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account of a Christmas tree seems to be that of Charles Follen in 1832. He was a political refugee from Germany who was a teacher at Harvard. He decorated a tree as a part of a Christmas party for his small son, as a remembrance of similar events in the fatherland.
Another political refugee from Germany, Charles Minnegerode, made the Christmas tree famous in Williamsburg. In 1842 he became a teacher of Greek and Latin at the College of William and Mary. He became friendly with Judge Nathaniel Tucker, and decorated a tree in his home that Christmas. This event attracted much attention and within a few years many other homes had trees. From this beginning also developed the custom of lighting a community tree each year on Christmas Eve near the Tucker residence in the town of Williamsburg.
The first Christmas tree in a church seems to have been installed in 1851 by Pastor Henry Schwan in Cleveland, Ohio. His parishioners objected to this pagan practices, and some members of the congregation were threatened with harm. The minister convinced his flock that Christmas trees were a Christian rite, and opposition soon stopped.
And so, new customs, even those as fine as the decorating of Christmas trees, often receive strong resistance when first introduced. But hot tempers cool, enthusiasm grows, and new practices become old traditions.
Marsh Advocates
Simple SS Process
Rep. John O. Marsh, Jr., has offered in Congress a bill to simplify the payment of final social security checks to the families of deceased beneficiaries.
Marsh noted that, under present law, families have to go through legal procedures prescribed for settlement of estates before being able to cash a social security check received in the month a person receiving benefits dies, even though that person’s estate might consist of little more than the check.
“This creates a particular burden for poor families, in urgent nend of the small amount of represented by the final check,” he said.
The 7th District Congressman explained that his bill would permit the money to be received by a member of the family, on approval of social security authorities, without formal legal proceedings.
He added that the problem had been called to his attention by several clerks of court in the 7th District who had been obliged to explain the legal restrictions to relatives who had been unable to cash final benefit checks of the deceased member of the family.
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