The First Christmas of New England by Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

This little, hardcover book of just 45 pages was written by Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (14 June 1811 – 1 July 1896).  The First Christmas of New England is a short story originally published in an 1876 volume containing three separate stories.  Stowe was a prolific writer for her time, authoring over 30 books, which often contained social commentary including abolition of slavery, women’s rights, temperance, and American History. Her most famous book Uncle Tom’s Cabin criticized the Fugitive Slave Act, inflamed the South and energized abolitionists in the North prior to the Civil War.

Harriet was born into the religious family of Rev. Lyman Beecher.  Three of her brothers became ministers, and her father was the famous Reverend Lyman Beecher. Her mother was Roxana Ward Foote, a descendant of Nathaniel Foote (about 1593 – 1644), Nathaniel Bliss (1622 – 1654) and Deacon Samuel Chapin (1598 – 1675) early Connecticut settlers, and my ancestors, too.  As far as I can tell, Harriet Beecher Stowe was not a Mayflower descendant, but she did write about the Pilgrims several times in her books.

All of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s books were well researched. This little story about the 1620 Christmas and the Pilgrim’s first winter in New England is written as fiction but quotes from Bradford’s journal and other primary sources. She doesn’t tell any myths about the Plymouth Colony. I don’t know why her book isn’t more well known. I stumbled across it for a few dollars at a used bookstore. You can find it for sale at Amazon and sellers like Abe Books online.

The small size of the book and the simple woodblock style illustrations would make this an excellent gift for young people. Although it was written in the middle of the 19^th century, when many of our myths about the Pilgrims and the Plymouth colony were first dreamed up, this book doesn’t romanticize their story.  The first Christmas took place a few weeks after landing in the New World, while many of the Mayflower passengers were still living on board the ship. By Christmas Eve, some of them had already died.  There was no celebrating of a pagan holiday, on December 25, 1620, they worked hard at building shelter for the new settlement.

Within a few more weeks (after the ending of the book), half of the Mayflower company would be dead.

 

The Beecher Family 

For the truly curious:

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or, The History of a Christian Slave, first published in 1852

The Mayflower, or, Sketches of Scenes and Characters among the Descendants of the Pilgrims, published 1843

Betty’s Bright Idea (and other Stories) published 1876 includes “The First Christmas of New England”.

The First Christmas of New England, published by Applewood Books of Bedford, Massachusetts, 2002 also available online at the following links:

A PDF version in full:  https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/journeys.dartmouth.edu/dist/1/686/files/2015/12/Stowe-First_Christmas_of_New_England.pdf 

This version is readable online, but scroll down to the First Christmas story (it's the second of three stories by Harriet Beecher Stowe on this website):  https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_First_Christmas_of_New_England_Other/WrLoDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+first+christmas+of+new+england&printsec=frontcover 

The ancestry of Harriet Beecher Stowe can be found at this link:  https://famouskin.com/family-tree.php?name=48996+harriet+beecher+stowe 

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut:    https://www.harrietbeecherstowecenter.org/  

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To Cite/Link to this blog: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The First Christmas of New England by Harriet Beecher Stowe", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 13, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-first-christmas-of-new-england-by.html