george washington at christmas

Washington did celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways throughout his life. Christmas was an important religious holiday in Washington's life. The holiday was usually extended to January 6 in his time to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas. There were many balls and parties. His experiences ranged from one extreme to the other.

In 1740, the Washington house burned down on Christmas Eve and the family celebrated Christmas in the detached kitchen. That couldn't have been much fun.

Washington's Kitchen near Fredricksburg

In 1758, on the twelve day of Christmas, January 6, George married Martha Dandridge Custis.

Junius Brutus Stearns depicts The Marriage of George Washington to Martha Custis

Christmas 1775 Martha traveled to Cambridge, Massachsetts and the Battle of Trenton was fought in 1776. In 1777, it was winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. In 1779, it was winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey. Martha was with George that winter.

Ford Mansion at Morristown - Washington's headquarters

Christmas 1781, Washington was in Philadelphia. In 1783, Washington resigned his commission and went home to Mount Vernon. In 1789, Washington was president of the United States. In 1797 and 1798, George and Martha were at home. These were his last two Christmases.

"George Washington at Christmas" on mountvernon.org was the source for this post.

american revolution taverns in boston

Parts of the American Revolution were spawned in a variety of taverns. Taverns played an important part of Boston's history, for the Revolution and beyond.

I discovered a post that has excellent information of some special Boston taverns. Take a look and explore these historical landmarks.

EXPLORE THE TAVERNS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN BOSTON

on the wings of a medium

The boston1775 blog has an intriguing post about the medium and author Joseph Stiles. Mr. Stiles wrote a book which he details contact with John Quincy Adams and George Washington.

John Quincy Adams

The notebooks Stiles created to act as a foundation for his book are in the Library of Congress.

John Benedict Buescher looked into the notebooks. Fortunately, Mr. Buescher made his findings public in a published report. This report includes a short bio of Mr. Stiles. It states that Mr. Stiles interned as a publisher and worked as a proofreader and critic.

Stiles was 13 years old when John Quincy Adams ended his term as president. Mr. Adams returned to Boston when he was serving in the House of Representatives. A procession was held in Mr. Adams' honor for his anti-slavery efforts in the House. The procession ended at the Universalist Church where Mr. Stiles was a member.

Mr. Stiles, as a medium, claimed to have made contact with John Quincy Adams' spirit. From that time, Stiles began producing "messages" from the spirit of John Quincy Adams! Stiles automatically wrote in notebooks. These were the documents Buescher brought together.

Whether you believe in medium communication or not, Stiles has gained attention over the years. His book, Twelve Messages From the Spirit of John Quincy Adams, had both positive and negative reviews.

One item I came to find, was John Quincy Adams views on slavery. Did his views really need fortified? Most likely not. But when brought to our time, we find Quincy's anti-slavery foundation was a bedrock for the Abolitionist movement of the 1850's. This, I feel, is an important historical footnote.

Stiles was a far-fetched spiritualist with radical spiritual notions and it's difficult to get our arms around his teachings. I commend the boston75 blog for posting this story. For me, it's interesting and part of the Boston area history. Make your own judgments and keep an open mind. I did.

the new triberr

A new layout. New profile banners. Free members can post 14 items every 7 days.
Link to the New Triberr Information.