charivari: a noisy serenade

The editor of the Sumner Press wrote a remembrance Miss Mary Small only daughter of William Small, one of the first settlers of Lawrence County and granddaughter of John Small on her death in 1901. “When young and in opposition to her father. Mary married Dr. McDonald, being his third wife. The Doctor, an Irishman, in his day was the leading physician of the County.

"His marriage to Ms. Small brought out the worst charivari ever in the County in celebration of the day. The bell was taken off schoolhouse and rang. Pigs were captured and after squealing outside for a time, the windows of the house were raised and pigs dropped inside; in fact, everything which could be thought of to make a noise and annoy was used, many present being under the influence of liquor."