Christmases past on James River plantations included decorations made by hand, family unity, and entertaining of friends.
Christmases present try to recapture this traditional spirit, whether interpreting from the 1700s or the 1930s.
Berkeley Plantation uses decorations made by plantation hostesses, says Roberta Luce, a hostess. Fresh greens, dogwood and fruit are used, much as they would have been in Colonial times although a Christmas tree from the 1800s is used, she says.
The decorations, copied from what is known to have been used in Virginia, complement furnishings. The home is furnished with restored, authentic Colonial period pieces, says Luce. Originals were destroyed during the Civil War.
Berkeley, in Charles City County, was first settled in 1618 by 35 people under the care of Capt. John Woodlief, according to Old Virginia Houses Along the James by Emmie Ferguson Farrar. Many of those settlers were later killed in an Indian massacre in 1622.
After the massacre, what was then called Berkeley Hundred, was abandoned for several years. Several people owned the property during the early 1600s, including Giles Bland who was hanged in 1676 for participating in Bacon's Rebellion.
Later, Benjamin Harrison III inherited Berkeley. His son, who married the daughter of the owner of Carter's Grove, built the present house. Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, inherited the plantation in 1744. The eldest son, Benjamin Harrison VI, inherited the plantation and another son, William Henry Harrison, became the ninth president of the United States. William Henry Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison, became 23rd president.
The house was sold by the Harrisons shortly before the Civil War, says Farrar's book. It was used by the Union army as McClellan's headquarters and as a prison.
Currently, the plantation is owned by Malcolm Jamieson. Guided tours of the mansion are $7.
Shirley Plantation, in Charles City County, originially was part of West and Sherlye Hundred. It was large enough to support 100 families, says Helen Carter. Her husband's family has owned and lived in the house for 10 generations, she says. The plantation was settled in 1613 with the house being built in 1723.
The Christmases of old were "more religious," she says. Decorating did not take place until after Advent.
Decorations today are done with live materials, much as they would have been in times past. The wreaths, garlands and flowers show that "spring is not so far away."
Old-fashioned decorations, many from Denmark, are used.
The Carter family has a new tradition, as the children were growing up, ornaments were added to the 10-foot tree which had special significance for each child.
Tours of the mansion are $6.
Carter's Grove tries to recreate Christmas as it was in 1939.
"This was probably the last time we would have a major party going on. It was the end of an era. After the war, it was never quite the same," says Lawrence C. Henry. He works for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, operator of the home since 1964.
No photographs of holidays at the mansion exist from the 1930s. The CW staff has researched decorations using copies of the 1930s Better Homes and Gardens magazine and the Sears and Roebuck catalog, says Evelyn Cassidey, manager of news and information services.
The tract of land known as Carter's Grove was given to Elizabeth Carter by her father, Robert "King" Carter, when she married Nathaniel Burwell. Burwell's son, Carter, built the main building.
In the drawing room at Carter's Grove, George Washington proposed to Mary Cary, but she refused him. Later, legend has it, Cary watched the triumphant Continental Army enter Williamsburg after the Yorktown surrender. When she saw her rejected suitor heading for so much glory, she fainted in her husband's arms, according to the Farrar book.
In the same drawing room, Thomas Jefferson asked Rebecca Burwell to marry him, but was also rejected.
In 1927, Carter's Grove was acquired by Archibald and Mary Corling McCrea who restored it. Mrs. McCrea's will specified that the house be sold to a group that would display it to the public.
As part of modern-day Christmas festivities, 25 people pay to decorate the huge tree with 19th century ornaments, Henry says. The mansion has special events for photographers, as well as a special evening program five nights during the season.