Weddings.And.Charivaris.Breckinridge.HISTORY-OtherFrom: KyArchives 
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Subject: Weddings.And.Charivaris.Breckinridge.HISTORY-Other


Weddings And Charivaris  
Breckinridge County KyArchives History Other 
Book Title: A Glimpse Of The Past 
After the Revolutionary War ended, a constant stream of settlers came across 
the mountains to Kentucky. 
There were no rich, no poor, no lords and no slaves.  Everyone on the frontier 
considered his greatest asset was his closest neighbor, who was often several 
miles away. 
Every family lived in crude houses.  All were very much alike, small but strong 
and adequate.  Their furniture and utensils were made of wood from the virgin 
forest.  There were no roads, only paths. 
A wedding was a gala affair.  When a couple was to be married, word got around 
to the settlers for miles around.  The day they all met at a designated place 
with saws and axes.  At the end of the day a new log cabin was built and ready 
for the new occupants. 
The next day the couple was married and escorted by friends to their new home.  
At this point a charivari was in the making.  All neighbors gathered around the 
newlyweds' cabin.  A gun was fired, everyone yelled and tin pans banged 
together to scare the couple. 
The door would be bolted, but after sometime the crowd was allowed to come in.  
They generally gave the groom a ride on a rail or dumped him in a pond 
regardless of how cold the weather.  Then the music and dancing got underway.  
These charivaris continued until the early part of the 1900s.  The charivaris 
have become a part of history. 
Very few couples escaped being charivaried.  Indeed it would have been an 
insult to be allowed to escape the ordeal.  Today these party makers would be 
arrested and hauled off to the detention center. 
It is possible that many young people, nowadays, have never heard the word or 
witnessed a charivari. 
Let us not forget that our ancestors found ways to have fun and enjoy 
themselves before televisions and automobiles came along. 






Submitted by: Dana Brown 
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00005.html#0001067 



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