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Another noticeable thing was the development of the Public School System, as up to this time each parent had to stand the entire expense of schooling his own "brat", with little help or even sympathy from the general public.

Camp meetings were more of a social than religious nature and the bad boys of the neighborhood had lots of fun cutting up harness, taking the taps off the buggies and turning saddles around and putting foreign substances of all kinds in the saddlebags.

They also changed the babies which were parked in the wagons. All this while the elders were trying to worship.

Ice cream festivals were another institution. When the church ladies heard that the saloon had gotten in some ice, they bought enough to make up a big batch of ice cream and advertised a festival. A great many people who remember will tell you that no such ice cream is made in these decadent days.

Sometimes a young man would foolishly go to one of these festivals and hand in a five dollar bill and discover too late that they never gave back any change.

This was the prudish era. If you referred in mixed company to a lady's limb as a leg, you were an outcast.

The word Bull was a forbidden word in mixed company and there were at least ten ways of


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The History of Clarksville and Old Red River County
Pat B. Clark   1937