Christmas at the Fort 2019: Our Own Private 1860s Christmas Celebration

Merry Christmas from the fictitious Logan family.

You would not know it by the photograph above,  but for a time,  I lost my Christmas spirit.
In all honesty,  my Christmas spirit actually didn't really have much of a chance this year from the get-go:
Thanksgiving saw most of my family either sick with fevers or out of town.
Christmas Tree cutting day saw more of my family get sick.
Members of my vocal group,  Simply Dickens  (purveyors of old world Christmas music)  were also ill,  meaning I had to get a stand in or,  in one case,  make do the best we could.
And then,  to top it off,  our very large Christmas Tree toppled over while we were at work,  ruining/destroying a number of our ornaments,  some of which my wife and I have had since our first Christmas together back in 1984.

Our fallen tree...*sigh*

I wanted to toss the thing out and be done with it but my wife refused and asked if I would put it back-up.  With lots of help from my sons,  and by cutting about a foot off of the bottom,  we got it back into the stand.  But I wanted nothing to do with the re-decorating,  for at that point I want nothing to do with that tree.

Or Christmas.
My spirit was all but gone.
And I was this  >*<  close to backing out of participating in our annual Christmas at the Fort event,  held at Detroit's Historic Fort Wayne.  I've been a part of this wonderful 1860s celebration since 2009 and it has become a very big part of my seasonal festivities.
But this year it just wasn't in me.
Yeah...I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge and that Christmas,  at least for this year,  was a humbug.
However,  the good folks I reenact with wouldn't have anything to do with me bowing out.  In fact,  when I mentioned how blue I was,  they made a vow to cheer me up.
So I went,  and I am so glad I did,  for it was a best ever event.
You may recall that a few of us have created a reenacting family - the Logan family.  Each of us who participate has a role...a back-story,  if you will.  Not a character,  not a script,  but a life story,  just as we have in our modern lives.  For instance,  in my 21st century life I am the youngest of my parent's five children,  married to a wonderful woman named Patty,  and she & I have four children of our own  (and three grandchildren).
However,  in my 1863 family,  I have an older sister,  a younger sister,  a different wife who's name is Elizabeth,  and one daughter.  (Real wife Patty prefers not to do immersion,  so she gave me her approval to have a  'reenacting wife'  for certain events,  including Christmas at the Fort,  and Larissa/ "Elizabeth"  has been a kind and willing participant in this.  She,  too,  has an awesome husband in her real 21st century life,  as well as two children of her own).
So,  Elizabeth is my second wife and mother to our youngest daughter,  and step-mother to my oldest,  Christine.  In my back story,  my first wife died during the birth of  Christine.

My 1860s family.
A few years ago we chose the surname  "Logan"  for our family 
name.  We felt it was better than using one of our own names and 
simply made it easier and perhaps even a bit less uncomfortable.

And so it has gone on now these past ten years,  and we in this reenacting family will don our Sunday-best period clothing to bring Christmas past to life,  usually for a few hundred tourists.  These visitors are put into several tour groups and then follow their guides to different areas on the expansive grounds on the site;  they would visit the barracks where Civil War soldier reenactors were participating in the same activities that their 1860's counterparts would have done a hundred and fifty years ago.  From there,  the guide would then lead the guests to a historic home to show what it was like for poor southern families in a battle town during that time,  and then to  "our"  northern home,  actually built in the 1880s,  to show a more well-to-do family Christmas Eve gathering.
However,  this year,  it was not to be.  There was a problem with the heat in the holding building where the guests begin and it could not be used.
The event was cancelled...sigh...
I had to let my fellow living historians know,  and here are some of the responses I got:
Larissa wrote:  "What?????? So sad. It’s the highlight of my holidays."
Carrie wrote:  "Yeah not to get too depressing here,  but Christmas at the fort officially kicks off the holiday season for me."
Yeah...me,  too.
So I went to work in asking if we can still celebrate Christmas the way we always do,  only without the visiting public.
The answer was a resounding  "Yes!"
And then it was decided we would try to keep in immersion at our own private event,  though we also agreed to allow for some modernisms,  as long as they were not too intrusive.  But please take note:  we are not acting here.  We are living out a different time period as if it were truly happening.  No scripts.  No reminders that we were reenactors  ("They would have done this,  right?").  Nothing planned other than what many families of the time did during that period such as  'dressing'  the Christmas tree and preparing for Christmas itself.
In our world it was Christmas Eve 1864.
And I believe that's what makes this so special.
The results are what you see here in this week's post.
I hope you enjoy visiting our Christmas in the 1860s:

Heading off to my sister's house.
(The Fort Wayne Coalition is in the process of doing a number of 
repairs to the house,  which is why you see some of it boarded up.)

It was chilly on this December day,  but this gives us a chance to wear our winter coats and wraps,  for the more common reenactments generally end when the weather turns cool.

Off with the wrap and onto the hall tree.

There I am with my daughter Christine.

Christine was there,  with her child
while her husband was off fighting the
Rebels.
Little Nadia is actually Carrie's daughter.
Carrie portrays Agnes,  the servant.
Everyone's growing so fast!

Elizabeth found herself as a grandmother!

Jackie portrays my sister at these events,  and this
is her house.  We have all arrived for Christmas.

Violet is Larissa's mother in real life,  so in our
1860s world she is my mother-in-law.

Our cousin has arrived from Philadelphia.
It had been a long while since we last visited.

As part of our backstory,  before marrying Elizabeth I had raised Christine as a sort of...well...as I would have raised a son.  She helped me on the farm with the manuring,  harrowing,  plowing,  planting,  reaping,  repairing,  and all the other chores any boy would do.

Now her step-mother,  very well refined,  has taught her how to 
be a fine lady and to take care of her own husband and daughter.

Of course,  Agnes our servant,  helped out quite a bit in the child 
care department.

Time to dress the Christmas tree!

Yes,  we had a real tree to decorate.

And everyone took part in dressing it.

Though the ornaments on hand may not
have been totally period correct, they
certainly had a period feel to them.
And we had candles,  too,  (though
we did not light them)! 

Here is our decorated Christmas tree.
What do you think?

After the tree was completed,  my younger sister,  Sarah,  played 
carols on the pump organ.  The ladies sounded wonderful as they 
sang the old songs of Christmas.

I made the attempt to join in,  as did Christine,  but the apple 
doesn't fall too far from the tree,  as the old saying goes,  and she 
& I have proven our lack of singing voices and allowed the 
other ladies to take over in the vocal department.

From the back parlor,  the holiday festivities were plainly seen.
The old house was filled with Christmas joy,  just as if...

After carolling,  sister then read Christmas tales from one of her 
books,  taking us all to other lands for celebrations.

Older sister Jacqueline also regaled us with stories
of her husband's activities in the War.

We then took time to visit the boys in blue who were
spending time in the barracks.

Just as we,  as the Logan family,  wanted to continue to celebrate 
Christmas past,  so did our military counterparts.
It did not matter that there were no visitors to speak to - - we did 
it simply for ourselves.

And the ladies did sing a few carols to the men as well.

After a short visit,  we headed back to  "our"  house,
for our Christmas dinner/supper would soon be ready.

Larissa captured this beautiful sky as we walked
back to our house.

Meanwhile,  during our absence,  Agnes had been 
diligently working,  making our Christmas Eve meal,  including 
the desserts such as this pumpkin pie.

For such a young girl,  Agnes most
certainly knows her way around a kitchen.

And she knows how to prepare a celebratory setting:

I think all of us who are involved in this living history will agree 
that our  "Christmas Eve"  meals are,  perhaps,  the highlight of 
the entire experience of our Christmas in the Past.

We enjoy a full meal of ham,  deviled eggs,  pickled 
vegetables,  pumpkin pie with whipping cream,  cake, 
and cheese,  and other wonderful items

I know I say this every year,  but to have such a meal in such a manner 
is an ethereal...surreal...experience for us as living historians.

I've always dreamed of having such an experience as this.  As often as I visit Greenfield Village and the farms of Daggett & Firestone,  witnessing the presenters dining on appropriate-for-the-time food in period surroundings while wearing suitable clothing,  I have always felt that bit of envy for those who were able to participate in such a daily activity as this.
And now I get to do the very same,  and this year without public interruption!
'tis magical indeed,  this time-travel experience.

Little Nadia was not left out of any of
Christmas fun,  for she did have period-
appropriate toys to play with,  and she
did enjoy our Christmas tree.

Such a gorgeous little lady,  posing for a tintype.

So we had our own private 1860s Christmas celebration,  and it went very well indeed.  My thanks to all who participated,  and most of us have been doing this for nearly a decade together,  which it makes it very easy to be a family of the 1860s.

So,  from the Logan family to your family,  we wish you a very 
Merry Christmas.  May it and the coming New Year  (whichever 
year you may be celebrating)  be filled with all that is good.

.

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^

My spirits were lifted,  just like my fallen Christmas tree,  and with a bit of modification,  it is holding strong inside the stand.  My own actual 21st century family all came over - sicknesses done! - and we decorated  (or  "dressed") the tree and had a grand time doing so!

Meet my real family - - - -
my wife,  my kids  (and their significant others),  and grandkids.
Only Paul Anka,  our chocolate lab,  is not in the picture.

Until next time,  see you in time.

But wait----there's more!

While inside the barracks,  my future daughter-in-law was there 
in their colonial attire.  Heather was happily and excitedly 
showing the ladies her engagement ring.
We're so happy!

~   ~   ~