Christman Eve Important Point In Revolutionary War The Christmas

Christman Eve

Important Point

In Revolutionary War

The Christmas tree was introduced to America around 1700 by German immigrants, but the custom did not become popular with most Americans until the middle of the 19th century.

Although the records are not too clear, the first decorated Christmas tree may have been set up by homesick Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

In fact, a Christmas Eve celebration by them may have provided Washington with the opportunity to turn the tide of the Colonial forced in 1776. On that fateful day, Washington’s men had little for which to be thankful. They were cold, hungry, and poorly clothed. The Hessians were confident of victory and seem to have begun their festivities with the drinking of grog the previous evening. The attack by Washington found them ill prepared for the rigors of battle.

The first recorded account of a Christmas tree seems to belong to Charles Follen in 1832. He was a political refugee from Germany and a teacher at Harvard.

Williamsburg Custom

From Germany

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 decorated a tree for Christmas in the home of a friend, Judge Nathaniel Tucker. From this beginning developed the custom of lighting a community tree each year on Christmas Eve near the Tucker residence in Williamsburg.

The first Christmas tree in church seems to have been in 1851 by Pastor Henry Schwan in Cleveland, Ohio. At first, his parishioners objected to this pagan practice. Some members of the congregation even threatened him with harm. But the minister convinced his flock that Christmas trees were a Christian rite, and opposition soon stopped.

(Dr. Diane Relf is a horticulture specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension and is a member of the faculty of Virginia Tech.)