12/21/2024
CHRISTMAS-NEW YEARS IN SILVER CREEK’ S PAST
BY LOUIS F PELLETTER
SILVER CREEK VILLAGE HISTORIAN
December 18, 2024
As I have written in the past my family makes a tradition of attending the “Yuletide in the Country Tour”, at Genesee Country Village, in Mumford, New York. For those of you that have never been there, it is a collection of 19th century historic homes, businesses, churches and other buildings from the Genesee Valley that have been donated to this organization for preservation purposes.
While there it is not difficult to visualize community life during the holidays in our own early communities of Fayette and Silver Creek. The 19th century history comes to life given our pioneer families, as was theirs, were European immigrants that originally settled in the New England States.
The Yuletide program brings to life different religious, social and holiday events (portrayed by volunteer actors from the area) that early residents would be celebrating. Listening to conversations and discussions regarding the holiday allowed us to hear how in some cases, there was disagreement with the new Christmas Holiday.
In one scene in a past year they had actors attending a New Year’s Eve Ball in one of their late Victorian Era Mansions. Marion Thomas, our former Town Historian, in her booklet “Once Upon A Time” wrote about how some of our late Victorian Mansions had third floor ballrooms for these special occasions. She wrote, “The Keith House was to become famous for its New Year’s Eve Ball at four in the afternoon, replete with its gilt-edged invitations.” These scenes would give you an idea what these Balls must have looked like at the Carlos Ewell’s Mansion, (a partner of S. Howes), at 166 Central Ave, Abel Holcomb’s Mansion, (a partner of William Huntley), 133 Central Ave, Oliver Lee’s Mansion at 130 Central Ave., the Alpheus Babcock’s Mansion, (also a partner of S, Howes), at 151 Central Ave and all the other Victorian Mansions on Main Street and other areas of the Village.
Another historic portrayal was how our early pioneers’ families discussed celebrating Christmas in the 1830’s. Keeping in mind that Christmas did not become a Federal Holiday until 1870 and there was no entertainment in the community of Fayette before 1830. As you travelled from house to house in the Historic Village tour you learned how these early immigrant/pioneer groups had different views on how to celebrate Christmas. Depending on their religious beliefs or what part of Europe they came from often determined if they believed in Christmas Trees (inside of homes), decorations, gift giving or if they believed in the celebration of Christmas at all. This program made me think of what the early Christmas discussions were in the plank houses on Main Street during the early settlement of Fayette.
Another event I witnessed in the historic village was when community members were in a vintage tavern discussing the Christmas Holiday. The stagecoach driver came into the tavern with his passengers and mail, complaining about how the railroads were destroying the stagecoach business. Silver Creek’s Blue Eagle Tavern, (53 Main St.), could have been that tavern since it was built in 1821. This tavern was one of the first in our community and was a center of Fayette’s social life; not only as a stagecoach stop, but it had a ballroom for numerous dances and other social events. Sid Imus was our local stagecoach driver of that early era and could have very well been the stagecoach driver complaining about the railroads since the stagecoach era ended in the 1850’s when the railroads came to Silver Creek.
With the stagecoach era ending, the age of the Railroad started. The Lee Hotel, a new railroad hotel (off Hawkins Street), was built and opened to accommodate railroad travelers. Marion Thomas also mentioned this hotel, stating “the Lee House was to acquire fame, too, for the splendour of its holiday balls.”
For a small community, Fayette and Silver Creek had many hotels and taverns to accommodate the many travelers going from East to West. Starting with the 1st settler’s John Howard’s House of Entertainment on Howard Street around 1806, followed by the Whitney Hotel, (79 Main St,), the Blue Eagle Tavern, (53 Main St)., and the Steamboat Hotel (on Front St.), all which opened in the 1820’s. The Lee Hotel will now be added to the list of Silver Creek hotels and taverns that were in business in the 19th century.
One of my favorite stops on the Genessee Yuletide tour is the old Altay General Store. It is an 1800’s general store stocked with period items for sale. The play portrays local people shopping for Christmas gifts; again, witnessing public discussions where some community members were not in favor of the gift giving and the decorations. I can only speculate on what the conversations were like in our Fayette and Silver Creek stores that included Montgomery and Talcott, The Buffalo Store, Stewart and Co. and C. J. Neuendorf, to mention a few.
Lastly, I found an unpublished story in the June 15, 1916, Silver Creek News, written by Major Grove L. Heaton. In that story, he wrote that sometime between 1880 and 1885, “The story was told of one of the earlier residents of the village who was a good pious member of the Methodist Denomination, when on Christmas about 1826, the young folks had been making preparations for a Christmas Ball and during this time the members of the denomination had been for a couple of weeks or more holding nightly prayer meetings. On the occasion of one of these meetings the good brother referred to, felt his duty to warn the young people of the fallacy of attending places of amusements of this character, he became somewhat excited in his exhortation and did not stop to consider what he was saying, but broke out and said, ‘My young friends, I presume I have attended more than a hundred Christmas Balls and never in my life received any real comfort from doing so.’ He was then a man of some 35 or 40 years of age, but he did not stop to consider that Christmas Balls come but once a year.”
Photo 1- Blue Eagle Tavern built 1821, Torn down late 1970’s
Photo 2-Lee Hotel- built 1853, burned down 1870’s
Photo 3-Alpheus Babcock House built 1870’s
Photo 4- Abel Holcomb House built 1870’s
Photo 5-Carlos Ewell House built 1882 torn down 1979
