genteel. With most couples, however, the question of who should legalize the life co-partnership was of little or no concern, the deciding fac- tor being that of convenience. This is evidenced by the fact. that during the period 1878-1882, 46.2 per cent of the white couples 1 embarked for the momentous cruise without the presence of any divine to make intercession in their behalf. And yet, so far as any one was ever able to discover, those who were handed their clearance papers by representatives of the Gospel weathered the storms on the matrimonial sea no less badly than did those who had received theirs from the hands of the representatives of the law. Furthermore, so far as success in the present life was concerned, it seemed to make little difference whether one sponged on the min- ister or on the magistrate.
MARRIAGES IN 1915
Present-day Eclat .- The words "pomp" and "formality" denote the trend of a considerable number of the present- day marriages. In many cases there are decorations, flow- ers, flower-girls, music-things which formerly were hardly known, especially in the rural sections. Many now send out either written or engraved invitations - another innovation.
There probably are fewer wedding dinners and suppers
1 This figure is calculated from the records of the Marriage Register op. cit. Only 36 per cent of the colored marriages within the same period were performed by justices. This small per cent I attribute not to any special prejudice in favor of ecclesiastical marriages, but rather to a certain commendable pride in patronizing their own color. If married by a justice, it usually meant being married by a white person, while if married by a minister, one of their own color could be secured.
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now than in the past, and the guests to those that occur usually are only those who have received a previous special invitation. Furthermore, these invitations are being more and more restricted to intimate friends. Thus, the informal, free-and-easy style of the " good old days " is fast passing away, and stiffness and formality are being substituted in its place. Now and then a couple go on a two or three days' trip, long enough for the local sheet to take cogniz- ance of it, with the probable result that some of their ac- quaintance who know no better, are led to believe that they are making an extended bridal tour. The only customary bridal tour, however, still continues to be the trip from the place where the couple are married to the place where they are to start their new home.
Choice of Functionaries. - Fewer marriage ceremonies among the whites are performed by the clergy now than thirty years ago, members of this profession at present officiating on less than two-fifths of such occasions.1 Some might interpret this fact as meaning that the people are coming to have less regard for the sanction of the church in matrimony. I think, however, that such an interpretation would be entirely false, for, as pointed out on page 186, a civil marriage in the eighties was just as acceptable to the vast majority of people as was an ecclesiastical one-con- venience usually being the determining factor as to which kind a couple elected. Those of the present day who apply to a minister to " tie the knot," when it is not a mere matter of convenience, do so, in most cases, because it is considered
1 During the five-year period November 1, 1909 to October 31, 1914, only 38.9 per cent of marriages among the white race were "solemnized" by the special representatives of the church. During the same period, 80.9 per cent of marriages among the colored people were graced by the presence of ministers. These calculations are made from the Marriage Register, op. cit. Regarding the high percentage of ecclesiastical wed- dings among the colored, cf. supra, footnote, p. 186.
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more fashionable to have a minister. When the magistrate officiates, about all he does is to either read, or parrot off, a short, long-since out-of-date service, during the course of which he obtains the formal declaration of the couple to live together as man and wife "so long as you both shall live." The preacher, while using essentially the same archaic form as does the justice, nevertheless makes his service longer and more ceremonious, and so lends a bit more éclat to the occasion.
The real reason for the falling-off in the percentage of services conducted by parsons is an economic one. It is now becoming the custom to fee them when they assist at such functions. Probably seventy-five per cent of those married by parsons today make some compensation. The magistrate is also remembered now by some twenty per cent 1 of those whom he joins together. There is a big difference, however, between feeing a magistrate and feeing a parson. If the former, in marrying a couple, is not hindered more than two or three hours, and receives as much as a dollar for his trouble, he, as well as the couple served, feels that he has been amply rewarded; not being accustomed to having gifts showered upon him, he is well pleased if he is liber- ally compensated for his time. On the other hand, there seems to be a feeling among both the clergy and the people that when the preacher " joins a couple in the holy bonds of matrimony," he should be feed not according to the services rendered, but according to the financial ability of those served. Some even go so far as to intimate that the size of the fee paid to the preacher by the groom is a just measure of the latter's appreciation of his newly- acquired mate. Because of these absurd, though rather gen- eral, impressions, one who would hand a dollar to a justice
1 This percentage, as well as that for ministers, is an estimate based on interviews with those who perform such services.
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and feel that he was fully discharging all obligations, would feel quite mean and stingy if he should donate less than five dollars to a minister for a similar service. Thus it comes about that one who wants to pay for what he gets, and at the same time wants full value for what he gives, goes to a justice, unless he wants his marriage to be a sort of society function.
FUNERALS AND BURIALS IN THE EIGHTIES
Popularity .- Strange as it may at first blush seem, burials were much more largely attended than were marriages. There were some good reasons, however, for this seeming anomaly. Burials always came in the afternoon, which made them much more convenient for the women and chil- dren to attend than marriages, which, as already noted, not infrequently occurred at night, and occasionally in the fore- noon. Another reason for a large attendance at a burial, if the deceased was an older person, was that usually he was far more widely known than was a beardless youth leading an eighteen-year-old to the altar, and that all who knew him well felt it their bounden duty to attend the last rites and ceremonies performed in his behalf. Again, a large number of people actually felt that, " It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting." 1 Then, too, most families tried to have a " funeral " 2 when one of their members died, notwithstanding the fact that this frequently meant the driving of twenty-five or thirty miles to get the promise of a preacher, who in turn had to drive another twenty-five or thirty miles in getting to and
1 Ecclesiasties vii: 2. The text was frequently quoted on such oc- casions.
2 There is a distinction made in this county between a "burial " and a " funeral." The former is simply an interment, while the latter is the service held by some minister of the Gospel.
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from the place. These funeral services were an added at- traction, as the people were fond of being preached to.
Coffins .- Practically all coffins were made in the neigh- borhood where they were used. A few carpenters made a speciality of this work and so kept lumber on hand for the purpose. The higher-priced coffins were made of poplar, while the others were made of pine. On rare occasions they were made of walnut, which was considered very fine. All cases were of the common yellow pine.
Preparing the Corpse .- When a person died, some of the neighbors (men if it was a male person other than a small child, and women if it was a female person or child) would come in, wash, dress, lay out the corpse, and measure it for its final earthly compartment.
Sitting Up With the Corpse .- If the death occurred after midnight, it was considered bad form to bury the body until the afternoon of the second day following, since to do so earlier was thought to show too great a desire to get rid of it. The night the corpse lay in the house several of the neighbors would come in and sit around and talk till bed- time. All would then go home, except two or three who remained to sit up with the corpse all night. The immediate family went to bed early.
Boxing the Corpse .- On the day of the burial some of the neighbors would dig the grave, and one of them would go for the coffin. After the crowd had assembled (anywhere from one-thirty to three o'clock in the afternoon) at the former home of the deceased, six men (women, if the body was that of a woman), one each at the head and foot of the body and two on each side, with towels under it, would lift it from the bed and place it in the coffin. Next came the funeral sermon, if there was to be one.
Funerals .- In delivering the sermon the preacher usually stood either in the door of the house or on the piazza. The
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women of the audience stayed either on the inside of the house or on the piazza if there was sufficient room, the men remaining on the outside. Ordinarily there were some rough planks placed on blocks in the yard for the people to sit on while listening to the sermon.
The funeral sermon consisted of three parts: the re- counting of the admirable qualities of the dead-the other kind being slurred over, as a matter of course; the con- soling of the bereaved relatives; the exhortation to the neighbors and friends to be always prepared for death, which, they were assured, " cometh as a thief in the night."
It not infrequently happened that a preacher could not be secured to perform the funeral ceremony at the time of burial. In such a case the funeral occasionally was preached at church several months, and even years, afterwards. Thus it was quite possible for a man to take his second wife to his first wife's funeral. Usually, however, when he had good prospects of a recruit to take the place of her who had fallen by his side, he bestirred himself and concluded the funeral rites of his first mate before entering upon the wedding festivities of his second, and so obviated what might have been a rather embarrassing situation.
Burials .- After the funeral most of the assemblage went to the grave. If this was near, as it often was, five or six men would carry the corpse, otherwise it was put into a cart and hauled. When the grave was close by, the coffin was usually opened at the house so that every one who cared to could take one last look at the deceased, but if the grave was some distance away, this part of the ceremony took place there. Occasionally the dead was viewed at both the home and the grave.
The principal service was at the house, but after the corpse was lowered into the grave there frequently was another brief ceremony, provided a preacher had been secured.
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After this was over, the clods would begin to rattle upon the grave planks, the by-standers taking turns at shoveling in the dirt; and soon the matter of giving out the allotted " six feet of earth " would be completed. Then the crowd, rather serious and sorrowful, would slowly turn away.
Funeral and Burial Expenses. - The necessary expense connected with leaving this "sinful world," provided one succeeded in passing out without running up a heavy doctor's bill, was rather small. There was no carriage hire, since everyone furnished his own conveyance, or else walked. As for flowers,1 no one ever thought of having them at a funeral. The preacher, if one was obtained, was supposed to throw in his services as did all the others who assisted; and so the only financial cost to the family, save doctors' bills, was the price of the coffin, the coffin-case, and a few rough planks to place in the grave just above the case. One could have an elaborate funeral at a cost of from twelve to fifteen dollars, a less pretentious one at from eight to ten dollars, and a modest one for as little as six or seven dollars.
Grave-yards .- There has never been a general cemetery in the county, except in Edenton, but simply family burying- grounds, or " grave-yards." The corpse rarely was carried more than two miles, and in a large number of cases- probably forty per cent-was interred on the farm where death occurred.
Grave-marks .- Some families placed little roofs over the graves of their dead members. Some set up wooden slabs (which, if of good quality, would last twenty-five or thirty years) having the name and date of birth and of death carved thereon. Only a very few, the comparatively well- to-do, indulged in real tombstones displaying fancy mottoes
1 Only once, till within the last few years, did I ever see any flowers at a funeral, and these were sent out with a corpse shipped from a town thirty miles away.
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and proclaiming the good qualities of their relatives who had crossed the great divide.
FUNERALS AND BURIALS IN 1915
Ceremoniousness .- Burials, like marriages, are tending away from the simple style of procedure and towards the formal and ceremonious. These now are occasions for showing off and attempting to make an impression upon one's neighbors. The near relatives frequently dress in mourning, a custom which until recently was unknown in the rural sections, and the dead are laid to rest beneath wreathes of flowers.
No longer is the body carted off to the grave in a pine box hurriedly put together by some local carpenter. The coffin now is not a coffin, but a " casket," 1 and factory made. It is very probable that this factory-made article is far less durable than the one used a few years back, but it looks a little better, costs considerably more, and so everybody is satisfied. It is frequently brought out in a two-horse hearse from one of the little neighboring towns. The undertaker himself usually drives the hearse, and acts as funeral direc- tor, a function formerly performed by volunteers from among the neighbors. Pallbearers are no longer always those who happen to be standing near at the time, but often are especially selected. Occasionally these are selected sev- eral hours beforehand and notified. In other days, any one who felt so disposed took right hold, with no hesitation whatever, and helped to do anything that was to be done.
Other Changes in Former Customs .- It used to be the
1 As is well known, the difference between a coffin and a casket is the shape. Many, however, use the term "casket" either because they think it a more polished term for coffin, or else because they think a casket is a high-grade coffin. As a matter of fact, though, not a few caskets are now used.
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custom for no one who was in anyway related, either by blood or marriage, to the dead, to have anything to do with the body, either as pall-bearer or otherwise. Just the re- verse of this custom now seems to be coming into favor. Another custom that is coming in is the feeing of the man who preaches the funeral. Probably ten per cent of the families having funerals now make some little donation, say from one to five dollars (sometimes a joint of meat, or other provisions), to the minister officiating.
The introduction of the foregoing innovations seems to be robbing funerals of much of the somber enjoyment they formerly furnished the people.
CHAPTER XVII
THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTIES
POPULARITY
WHATEVER may have been the attitude of the early settlers in this section towards God, the church, and religion,1 cer- tain it is that by the beginning of the period under discussion the attitude of the people generally was most favorable. This is evidenced by the fact that 50.6 per cent of the county's population in 18902 were church communicants, while only 45.8 per cent of the population were above nine- teen years old, and 57.I per cent above fourteen years old.3 Of the communicants, 96.7 per cent were either Methodists or Baptists,4 both of which denominations enroll as mem- bers only those who, after supposedly reaching the age of discretion, make application of their own free will and ac- cord to be taken in. Both, also, frequently " withdraw fel- lowship from," or " turn out," members who refuse a cer- tain degree of conformity to their teachings. Thus the church membership of the county was composed almost en- tirely of those who voluntarily came into the church, and who lived so as to stay in. It was quite the thing to " belong to church." In fact, one who had passed his twenty-fifth year and was still outside the pale of the church, was looked
1 Cf. supra, pp. 27-33.
2 There were no church statistics published for 1880, the year with which this treatise begins.
3 Cf. table 24, p. 289. 195]
+ Cf. table 23, p. 288.
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upon with a certain degree of suspicion. Church member- ship was a recommendation of real worth, if one wanted to secure a position of trust, either public or private. The few who had made no profession of faith, for the most part believed in the cardinal principles of the Christian re- ligion and had little or no criticism to make of the ordinary doctrines of Protestantism: their allegiance was withheld either because they felt that many of the church members were not trying to live up to their profession, or else be- cause they themselves wanted to enjoy the pleasures of " wild-oat-sowing " a while longer.
POWER AND DEMANDS
Although the majority of the church population 1 (in 1890, 64.6 per cent) subscribed to the faith of that most democratic of religious organizations, the Baptist,2 the church as an institution, nevertheless, had a tremendous power. To be sure, it made few demands upon its adher- ents, but those it did make were generally conceded to be just, and were more or less complied with. From the nega- tive side, on joining the church one was supposed to quit dancing, playing cards,3 using profanity, and getting drunk.
1 Cf. table 23, p. 288.
2 In the Baptist church the members of each local organization are dictated to by no one, and they know no law or creed except that adopted by themselves, and for which they claim to find sanction in the New Testament. "Baptist church polity is congregational or independ- ent. Each church is sovereign so far as its own discipline and worship are concerned." Cf. Special Reports of the Bureau of the Census: Religious Bodies, 1906, part ii, pp. 46-7.
3 This was true of all the various denominations having a following in the county, except the Protestant Episcopal and the Catholic, which, as is well known, object to neither cards nor dancing. These two churches, however, claimed, in 1890, but 3.3 per cent of the total church communicants of the county, and most of these lived in or near Edenton, so they had little effect upon the general sentiment in the rural districts.
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A member might be called to account for being drunk and making of himself a public nuisance, but never would he be disciplined for merely drinking. Drinking in those days was a mark of gentility. One drank to show himself a good fellow, whether he cared for drink or not. "Ardent spirits " were even served to the preachers. In fact, to have failed to set out a generous supply of good liquors when the " man of God " came around would have been considered a serious breach of hospitality. On the positive side, one was expected to support his local organization both by his means and by his presence at its meetings.
MEETINGS
Baptist .- The Baptist churches (except the one in Eden- ton) had two regular meetings each calendar month. These were held on a definite Sunday (the Ist, 2d, 3d, or 4th) in each month, and on the Saturday preceding. Regular church services on Sunday began at II A. M. and lasted from an hour and a half to two hours. On Saturday there was a short devotional service (beginning at the same time as on Sunday) consisting of songs, prayers, and a sermon, followed by a " conference," or business session.
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