{"id":101364,"date":"2024-12-17T10:45:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T15:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=101364"},"modified":"2024-12-18T06:19:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T11:19:31","slug":"our-ancestors-christmas-happenings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/our-ancestors-christmas-happenings.html","title":{"rendered":"Our Ancestors\u2019 Christmas Happenings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Katie Rebecca Merkley tells some funny and touching stories from Christmases past. Katie specializes in U.S. research for family history, enjoys writing and researching, and is developing curricula for teaching children genealogy.<\/em><\/p>\n

In modern days, friends and family follow each other on social media, where they post about their lives. In this way, people can keep tabs on each other without actually interacting. Our ancestors used newspapers for much the same purpose. Many newspapers, especially in small towns, had gossip columns. In this article, I will examine some Christmas-related, newspaper-posted gossip from the 1790s.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Christmas Plum Pudding, decorated with skimmia rather than holly. Credit: Musical Linguist; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018A Christmas Tale\u2019: A Dinner Host\u2019s Surprise<\/strong><\/p>\n

The earliest Christmas gossip I found wasn\u2019t posted until May1794, titled \u201cA Christmas Tale.\u201d It tells the story of a tradesman hosting a dinner party the previous Christmas. He casually remarked that he was afraid he wouldn\u2019t have enough chairs, and when one of his guests, a landlord, commented, two other guests suddenly bolted from the dinner party!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Register (New York, New York), 14 May 1794, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article tells what happened:<\/p>\n

The supper being announced, and a fine turkey introduced smoking hot, the master [host] observed, he was afraid he should not have chairs enough. \u201cthat is just the case at home,\u201d said the person who kept the house in which the uncle and nephew lodged, \u201cfor I havc sent all our chairs to be new-bottomed.\u201d \u201cWhat, have you sent my chairs away too?\u201d exclaimed the uncle. \u201cYes,\u201d replied his landlord, \u201cI have sent them to Shoreditch,\u201d naming the shop.<\/p>\n

Away went the old gentleman full speed, and as quickly followed the nephew. Their landlord, thinking them both seized with a sudden fit of insanity, followed the chase \u2013 and the worthy tradesman sat down, of course, with no great appetite, to his turkey, hearing no more of his visitors till the next morning; when the mystery was cleared up by the old gentleman producing fifteen hundred pounds in bank notes, which he had recovered from the broker\u2019s shop, where they were snugly deposited, and had formed part of the stuffing of some of the old chair bottoms!!!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before FDIC insurance was even thought about, our ancestors must have supposed furniture a safer place to stash their life savings than in a bank. The uncle in this story must have thought so, but was proven wrong when the chairs were sent away. At least he was able to reclaim his fortune.<\/p>\n

A \u2018Respectable Individual\u2019 and His Bounty<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Philadelphia paper reported shortly after New Year\u2019s about the \u201cunfortunate tenants of the prison in Boston\u201d and the feast they received on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Philadelphia Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 3 January 1799, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports:<\/p>\n

On Christmas day, the unfortunate tenants of the prison in Boston were feasted on all the dainties the markets afford, or heart could desire, through the bounty of a respectable individual, who often \u201cdoes good, and blushes to find it fames [makes him famous].\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Family\u2019s Christmas Celebration Goes Viral<\/strong><\/p>\n

A report about Josiah Pierce of Worcester, Massachusetts, and his wife Sarah had \u201cgone viral.\u201d The same article was published in several newspapers. It was first posted in a Worcester paper, then on 21 January 1796 in a Leominster, Massachusetts, newspaper. It was posted again two days later in New York City. It was probably posted in other newspapers as well.<\/p>\n

Long before the repost and the share buttons of social media were invented, newspaper editors would subscribe to other newspapers and reprint articles they liked. This was how things went viral in our ancestors\u2019 day.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Rural Repository (Leominster, Massachusetts), 21 January 1796, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What was so exciting about Josiah and Sarah Pierce\u2019s Christmas that multiple newspaper editors saw fit to repost their story? Josiah was 73, and Sarah was 69, both old for their day. The article outlines how they had Christmas dinner with their nine sons, six daughters, and all their spouses. It then continued by talking about how each of the sons was successful in life and how the daughters had married well. (That was a woman\u2019s measure of success until recently.)<\/p>\n

An important thing to point out about that time period is that having a lot of children wasn\u2019t uncommon. What was uncommon was all the children living to adulthood because child mortality rates were high. It can be surmised that this family was in good health, whether from genetic disposition or healthy lifestyle practices. As the unknown author of the article concludes:<\/p>\n

\u201cA circumstance so extraordinary cannot be found in the annals of our country.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Christmas Fires \u2013 and an Editor\u2019s Sarcasm<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Massachusetts newspaper reported a fire that occurred on Christmas Day. Captain James Grant lost his dwelling house and all his furniture except one bed to fire. This was part of a column titled \u201cMore Fires,\u201d which also reported the burning of a barn belonging to Mr. John Mars. The other notice in this column must have been a political jibe at a politician named Lyons. He had issued what the editor called a \u201cscheme of a lottery\u201d that apparently was successful, for he was reelected. The fact that the newspaper editor listed that under \u201cMore Fires\u201d implies his opinion on the matter.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Newburyport Herald (Newburyport, Massachusetts), 25 January 1799, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Generous Nobleman \u2013 and a Dishonest Butler<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christmas in July in modern times is often used as an excuse to watch Hallmark Christmas movies in the summer. In 1799, this was a time for newspaper posts about what happened overseas at Christmas time to go viral. The following article was taken from London papers and published in early July in Philadelphia, New York, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 6 July 1799, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this story, a nobleman sent a five-pound note the week before Christmas to \u201ca person in distress\u201d through his butler, then found out the butler sent a one-pound note instead. The butler was discharged \u201cwithout a character,\u201d which would make it harder for him to find his next job. This story is about a noble lord doing good and a dishonest person being punished. Is it any wonder why it was so popular?<\/p>\n

Our ancestors were much like us in wanting to know what was going on in the world. We have methods of doing so that weren\u2019t around in their days. Reading our ancestors\u2019 newspapers, like the ones discussed above, can help us see what their world was like.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> \u201cThe Christmas Tree\u201d by Albert Chevallier Tayler, 1911. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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