PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



season or to keep celebrations very simple, 

 Erickson explains. 



"Quakers, Puritans and other dissenting 

 groups breaking away from the Church of 

 England embraced simple practices, throwing 

 off ritual and living to remember Jesus in 

 their everyday lives," she says. Traditionally, 

 Quakers did not observe holy days such as 

 Christmas or Easter, choosing to view every 

 day as equally sacred. 



By the late 18th and early 19th century, 

 many Protestants had embraced more elaborate 

 Christmas observances. The wealthy families in 

 other denominations would have taken the day 

 off — attending church services, exchanging 

 gifts, feasting with the family. But the Quakers 

 quietly ignored the holiday, Erickson says. 



"Victorian-era Quakers would have been 



friends and family, Quakers would rise in the 

 pre-dawn hours to distribute baskets of food 

 or clothing at the doors of families in need, he 

 adds. 



Over time, many Quakers have relaxed 

 their views of the holiday season. Quakers still 

 insist on a simplistic lifestyle and try not to get 

 caught up in the over-commercialization of 

 Christmas, but many today observe the holiday 

 in some way, Carter says. 



The Piney Woods Meeting, for example, 

 hosts a church-wide Christmas dinner, a time 

 for members of the meeting to share both food 

 and fellowship. During the holiday season, 

 Piney Woods is decorated with a "Chrismon" 

 tree — an evergreen tree decorated with white 

 and gold Christian symbols. 



"Chrismon" is a combination of the 



participate in holiday season charity efforts 

 each year. For example, they "adopt" families 

 at Thanksgiving and Christmas and provide 

 ingredients for holiday meals. They also organize 

 a caroling trip to bring holiday spirit to shut-ins. 



And, Carter adds, Quakers strive to 

 continue such efforts year-round. 



COLONIAL OPEN HOUSE 



Folks yearning to see holiday traditions 

 that harken to nearly forgotten times before tinsel 

 can attend the Colonial Christmas Open House 

 at the Newbold- White House in Perquimans 

 County on Dec. 15. 



At the visitors' center on the property, local 

 children decorate a live Christmas tree with 

 handmade, period-style ornaments. Musical 

 performances by school groups and a barbershop 



turned off by the extravagance of Christmas 

 celebrations at the time," explains David Carter, 

 current pastor of the Piney Woods Quaker 

 Meeting near Belvidere. "They would have 

 seen the celebrations as a waste of valuable 

 resources that could otherwise be used to help 

 the needy." 



Instead of spending money on gifts for 



words, "Christ," and "monogram," meaning the 

 "initials," or "symbols" for a particular person. 

 The Chrismon tree originated in the Lutheran 

 Church, Carter explains, but other Christians 

 have adopted it as a primary decoration during 

 the Christmas season. 



As many other religious and community 

 groups do, the Piney Woods members 



VISIT AND LEARN 



The Colonial Christmas Open House will be held Dec. 1 5, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Newbold- 

 White House. The event is free. Also, from March through Thanksgiving, the house is open to visitors 

 from 1 a.m. to 4 p.m., but closed Thanksgiving Day. See the Web site, http://newboldwhitehouse.org, 

 for more details. 



The Perquimans County Visitors Center is located at 1 1 8 W. Market St. in the town of Hertford. 

 The center is open Monday through Friday, 1 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Also 

 visit the Perquimans tourism Web site for more details on county attractions: www.visitperquimans.com. 



A listing of the N.C. Highway Historic Markers can found online at www.ncmarkers.com. Select the 

 search option, then look for specific counties or keywords, such as Quakers. 



quartet are perennial favorites at the celebration. 

 Docents dressed in period clothes bum the yule 

 log and offer a traditional toast over mulled cider. 



While the center is filled with music and 

 holiday greetings, just a few yards away the 

 Newbold- White house quietly reflects Quaker 

 traditions. The separation of the Christmas 

 celebration and the Quaker home helps visitors 

 understand the differences between Quakers 

 and other colonists. 



"They [the Quakers] wouldn't have had 

 a tree," says Christine Lane, a member of the 

 Newbold- White House board of directors. 

 "But they would have had fresh greenery and 

 candles." 



The first owner of the property was a 

 Quaker named Joseph Scott — one of the few 

 Carolinians mentioned in George Fox's journal 

 recording his mission trip through the New 

 World in 1672. 



24 Coastwatch I Holiday 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



