The Fourth at Nortonville, 1884
- Jane Hoskinson
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
From the Valley Falls Register, July 11, 1884
Nortonville, Kas., July 5th, 1884. The grand and glorious old Fourth, for which we are all proud, was very handsomely and appropriately celebrated at Nortonville, under the management of the Nortonville Cornet band. At an early hour the people began coming to town in wagons, buggies and every other way until about t[w]o o’clock. The town was literally jammed with teams, at which time the procession began to form at the town hall, under the management of L.P. King, Esq., A.J. Perry, and Hon. G.W. Slane, as Marshals. The procession, headed by the band, moved out toward the grove.
Your correspondent had selected an elevated position to watch the people move by. After the band came the members of the Nortonville Post G.A.R., dressed in their new uniforms, and mounted on prancing steeds, following them were thirteen young ladies on horseback, all dressed in white riding habits. At this juncture your correspondent almost fell off the fence, and started out as a boy would after a circus procession, but seeing the Marshal close by he desisted and took another fence-post, and the procession moved on, being composed of carriages, wagons, etc., filled with good looking mothers, handsome fathers, pretty babies and lots of young folks, all apparently as happy as they could well be. The next thing that attracted our attention was something we could not tell what; we thought it might be an Indian war dance; mounted on a large platform, and drawn by four horses, but seeing a Marshal nearby we ventured to ask him what it meant, and was told it was a “Calico Thumpian”* band. As the last of the procession moved by we looked up and heard the band playing near the grove, which was a mile and a half distant.
At the grove, which had been nicely trimmed up and furnished with a stand for speakers, the day was spent in the usual way, by reading the Declaration of Independence, and followed by various able speakers, as follows: A.J. Perry, Prof. James Foster, Rev. Alter, Joseph Curry and Rev. Hays. The only speeches listened to by your correspondent was that of Prof. Foster, subject, Kansas. Jim showed that Kansas was destined to be one of the greatest States in the Union; and that of Rev. Hays, subject, American Women, which was ably handled, and showed that he, like other preachers, liked American women.
After some of the speeches, was the beautiful dinner, which was eaten in groups, from well filled baskets, and everybody appeared to enjoy this part hugely.
At night there was a fine display of fireworks, squeezing the girls’ hands, and everybody went home satisfied that they had had a good time.
PUNCH.
*Callithump and the related adjective "callithumpian" are Americanisms, but their roots stretch back to England. In the 19th century, the noun "callithumpian" was used in the U.S. of boisterous roisterers who had their own makeshift New Year's parade. Their band instruments consisted of crude noisemakers such as pots, tin horns, and cowbells. The antecedent of "callithumpians" is an 18th-century British dialect term for another noisy group, the "Gallithumpians," who made a rumpus on election days in southern England. Today, the words "callithump" and "callithumpian" see occasional use, especially in the names of specific bands and parades. The callithumpian bands and parades of today are more organized than those of the past, but they retain an association with noise and boisterous fun. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/callithump
