THOMASVILLE- Members of John B. Gordon 383 UDC were presented a program by their chapter president, Mary Margaret Tyson Quiggle about “Christmas, 1862.” She talked about a North Carolina soldier that was homesick and weary concerning the second Christmas during the War Between the States era. The soldier was remembering the time about a year earlier when he was enjoying the blessings he had at his parents’ house that were warm and comfortable. They were celebrating Christmas worship in their church. But now, it was a different kind of Christmas. He was surrounded by “warriors, cannons, and guns.” This soldier was praying for peace and prosperity to his country again.

Quiggle explained how many soldiers during the Christmas of 1862 thought about their families’ traditional holiday foods of celebrations. She said, “Wartime shortages changed everything. In Richmond, a turkey would sell for eleven dollars a pound, and sugar for candies and cakes sold for eight dollars a pound.” The group learned from Quiggle’s program that the sutlers who sold items to the soldiers were overcharging for the few treats they did have to offer. Butter cost a dollar a pound. Small sausages cost fifty cents a pound. The soldier Reuben Searcy of the 34th Alabama wrote a letter to his mother on Christmas Day stating, “Christmas has come and gone, but how differently did I celebrate its coming this year. The only thing that impressed me with the fact it was Christmas was that we did not have drill.”

The speaker said that “by the time of the War Between the States almost all of the states had made Christmas a legal holiday. Even Puritan, Massachusetts now closed all public offices and forbade any commercial business on Christmas Day.” Christmas was slowly taking root in the United States and it was a time for family, especially the children.

Historian Sheila Tucker told members the book written by James McIvor was being given to the Rodenberry Memorial Library in Cairo, Ga. in Quiggle’s honor.