THE RAFTER CORNSHUCKING

This is the third story in a series Lucille Linton shared with me as told by her mother, Lila Self Hunt.

After crops had been gathered in the fall, often neighbors would get together to help each other in shucking and thrashing the grain. At one particular meeting of this sort, the men were working at Rafter in shucking some corn. Following a misunderstanding, John Tucker was attacked by three men. He was holding his own in the battle until one of the men stabbed him in the arm with a knife. He was injured so badly that he was completely disabled.

In the semi-darkness, Jim Giles picked up a large, wood shaving and swung it above his head, shouting, "The next man that touches John Tucker, I'll stab with my Bowie knife!" All the other men fled.

John Tucker was the father of Mary Ann Tucker Self and the grandfather of Lila Self Hunt.