{"id":12012,"date":"2015-12-02T11:26:53","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T16:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=12012"},"modified":"2018-12-04T13:18:38","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T18:18:38","slug":"family-holiday-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/family-holiday-traditions.html","title":{"rendered":"Family Holiday Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us have holiday traditions that have persisted for years \u2013 and have even been passed down through the generations.<\/p>\n

Dr. Charles Crouch and his family of Petersburg, Virginia, had a long-running family tradition: they sent the Abner T. Holt family of Macon, Georgia, a fruit cake every Christmas \u2013 for 57 years!<\/p>\n

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Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), 21 December 1919, page 12<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a tradition that began during the Civil War when Abner T. Holt fought at the Battle of Gettysburg while serving in Company C of the 2nd Battalion of the Georgia Infantry.<\/p>\n

According to the National Park Service Soldiers & Sailors Database<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201c2nd Independent Infantry Battalion was assembled at Norfolk, Virginia, in April, 1861. The unit contained four companies; two from Macon, one from Columbus, and one from Griffin. It served in North Carolina, then returned to Virginia during the Seven Days\u2019 Battles and fought at Malvern Cliff<\/a> under General J.G. Walker. Transferred to A.R. Wright\u2019s Brigade, the battalion was active in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Fredericksburg<\/a> to Appomattox<\/a>. It reported 2 killed and 26 wounded at Chancellorsville<\/a> and lost more than forty-five percent of the 173 engaged at Gettysburg<\/a>. The unit surrendered 8 officers and 74 men in April, 1865. Its commanders were Majors Thomas Hardeman, Jr., C.J. Moffett, and George W. Ross.\u201d<\/p>\n

This holiday tradition between the Crouch and Holt families captured the public imagination. One year when the fruit cake went missing it was a breaking story in the local newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Macon Telegraph (Macon, Georgia), 5 January 1908, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We use GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to find our ancestor\u2019s obituaries, birth notices and wedding announcements. We can also use it to find their traditions and stories too!<\/p>\n

Related Holiday Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n