This was a great day for Madison County. It was the first public celebration ever held. Several previous attempts to get up a snake hunt had failed until someone thought of uniting it with a barbecue and a Fourth of July celebration. The crowd was not great but it was merry and hungry enough to devour the large ox which had been roasted in honor of the occasion. There was an unrestrained flow of mirth and jollity on that Fourth of July. Thepeople danced, laughed, joked and cheered with hearty good will, although it was a little hard to start the fun at first. The people were so inexperienced in celebrations that Mr. Jones had to lead off in cheering his own toasts in order to set the example. But they were not long in following Mr. Jones example with great enthusiam. Old settlers say this first Fourth of July celebration was the jolliest ever held in the county. There seems to have been some trouble about the distribution of the spoils. It had been arranged that the corn should be delivered at Casebier's mill and given to a poor widow who lived in that vicinity. But it was never done. Mr. Davies states that "the committee got into a muss while under the influence of 'sod corn' and quarreled, and the subject was never afterward broached". So ended the great hunt. (I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history of Madison County. I have this book, and would be willing to do lookups if you can be specific about names and townships, prior to 1879. The book is NOT indexed, so please, be as brief and specific as possible.) Barbara in NC