October 31, 1963
Thursday, fair but cool. I cleaned house all through, did some ironing. Help Marlene Mayo in the afternoon while her folks called on Bea Kepper at Ellis Hospital. Lorraine called asked about Earl etc.
Comment: Marlene Mayo was the preacher's wife, not sure who Bea Kepper is....Halloween....there was no such thing as trick or treating for us kids on the hill. The distances between the houses was too great and our folks were not the greatest supporters of this "pagan" holiday.
However, there were Halloween parties at the parsonage where we dunked for apples, had pumpkin pie, and played some games.
Along the line of tricks and deviltry, there were also "horn in's" where the newly married couple were subjected to a late-night visit by a group of their friends with all sorts of noisemakers, shotguns, firecrackers, and car and truck horns. The "horn in" usually started with several shotgun blasts under the couple's bedroom window and after they were appropriately awakened, they invited the whole bunch in for refreshments. In the meantime, some of the revelers were stringing toilet paper through the trees or other rather minor acts of vandalism. Most of the acts were not serious and were supposed to be humorous. Not so for a "horning" described by Socrates Hubbard for his brother Lorenzo. I can't help thinking that these incidents involved something other than a simple wedding custom........these events seem particularly violent and vindictive with the household literally being under siege....
"We pass over several years. I am nine years old or nearly nine Lorenzo is married and is expected home. He dos not come when expected but a lot of riaters calling themselves horners came and the first thing I know in the ded of night was the defning discharge of musketrey and the blowing of hornes the rateling of pans the ringing of bells with all the diabolicle noises that could be amagoned. Paul grabed his cloths and ran to Fathers and mothers room l followed in my night shirt half frightened to death. The whole familey dressed and sat about the fire Father would go down and throw water on them when they came up to fire. After a while they with drew to get dry and then on they came again. they were led by one Dock Norwood. I got so sleepy that during the last salley I slipt. These hornings at wedings were common in that countrey at that time. I have known them to tare or breake every glass out of a house."
"A few weeks after Lorenzo did come with his wife and the Diabolical crew gathered again there names was got this time and they were prossicuted. And each one was fined. Sometime the next summer Lorenzo came down on a visit that night this same vile crew went into a field of rye that had just been cut and put in shocks they thrashed out every shiefe on the ground and then unbound it and scattered it. from there they went into our garden pull up corne and everything they could get at. from there they went into the corne field pulled a wide road to the midel of the field then tore up an half acre or more and made a road out the other side of the feald. They also tore down a large amount of fence. It took a long time to write things up agane."
"A few weeks after Lorenzo did come with his wife and the Diabolical crew gathered again there names was got this time and they were prossicuted. And each one was fined. Sometime the next summer Lorenzo came down on a visit that night this same vile crew went into a field of rye that had just been cut and put in shocks they thrashed out every shiefe on the ground and then unbound it and scattered it. from there they went into our garden pull up corne and everything they could get at. from there they went into the corne field pulled a wide road to the midel of the field then tore up an half acre or more and made a road out the other side of the feald. They also tore down a large amount of fence. It took a long time to write things up agane."
And again, here is another recounting of a one. "Like a bachelor party gone bad"
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