PIECES OF OUR PAST - HALLOWEEN TALES

 HALLOWEEN TALES 

    HALLOWEEN PARTIES - According to the oldest surviving newspaper article, Halloween was first celebrated in Laurens County in 1906.  The Baracus Sunday School Class of the First Baptist Church sponsored a Halloween party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. G.H. Williams on Bellevue Avenue (Site of Laurens County Library 2024.)  The lights were dimmed throughout the house.  Hobglobins, Jack-o-lanterns, and spooks filled the home.  Moaning ghosts rose up and hid in almost every corner.  A game of “find the key” was played.  The men and boys were given locks.  Keys were handed out to the women and girls.  There were fortune tellers.  The punchbowls served marvelous punches containing the fountain of youth.    

    Parties on Halloween did not begin in earnest until the 1930s.  It was during the decade when schools around the county began to put on parties for the students.

    In the 1950s, schools began to stage Halloween Carnivals.  The first Moore Street Halloween Carnival took place in 1954.  The festival and festivals soon became a community event.     By the 1970s, the names were changed to Fall Festivals.    More than a century later, Halloween parties are still given throughout the county. 

    TURN ABOUT IS FAIR PLAY - Once upon a time in the late 19th Century, a devilish young man in Laurens County decided to play the game of “ghost,” by playing a trick on a friend.  The mischievous prankster slipped on his sheet and sneaked inside.  With the family all asleep, the stage was set for a ruse to remember.  It was remembered, not by slumbering victims, but by the trickster for himself.  Before he could yell boo, the friendly intruder was interrupted in his tomfoolery by a burglar climbing in a side window of the house.  Although frightened by the ghost, the quick-witted thief was able to relieve the joker of twenty dollars and his gold watch before vanishing into thin air.  No names were published to protect the stupid. 

    GHOST STORY - John A. Harvill and his wife had just sat down by the fire on a cold December evening in 1882.  The newlywed couple were distracted when they heard a noise that sounded like a squeaking old wagon.  They ignored the discord as a mere passerby.  After a moment, Harvill thinking the continuing commotion to be strange, sprang to his feet and opened his front door.  To his utter dismay, Harvill observed what appeared to be a very large dog with a torch or lamp attached to the top of its head.  He called out thinking that he must have been the brunt of some of a candid camera joke. Of course, television cameras wouldn’t be around for more than five decades.  When no reply was received, Harvill did what most terrified men of his day would do, he picked up his gun and shot at it.  He shot. He shot again. The dog didn’t move.  In the words of a writer for the Dublin Gazette, “There stood the specter as steadfast as the rock of Gibraltar.”    Harvill couldn’t believe his eyes.  Did he see things?

    It didn’t take long for the neighbors to come rushing to the scene of the skirmish.  Harvill pointed out the apparition to friends, hoping that they would see it as well. Reportedly, they did.  The brave generals in the crowd consulted each other and devised a plan of attack.  Everyone who could, grabbed a torch and began their advance.  As the first wave of the assault reached the ghostly canine, the pooch resumed his squeaking stride into the oblivion of the night.  While the reporter for the Gazette was covering the calamity, a neighbor came up to him and confirmed that he had also seen the dog, without the squeak.

    MUSIC OF THE GHOSTS - Back in the year 1890, a ghostly tale was about to begin.  A good crowd gathered for supper at the home of J.H. Hicks, just outside of Wrightsville.  All of a sudden, the water in a pot was about to reach its boiling point.  Then the sounds of music were heard.  The guests made out the sounds of two popular tunes, “The Arkansas Traveler” and “The Devil’s Dream.”  The guests kept asking themselves, “Why and how.”  Mr. Jordan began to hear the stings of a violin in another room.  He walked toward the source of the music and examined the entire area.  Although everyone heard the same things, no source was ever found.  St. Louis Globe Democrat, October 24, 1890. 

    CAMPFIRE GHOST - Dr. L.O. McBride, of Washington, County, Georgia was constructing a dam across a creek on his property to erect a grist mill.  McBride allowed the workers to camp at the construction site.  While sitting by the campfire one night, a ghost-like figure rushed into camp, grabbed a loaf of bread, and disappeared into the night.  Some of the workers fired their guns at the thief while others, who were not armed, through pine knots, none of which took effect.  The spooky apparition caused great consternation among the residents of southwestern Washington County.  Atlanta Constitution, September 27, 1893.