Christmas by Candlelight hosted by Giles Historical Society December 3rd

Early portrayal of Santa Claus

In this Harper's Weekly illustration of Christmas, 1862, cartoonist Thomas Nast presents one of the earliest portrayals of Santa Claus. Santa visits a Union encampment bringing boxes of gifts for the troops. In the background soldiers amuse themselves by climbing a greased pole, chasing a greased pig and playing football.

Christmas Eve, 1862

In this magazine engraving entitled"Christmas Eve, 1862" a young mother kneels by her sleeping children and prays for her husband's safety, while he sits by a campfire and gazes at their photographs. on the upper left is an early portrayal of Santa Claus, preparing to climb down a chimney; on the upper right he visits a military camp, tossing boxes of gifts from his sleigh.

Christmas by Candlelight, 1861

It's a chilly evening on Chrismas Eve, 1861: flurries of snow whip down Pearisburg's Main Street. Dr. Harvey Green Johnston is home on leave from his duties as surgeon of the 86th Virginia Militia. His young wife Annie and their two small children, William and Carrie, have decorated the house for the special occasion, and have invited several friends to celebrate the holiday and recent Confederate victories. The beautiful brick house, built by Harvey's father Andrew in 1829, glows with candlelight and it filled with the aroma of pine, lemon teacakes, mulled cider and eggnog. Carolers from the neighborhood have stopped by to offer and extra measure of good cheer.

This Saturday, December 3, 2011, the Giles County Historical Society invites you to join the Johnstons as they gather to enjoy the holiday with family and friends. Ladies of the Jubal Early chapter of the UDC will greet you at the door and invite you into the house decorated with all the mid-nineteenth century. Members of the Giles High School Choral Ensemble, dressed in period costume, will entertain visitors with traditional carols.

The Johnston home, located at 208 North Main Street in Pearisburg, will be open from 3:00- 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.

Visitors can also view the new exhibit "The Civil Was in Giles County" in the adjacent Historical Museum. The displays describe the course and impact of the war in the county, and includes artifacts recovered in the area, as well as personal stories and memorabilia of Giles County soldiers.

By 1861, the celebration of Christmas had taken on the look and customs of the holiday we celebrate today. Forty years earlier the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" appeared in a New York newspaper and introduced us to our modern idea of Santa Claus: a jolly, chubby "old elf" who ddrives a sleigh pulled by reindeer. With a sack loaded with presents he drops down the chimney and fills the stockings hung by the fireplace. Two decades later Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert popularized the candle-lit Christmas tree, a custom from his native Germany. In 1850, an illustration of the royal family gathered around a decorated Christmas tree appeared in an American magazine and the custom was euthusiastically adopted here. Trees were usually decorated with garlands of dried berries, popcorn or paper chains, and hung with fruit, toys, and paper ornaments.

During the Civil War Christmas was a bittersweet holiday. Many sons, husbands, and fathers were far from home, often living in primitive conditions in cold, damp winter camps. In the early years of the war families were able to maintain many of the old customs, and to provide "care packages" for their loved ones in the military. As the war dragged on and the Union blockade of Confederate ports strangled Southern commerce, most Southerners had neither the means nor the heart to participate in elaborate festivities. Many years later a Southern woman remembered the 1864 holiday: "Christmas loomed darkly ahead. No daddy, no trip to "Grampys", no shoes, no clothes hardly, no picture books, no dolls, no candy, and no just "nuthin". Her one gift was a homemade wool petticoat-carded, spun and woven by an aunt- that was so scratchy it was unwearable.

During that same Christmas holiday a Northern magazine featured an elaborate engraving of President Lincoln welcoming rebels who are willing to lay down their arms, to "The Union Christmas Dinner". The illustration, on view at the Johnston house, foreshadows the sentiments of Lincoln's second inaugural address the following March, where he spoke of peace and reconciliation: "With malice towards none: with charity for all...let us strive ... to bind up the nation's wounds ... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.... Lincoln was assassinated less than a month later.

The Giles County Historical Society works to preserve, interpret and exhibit Giles County's rich historical and cultural heritage.

It provides a repository for Giles County family histories, documents, and artifacts, assists genealogical researchers, and supports the preservation of endangered the Giles County artifacts, sites, and records.

The Giles County Historical Society and Museum (921-1050) are open Wed-Fri from 12-5 PM and Sat-Sun from 2-5 PM. The Research Office is open on Thurs. from 12-5 PM. For more information please visit http://www.gilescountyhistorical.org/