Christmas Past
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Christmas in early America was far from the mega-event of today. Customs varied widely, mostly carried over from England. Christmas there in the late 1600s lasted for two weeks, from December 25 to Twelfth Day, January 6. One writer summarized the activities as "rowdy celebrations including feasting, gambling, drinking, and masquerade balls." Sounds more like Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's Day. That's why Protestant Puritans thought "Christmas" then was corrupt and not biblical. Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather observed that "Jesus Christ was dishonored more in the twelve days of Christmas than (honored) in the entire preceding twelve months."
The New England settlers in Marietta's first years celebrated the holiday in low-key fashion. No Santa Claus, Christmas trees, gift giving, or excited children. Those customs were decades away.
There were religious ceremonies. Christopher Gist, a surveyor and explorer, visited an Indian village in central Ohio on Christmas Day, 1750. "This being Christmas Day, I intended to read prayers, but after inviting the white men traders in the village, they refused to attend." Instead, he preached and read the English church service to the Indians. An interpreter translated. He said, "The Indians seemed to be well pleased and (thanked me)."
Manasseh Cutler, future Ohio Company leader, at age 22 in Massachusetts celebrated Christmas in 1765: "Went to church at King's Chapel, where was a very gay and brilliant assembly." Singing of anthems was "performed extremely well."
Dr. Solomon Drown was in Marietta on December 25, 1788, and noted: "It being Christmas, public worship was introduced by reading…in the Church Prayer Book. Gen'l Parsons read a sermon adapted to the occasion. Good singing."
Early Ohio Christmases often featured socializing, feasting, or games. In Marietta on December 15, 1788, there was a ball. It was the talk of the town. James Backus: "…I went to the Ball….drank good wine & came home groggy." General Samuel Parsons mentioned it – and the ladies present – in glowing terms: "We had the first Ball in our Country at which were present fifteen ladies as well accomplished in the manners of polite circles as any I have seen in the old states."
Fort Harmar soldiers' Christmas depended on available provisions. Joseph Buell's journal: Christmas 1786: "The Serg'ts of McDoughtys Hearts and Strongs Company's dined together...notwithstanding the scarcity of provision we had a splendid entertainment Drank about 12 Gallons of Wine." Christmas of 1787 was sullen: "We had a poor Christmas - little or nothing to eat or drink." On Christmas morning 1788, locals were jolted by celebratory cannon fire from Fort Harmar, answered by cannon fire from the Campus Martius stockade.
Dr. Drown mentions the menu at Goodale's 1788 Christmas dinner: "A boiled dish, Turkey, beef and bacon, cabbage, turnips and potatoes, butter, etc., A roast turkey 17 pounds. A turkey pie, custards, wheat bread, etc."
At holidays like Christmas and New Years, people at Marietta enjoyed games and amusements. Everyone participated – young and old. There were ball games, foot races, target shooting, hoop games, and dancing. Historian Samuel Hildreth: "No distinctions of family, or office, were then made; all were on a level... like one great family, bound and held together in a common brotherhood by the perils which surrounded them."
Our earliest pioneers worked hard, enjoyed their holidays and fellowship, and then got right back to work making a better life for themselves and their families.