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By Noah Good, Marketing Manager and History Program Educator Every December, members of the King’s Chapel congregation gather to “green” the sanctuary, decorating the space with pine boughs, evergreen wreaths, poinsettias, and red bows.  Modern greening of the sanctuary at King's Chapel. Photograph taken by Noah Good. “Greening” churches for Christmas is an old tradition. In the 16th century, several English churches bought holly and ivy for Christmas, as shown in their account books. The practice of decorating with greenery in the winter is much older. During the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which took place during the winter solstice, people decorated their homes with evergreens. While evergreen decorations are a common part of Christmas today, they used to be highly controversial in Boston, as was Christmas itself. In 17th century England, Christmas was a rowdy time, marked by excessive eating and drinking as well as rituals which turned the established social hierarchy on its head.  Title page. John Taylor. A Brown Dozen of Drunkards (1648). Historian Stephen Nissenbaum describes Christmas during this period: Revelling could easily become rowdiness; making merry could edge into making trouble. Christmas was a season of 'misrule,' a time when ordinary behavioral restraints could be violated with impunity. It was part of what one historian has called “the world of carnival.” (Nissenbaum 85) It should come as no surprise, then, that the puritans frowned upon Christmas. In 1659, puritan Massachusetts officially banned Christmas: celebrating the holiday was punishable with a five shilling fine. The law was repealed in 1681 after pressure from the English crown. There was another reason why puritans disliked Christmas: they viewed the holiday itself as a holdover from Paganism. There is some truth to this statement. After all, there is no historical or biblical basis to believe Christ was born on December 25. Instead, Christmas lines up with the winter solstice, a holiday older than Christianity itself. One puritan father summed up this argument very well: “Be you not observers of festival seasons; none were ever celebrated in the times of the Apostles, nor Christmas day heard of. Besides, it hath been never yet proved that Christ was born on December, the 25th but more probable in September.” But Christmas officially arrived in Boston in 1686, whether the puritans wanted it or not. That year, a new governor, appointed by the King, took over control of Massachusetts. Governor Edmund Andros arrived in Boston on December 20, 1686.  William Henry Whitmore, Sir Edmund Andros. A Memoir of Sir Edmund Andros. (Boston: T.R. Marvin and Sons, 1868). Encyclopædia Britannica. That Christmas, two religious services were held at Boston’s Town House. Andros attended both, “with a Red-Coat going on his right hand and Capt. George on the left.” But puritan Boston did not recognize the holiday: shops stayed open and people went about their business as usual. In the coming years, puritan magistrate Samuel Sewall noted in his diary whether shops in Boston stayed open on Christmas. In 1697, he “took occasion to dehort [his children] from Christmas-keeping, and charged them to forbear.”  John Smibert, Samuel Sewall, 1729, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 1749, work began on a new building for King’s Chapel. Four years later, as construction continued, the congregation wasn’t able to worship in their own space. Leaders at King’s Chapel turned to their neighbor for help: Old South Meeting House, a Congregationalist church. Congregationalists descend from the puritans, and Old South Meeting House was one of the first puritan churches in Boston. In October 1753, King’s Chapel leadership asked Old South if they could use their space to hold Christmas service. In early December, Old South Meeting house replied that King’s Chapel would be welcome to use their building, so long as they “would not decorate it with Spruce.” Spruce is a kind of evergreen tree, and its branches might have been used to decorate the chapel at the time. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that Christmas started to become popular in New England. An 1893 Boston Globe article shows how Christmas gained popularity around this time. In this article, a reporter interviews several older men about their childhood memories of Christmas. Many didn’t experience Christmas until later in their lives. Dr. E. E. Hale said, “The first public recognition of Christmas that I ever noticed were evergreens at King’s chapel and at St Paul’s church about the year 35 or 36.” Another man, Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson also said King’s Chapel was one of his first Christmas experiences: he went to visit in 1840 to see the decorations. Higginson might have seen decorations like these, recorded in an engraving from 1856.  Interior View of King’s Chapel, Dressed for the Christmas Holidays, 1856, GC002.01.MA.3300.001. Prints and engravings collection, 1830s-1920s. Historic New England. Newspaper articles from the end of the nineteenth century describe King’s Chapel as being decorated with hemlock branches and evergreens for Christmas. A reporter in 1897 said the decorations were striking, “[producing] an excellent effect in the contrast of white and green.” By 1894, Christmas decorations were a growing market in Boston. One reporter remarked, “To the young it may seem almost incredible that this branch of business has all sprung up within a score of years, but it is a truth that 20 years ago Christmas decorations were hardly known in the market.” Today, Christmas decorations can be found all across Boston. It’s strange to imagine a time where they were so foreign, and when Christmas itself was suppressed in the city. If you’d like to see King’s Chapel’s own Christmas greenery, stop by for a visit! Our December hours are Monday and Thursday-Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. BibliographyBrand, John, Henry Ellis, and J. O. (James Orchard) Halliwell-Phillipps. “Evergreen-Decking at Christmas.” In Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly Illustrating the Origin of Our Vulgar and Provincial Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions, with University of California. London, Bell & Daldy, 1873. http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8nY9AQAAMAAJ.
Charpentier, Faye. “Decking the Halls: The History of ‘Greening’ for the Holidays at King’s Chapel.” King’s Chapel History Blog, December 4, 2020. https://www.kings-chapel.org/historyblog/decking-the-halls-the-history-of-greening-for-the-holidays-at-kings-chapel. “Christ Child’s Birth: Boston Churches Generally Had Special Observances.” The Boston Globe. December 27, 1897. https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/430844904/?match=1&terms=christmas%20AND%20decorations. Churco, Jennie M.. “Christmas and the Roman Saturnalia.” The Classical Outlook 16, no. 3 (1938): 25–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44006272. “Greens for Christmas.” The Boston Globe. December 23, 1894. https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/430855164/?match=1&terms=christmas %20AND%20decorations. Gregory, Jeremy. “Refashioning Puritan New England: The Church of England in British North America, c. 1680-c. 1770.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 20 (2010): 85–112. JSTOR. Legacy of a dying father bequeathed to his beloved children: or sundry directions in order unto a well regulated conversation, 1693-1694, MS0909. The Congregational Library & Archives, Boston, MA. “Local Intelligence: Christmas Services.” The Boston Evening Transcript. December 23, 1876. https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/735186400/?match=1&clipping_ id=186322050 “The Nativity: How the Great Festival Will Be Observed Today.” The Boston Globe. December 25, 1874. https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/428237335/?match=1&terms=christmas%20AND%20decorations. Nissenbaum, Stephen W. “Christmas in Early New England, 1620-1820: Puritanism, Popular Culture, and the Printed Word.” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 106, no. 1 (1996). Sewall, Samuel. Diary of Samuel Sewall, 1674-1729. Second. Volume 1. Massachusetts Historical Society, 1878. https://archive.org/details/diaryofsamuelsew01sewaiala/ page/230/mode/2upq=%22king%27s+chapel%22. Simpson, Jacqueline, and Roud, Steve. “Christmas decorations.” In A Dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford University Press, 2003. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198607663.001.0001/ acref-9780198607663-e-185?rskey=9yrZd0&result=9. Wardens and Vestry minutes for 31 October 1753 and 5 December 1753. Ms. N-1867, Wardens and Vestry 1687-1917, Box 1, Folder 13. King’s Chapel Archives, Massachusetts Historical Society. “When I Was a Boy: Christmas Recollections of Col Higginson, ex Gov Claflin, Rev Dr S. F. Smith., Edward Everett Hale and Charles Theodroe Russell.” The Boston Globe. December 24, 1893. https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/430705425/?match=1&terms=christmas%20AND%20decorations%20AND%20%22king%27s %20chapel%22
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By Mallory Hillary, Operations Manager and History Program EducatorAt King’s Chapel, we are fortunate enough to host visitors from all over the world. This August, one of our international visitors helped us reconnect with some of our own history. In the sanctuary of King’s Chapel, just above the main doors, there is a marble banner flanked by two eagles. This is the church’s official memorial for World War I. There are three names engraved on the banner: Hamilton Coolidge, Helen Homans, and Edward Blake Robins Jr.  Hamilton Coolidge in his service uniform. (Photo courtesy of Doughboy Foundation.) Coolidge, often referred to as “Ham” by his friends, calls to mind something of a proto-Captain America type. Born to a well-to-do family in Brookline, Coolidge would go on to become a senior prefect, captain of the football team, and a pitcher on the baseball team at his high school. When Coolidge graduated in 1915, he went on to Harvard and was elected Vice-President of the freshman class. Eventually though, Coolidge dropped out and went into the military alongside his Harvard friend Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt. A book, titled Letters of an American Airman, gives us some insight into what life was like for these early American pilots. Flying was still so new to war that Coolidge and his friends were helping to set up the first American military flying school in France. Per his letters, the process required a good amount of work, but he often painted it all as jolly good fun. The only complaint Coolidge had about their conditions was the constant mud. In fact, it infuriated him so much that he wrote a poem to his family about how annoying he found it. “The rain it raineth every day, In his letters, Coolidge revealed himself to be enthusiastic, a hard-worker, a comedian, and eminently self-aware. He described exploring patisseries in Paris, outlined what he believed would be the future of aviation, and shared the day-to-day life of an American serviceman in France.  Hamilton Coolidge in the cockpit of one of the planes he flew in the war. (Photo courtesy of the Coolidge Family via Plimpton Publishing) Ham quickly distinguished himself in the service, helping to teach new pilots how to fly and racking up feats himself. Eventually in October of 1918, he earned the title of ‘ace’ when he achieved four kills of enemy aircraft in a single two-day period. At the time, that brought his total count to five (the official benchmark for ‘ace’ status), but Coolidge would achieve eight kills before his own passing.  Plane News article excerpt showing Hamilton Coolidge among the flying aces from the Issodun region. The asterisk next to his name indicates that he had passed away by the time of this paper’s publication. (Photo courtesy of Fold3) Many of the young men who were flying aces in World War I did not survive. Early engineering combined with the newness of aerial dogfights and strength of German anti-aircraft measures made for a deadly combination. Quentin Roosevelt was killed in action behind enemy lines a short while before Coolidge. Of his friend’s passing, Coolidge wrote: “Death is certainly not a black, unmentionable thing, and I feel…that dead people should be talked of just as if they were alive. At mess and sitting around in our quarters the boys that have been killed are spoken of all the time when any little thing reminds someone of them. To me Quentin is just away somewhere. I know we shall see each other again and have a grand old “hoosh,” talking over everything together. I miss him the way I miss Mother and the family, for his personality or spirit are just as real and vivid as they ever were.” Coolidge reunited with his friend on October 27, 1918. Ham was acting as an escort when the Germans began attacking the planes he was helping to shepherd. By all accounts, he immediately dove in, hoping to draw fire and eliminate the German threat. Unfortunately, the German military had extremely well-positioned anti-aircraft forces. His plane was struck by multiple shells, one of which hit immediately beneath his engine. This likely killed him instantly. His plane crashed near the Aire River and the village Chevières. Shortly afterward, his commanding officer tracked down the wreckage and helped bury his remains: “And here in the bend of the Aire, almost in full sight of the enemy, we came upon the body of Captain Coolidge. A lieutenant in infantry who had seen the whole spectacle and had marked down the spot where Ham's body had fallen, accompanied us and it was through his very kind offices that we reached the exact spot without much searching. The Chaplain of his regiment likewise accompanied us. And there, not sixty yards behind our front lines, we watched the men dig a grave. The Chaplain administered the last sad rites. Amid the continuous whines of passing shells we laid the poor mangled body of Captain Hamilton Coolidge in its last resting place. Over the grave was placed a Cross suitably engraved with his name, rank and the date of his tragic death. A wreath of flowers was laid at the foot of the cross.” The American military moved Ham’s body to a central burying space for American servicemen in a different spot in France. However, the Coolidge family wanted him to remain where he fell. They purchased a plot of land near his original burial space and created a memorial, reinterring him at the memorial. Ham’s parents made an agreement with Chevières; in exchange for the village looking after their son’s grave, the Coolidge family helped fund the town’s rebuilding efforts. There are stories of them even acting as Secret Santa and purchasing Christmas gifts for the children.  Hamilton Coolidge’s burial card, which documents the movements of his remains after his passing. (Photo courtesy of Fold3) Just last year, Coolidge family descendants had to move Ham once again. The original memorial site was disappearing quickly due to a change in the river flow and erosion. The new memorial is in a safer spot, away from the water. The U.S. military helped move his remains to the new space in a somber ceremony, where the town, including the mayor, recommitted to caring for Ham’s memorial. This is where I get to reintroduce the visitors mentioned in the first paragraph, because they were none other than Jean-Charles Genty, the mayor of Chevières, and his family! They were on vacation in Boston and stopped in to visit as they walked the Freedom Trail. Mayor Genty generously shared updated photos of Hamilton Coolidge’s memorial once he returned to France.  Hamilton Coolidge’s memorial in modern day. (Photo courtesy of Jean-Charles Genty)  Closeup of Hamilton Coolidge’s grave with sunflowers behind. (Photo courtesy of Jean-Charles Genty)  Another closeup of Coolidge’s grave, decorated with the French and American flags. (Photo courtesy of Jean-Charles Genty) Hamilton Coolidge and his legacy stand as a reminder this National Veterans and Military Families Month to pause and remember the men and women who have given their lives in service. For information on another King’s Chapel congregant who participated in World War I, see our article about Helen Homans, a nurse who also served in France.
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