May 24, 1851 - Boating Party on the River

Saturday 24th (May)

Preparations were made for the May party. Emma came down about ½ 5 o-clock, and the rest assembled between that time and 8 o-clock. We coupled off and went to the river, had a most beautiful sail down the river up the Licking about 7 miles, we then came back and went 7 miles up the Ohio, and landed at a most beautiful place. There was a committee appointed to set the table it was a very nice table indeed. After dinner they tried dancing which in my estimation was very wrong. Then there were . . . put up and . . . this game. Others took a pleasant walk in the wood . . . so they were differently employed. There was one which particularly attracted my attention a Mr T [homas]Harris. He is a very fine young fellow indeed. We dined (?) there until a little past six o-clock in the evening and then made preparations to return. There were some actions which were very very disgusting. We had a very pleasant trip down home except the dancing which I am afraid will make disturbance yet. We landed here a little after 7 o-clock where were omnibusses waiting to carry us home. Ours was so very crowded we were obliged to sit on each other’s laps. Mr P[rentiss] and I rode to the top of the hill and had to walk down which was not very pleasant. I tell you I was tired when I got home but soon retired.

Perhaps the picnic site is James Parker’s apple orchard, a popular destination for church picnics. It is located on the river east of the city. In 1886 it will be sold to a riverboat company and become Ohio Grove, the Coney Island of the West (Green, and Bennett 78).

Tommy Harris seems to have changed his mind about the party. On Thursday it sounded as if he did not plan to attend.

Emma may be Emma M’Cullough, from Mt. Auburn, who will graduate June 27, 1851. Her composition will be “Mountains and Valleys of Human Pilgrimage” (Alumna 1859:56).

If only Serena would tell us more. Is there a band stand with a brass band playing irresistible waltz or polka tunes? Has one of the young people brought along a fiddle or a flute? Or has the singing and clapping of the group led to impromptu dancing of spirited quadrilles (similar to square dances) or reels? Whatever the excuse, Serena is a good Methodist and Methodists don’t dance. “A deluge of American anti-dance literature was written by white, protestant, male evangelists and clergy who held rigid traditionalist views about the roles of women in society. These men admonished women that dancing always led to pernicious ends.” (Knowles 6) If Father hears about the dancing, Serena knows that she will be in serious trouble.

It is interesting that Mr. Prentiss is mentioned. Has he organized the omnibuses to meet the boating party, or has he been part of the party? Is Serena obliged to sit on his lap? Does he know about the dancing? By any stretch of the imagination, could he possibly have been considered a chaperone?

Tell me now, Mother mine, are you willing to send
Your girl to the Pit for the demons to rend?

Well, if not, then beware of the lure of the DANCE.

There the Devil will catch her if given a chance.

Lulu Agnew Singer (From “The Lure of the Dance”)

(Knowles)