Halloween During the Civil War

[Eric Tipton]

Greetings!

So, my Son Alex and I have been watching Halloween movies, listening to scary sounds and scaring Mommy tonight. It made me think about Halloween during the Civil War. So, I did a Google search and found this article by Caroline Davis. It is a short article with some background and first person accounts. Do you have any sources, drawings, articles or stories that you can add to this thread about Halloween during the Civil War? Yes, I used the Search Function first... and found nothing. Here is the article:



All Hallow’s Eve
Posted on October 31, 2013
By Caroline Davis

All my friends know that I’m a “scaredy cat.” When a horror movie comes on, you can find me hiding beneath a blanket or behind the couch. To distract myself from this month’s “spooktacular” festivities, I did some research regarding Halloween during the years of the Civil War. Accounts of soldiers celebrating Christmas are common, but what about other holidays? Was Halloween an excuse to throw a party in the 1860s? After all, Halloween is one of the world’s oldest holidays dating as far back as 5 BCE (at that time it was known as “Samhain”).

This autumn holiday may have begun as a simple Pagan festival in which food for spirits was left on doorsteps, but today it has become an extravaganza of spooks. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III declared November 1st “All Saints Day,” making October 31st “All Hallow’s Eve.” When the tradition arrived in America, only Maryland and the southern colonies participated. The Irish influx into the states spurred the popularity of Halloween. By 1850, Americans across the country were dressing up and knocking on doors in hopes of receiving food or money. Today we call this “Trick-or-Treat.”

Though not like it is today, Halloween was in fact celebrated during the Civil War. If you look hard enough, you can find references to Halloween in the media. For example, Harper’s Weekly published the political cartoon “Jefferson Davis Reaping the Harvest” in October 1861. The ghoulish scene depicted the Confederate President gathering wheat topped with skulls. In October 1863, Harper’s Weekly published a cartoon showing Copperhead Clement Vallandigham as a pumpkin.



Another reference to Halloween can be found in The Peoria Morning Mail which included the following in it’s November 2nd, 1862 issue:

“All-Hollow E’en.”—This old time anniversary which took place on Friday evening, was made the excuse by some of our wild boys for throwing unsavory missiles, putrid vegetables; taking gates off of the hinges, and sundry other pranks. This was probably “good fun” to the boys, but for those thus attacked it was not so desirable. This is the way a “very quiet” night was spent as stated by a contemporary.’

In November 1864, Kate Stone wrote the following in her journal Brokenburn:

“Some gentlemen called, and we had cards. After they left, Lucy and I tried our fortunes in divers ways as it was ‘All Hallow’e’en.’ We tried all magic arts and had a merry frolic, but no future lord and master came to turn our wet garments hanging before the fire. There were no ghostly footprints in the meal sprinkled behind the door. No bearded face looked over our shoulders as we ate the apples before the glass. No knightly forms of soldiers brave disturbed our dreams after eating the white of an egg half-filled with salt.”

I can’t imagine the soldiers had much time to celebrate Halloween, but it’s interesting to think about how traditions have changed over the years. Even with the special effects we have today, it’s important to remember that no horror movie can compare to what American soldiers experienced during the Civil War.

On a side note, I hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween.

Click Here for the Original Article at "Emerging Civil War"

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Halloween During the Civil War

Philadelphia Press Newspaper, October 31, 1862

"Halloween is thought to be a time when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their bandful midnight rounds" and "when street boys club together and ring multitudinous door bells, hiding up alleys and behind corners, and exploding into shrieks of laughter at the ultimate success of their tintinnabulations."

[Ambrose Bierce]

Re: Halloween During the Civil War

While not directly written during the war, much of Ambrose Bierce's writing deals with the supernatural and macabre as chronicled in his review of actual events or stories.

I wrote about a few recommendations last year at this time under the heading "Of Haints and Such" and the post can be found here:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?39735-Of-Haints-and-Such&highlight=haints

This sketch by Alfred Waud is called "Here's a Health to the Next One That Dies." It seems death is always close and the supernatural reigns.



With photos like this, who can blame them!?



A cool subject, Eric, and Aaron, it is great to hear from you!

[bizzilizzit]

Re: Halloween During the Civil War

Cleveland Daily Plain Dealer
October, 31, 1865
Tonight is to be the anniversary of Hallow-E’en or the evening before all Saints Day. This festival was formerly observed almost universally in Scotland and England and is still pretty generally kept. The country folks were in the habit of meeting together in the kitchen of some large farmhouse as graphically described by Burns in his celebrated poem. After the company had all assembled the ceremonies of the night were commenced by the lads and lasses proceeding to the garden to pull each a stock or plant of Kail. The usual practice is for all to form a line, join hands, then shut their eyes and then pull the first they met with. It is a matter of great moment whether the stalks are big or little, straight or crooked, as it is considered to be prophetic of the size and shape of the future husband or wife. In the event of any soil clinging to the root it is significant of the amount of the fortune that the bride or bridegroom will enjoy, while the taste of the stock or heart of the stem is emblematical of the temper or disposition of the future partner in life. The “rusts” as they are generally called in Scotland are then placed above the door leading in the kitchen where the ceremonies are going on, and the Christian names of the persons who enter are taken to be the names of the future partners according to the priority in which the stalks had been placed. The burning of the nuts is considered to be a most potent charm. A clear place in the fire is selected. The name of a male and female is given to each particular nut as it is placed in the fire; and according as they start from each other or burn quietly so is supposed to be the issue of the courtship.
A favorite rite, and one in which only young damsels take part, is to eat an apple in front of a looking glass in order that while doing so her future husband may look over her shoulder and have his face reflected in the mirror. Few girls have the courage to perform the feat, and there are instances on record, in which young women have lost their reason by the fright at supposing she has seen something supernatural. The usual place is for the young woman who is about to try the spell to go alone into a room with a lighted candle, placing it before the looking glass and eating the apple as she stands in front of the mirror. If the spell is successful, her future conjugal companion will peep over her shoulder and his face be reflected in the mirror. This ceremony has been the subject of serious practical jokes on the part of the male sex, and many girls have had reason to regret having tried the experiment.
The ceremony of trying their luck by three dishes is very simple and innocent, and generally provocative of much merriment. Three bowls are placed on the floor usually in front of the fire. In one is placed clean water, in the second foul water, while the third is empty. The person who wishes to try the experiment is then blind folded and led forward to the hearth stone, where the dishes are placed. If it is a young woman who is experimenting and she places her hand in the clean water she will come to the bar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul water a widow, but if she is so unfortunate as to put her hand into the empty bowl she will live and die an old maid. The ceremony is repeated 3 times, and on every occasion the position of the dishes changed. The majority of the changes always rule in this as in every other case. By the time the various ceremonies enumerated were got through with in the “good old times” midnight was drawing nigh. The bread and cheese and the butter, were then set out and simple justice done to them.
Elizabeth Topping

[Kanawha Riflemen]

Re: Halloween During the Civil War

These articles are from the Valley of Shadow that talks about the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania area.

Semi-Weekly Dispatch, November 1, 1861, Halloween - Summery: Complains of the behavior of "rude, uncultivated" boys the previous evening, in their celebration of Halloween. Notes that the boys shelled with corn and thumped doors with cabbage.

Franklin Repository, October 30, 1867, Hallow E'en - Summary: The editors note the impending arrival of Halloween and remonstrate against the actions of local youth, who have taken to "the indiscriminate pounding of doors, tearing of porches from their fastenings in front of dwellings, pulling door bells, throwing corn at windows, pulling all sorts of moveables into the streets, and other species of mischief."

Valley Spirit, November 9, 1870, Shooting Affair in Dry Run - Summary: A young man named Winfield Walker was shot in the vicinity of the house of John Hammond on Halloween night. "The young folks were celebrating Hallow Eve by throwing corn against the doors and indulging in similar boyish freaks." When the group approached the Hammond house, shots were fired that struck Walker. He is in critical condition. It is not known if the shots were meant to frighten the boys or to harm them.

Franklin Repository, November 09, 1870, Unwarranted Recklessness - Summary: Winfield S. Walker was shot on Halloween by John Hammond. Walker and a group of boys and young men from Dry Run were "amusing themselves by visiting the houses and gardens of the village and indulging in the sports peculiar to Hallowe'en." When they came near the house of Hammond, Hammond fired three shots at the boys, critically wounding Walker.

John A. Miller
Monterey Pass Battlefield Park & Museum