A Place of Honor

-painting by Stan P.

We receive many wonderful praises from our guests, mostly in the form of a nice note or a review on Trip Advisor.  However, this past week, we couldn't believe the very special gift bestowed upon us by Stan P. from Virginia.  He and his lovely wife previously stayed with us for a weekend in October and to our pleasure and surprise, made plans to return with his sons,daughters and their spouses, for a holiday celebration weekend in December. 

Imagine our surprise when Stan presented us on his arrival with this fantastic painting of the Historic Fairfield Inn, complete with all the details that make her so special.  We are truly honored by this very special portrait which must have taken hours of work. 

We are eagerly discussing places of honor where we can proudly display this.  We hope when you come to visit, you will enjoy admiring this beautiful piece as much as we do.  Again, thank you Stan for sharing your talent with us.  We appreciate it more than words can ever say.

Epiphany

Friday, January 06, 2012
Time: 7:00pm
Culinary Event

Join us on the 'twelfth night of Christmas' as we bless the Inn by marking the eves in the dining room and tavern with the Chalk Blessing inscription 20+C+M+B+12 - the 20 and 12 signifies the new year, the four crosses stand for the four seasons, the letters C, M & B stand for the three wise men, Caspar, Melchior & Balthazar. There will be a special toast and everyone will receive chalk & the blessing. Reservations required.

The History of Epiphany

January 6 is known in the Christian calendar as Epiphany. It is sometimes called the “Twelfth Night” being the 12th Day of Christmas. It signifies the event of the Magi, or Wise Men visiting the baby Jesus. So, the 12 days of Christmas don’t end at Christmas, Advent does. Instead, the 12 days start with Christmas, and end with Epiphany, and these 12 days are also sometimes called Christmastide. Epiphany is a Greek word that means manifestation, appearance, or showing forth. Historically, Epiphany began in the eastern Church as the celebration of the nativity of Jesus Christ. As the celebration of Christmas spread eastward, Epiphany changed to its present meaning.  January 5th is Paramony, the Eve of the Feast of Epiphany.
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Thinking of Those Before Us

In a letter to his sister Anna Simpson, Tally Simpson wrote:

"December 25th, 1862

My dear sister,

This is Christmas Day. The sun shines feeble through a thin cloud, the air is mild and pleasant, a gentle breeze is making music through the leaves of the lofty pines that stand near our bivouac. All is quiet and still and that very stillness recalls some sad and painful thoughts. The day, one year ago, how many thousand families, gay and joyous, celebrating Merry Christmas, drinking health to absent members of their family and sending upon the wings of love and affection long, deep, and sincere wishes for their safe return to the loving ones at home, but today are clad in the deepest mourning in memory to some lost and loved member of their circle..."

"When will this war end? Will another Christmas roll around and find us all wintering in camp? Oh! That peace may soon be restored to our young but dearly beloved country and that we may all meet again in happiness."

When everyone takes time to celebrate this joyous season, let us remember all of those before us who sacrificed so much for the good of our country.

Great Place, Great Food=Great Times!

The Historic Fairfield Inn was pleased to host a recent afternoon get-together for Mr. and Mrs. Martin and their lovely friends from Hagerstown,MD. The meal was replete with our famous Ham and Bean Soup, Chicken and Biscuits and plenty of warm slices of our fresh baked Fruits of the Forest Pie (a la mode), of course!
We are just a short drive away from MD,DC and VA, not to mention you West Virginians! Why not make us the place to meet for lunch or dinner? See you on the Confederate Retreat!

How the Winter Solstice Relates to the Civil War

For an observer in the northern hemisphere, the December solstice marks the day of the year with the least hours of daylight for those living north of the Tropic of Cancer. It's the longest night of the year. From this point forward, we can start looking forward to longer days, more sunlight and Spring is only three short months away! This year, December 21, 2011 is when most of us in the United States will observe the transformation.

An interesting fact you may or may not know is that the the primary elements of the American Civil War Memorial in Waterloo, New York are aligned in an axis along the meridian like a sundial and not only mark the different times of the day,but specific times of the year, like that of the Winter Solstice. Pietro del Fabro, the designer, poured incredible detail into this creation. The Star Stone lies at the north end of the axis, at the south end is the flag pole. In between, along the same axis, are the portal and the North South Cenotaph. When the shadow cast by a vertical object, such as the Memorial flag pole, is precisely over the meridian, it is local apparent noon. The red flagpole bears the 36-star flag of 1865. Nearby is a North-South cenotaph — a pillar of 36 stones, one from each state in the nation at the war’s close. Behind them is a limestone portal leading to a grove of cedars. The trees circle a white marble stone dotted with star-shaped indentations overlaid with 23-karat gold leaf. Townspeople and visitors have been adding individual notches since 2007, each one representing 1,000 of the war’s 620,000 fallen combatants.
Spaced out in rows to the left and right are 57 individually carved limestone shafts with brass plaques. They pay tribute to the unluckiest of Waterloo’s 350-plus soldiers — men aged 18 to 47 who died in battle or, more commonly, from disease. Another stone pillar memorializes women caught up in the conflict, from mothers and medics to disguised soldiers and spies.
On one wall of the central enclosure is an inscription from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address: “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it ... and the war came.”
“He was very clear about forgiving the southern side as the war was coming to a finish (so as) to bring the country back together,” said del Fabro. “And unfortunately, when he was shot, it went the other way.”
The Winter Solstice noon mark (unmarked) falls in the middle of the south face of the Star Stone of this memorial.
As we observe this time of year, let's take a moment to think about those who gave so much for our country and new beginnings. Happy Winter Solstice Day!

What Was Christmas Like During the Civil War?

Christmas Eve, by Thomas Nast
It hasn't escaped the attention of many that the traditions associated with Christmas celebrations in the United States today began during the Civil War. Without a doubt, it was the loneliness and insecurities of war felt by citizens and soldiers alike that created a need for them to seek solace and security. They found it in part by re-establishing familiar European traditions. This created the illusion of love and peace at a time when very little of that existed in their daily lives.

Christmas had been celebrated in Europe with eating, drinking, and dancing. It was the Puritans who attempted to end this indulgent behavior, and did it successfully when they came to America. With their arrival, Christmas became a serious occasion, the purpose of which was to introspectively ponder sin and religious commitment.

It took almost 200 years for our country to move away from this Puritan view and enjoy the holidays once more. Louisiana was the first state to make Christmas a holiday in 1830, and many states soon followed. Congress did not make Christmas a federal holiday until 1870. The religious revival of the mid 19th century also added to the desire to unite, celebrate, and recognize Christmas.

Christmas cards, carols, special foods, holding winter dances, all date back to the late 1850s. Even before the Civil War, it was common to cut Christmas trees and take them into the home, although they were tabletop size, and usually were arranged with other greenery and mistletoe, all supposed to bring good luck to the household. Union soldiers' letters mention decorating their camp Christmas trees with salt-pork and hard tack.

It was the development of the modern Santa Claus that embedded Christmas into the American way of life. In 1861, Thomas Nast was a German immigrant working as a writer and artist at Harper's Weekly. When he was tasked with providing a drawing to accompany Clement Clark Moore's 1821 poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, he called upon his Bavarian childhood to create our modern image of Santa Claus. His cherubic (but thin by today's standards) Santa was depicted bringing gifts of Harper's to the soldiers, making Nast the first to combine imagery (Santa Claus) and commercialism (selling Harper's) into the American marketplace.

Santa brought children gifts, and gifts were always home made. Children were satisfied to receive just small hand-carved toys, cakes, oranges or apples. Many Southern diaries tell the story of Santa running the blockaded ports in Dixie to fill children's stockings with what little the parents could spare to make the day special for them. Even General Sherman's soldiers played Santa to impoverished Southern children by attaching tree-branch antlers to their horses and bringing food to the starving families in the war-ravaged Georgia countryside.

The most famous Christmas gift of the war was sent by telegram from William Tecumseh Sherman to Abraham Lincoln on December 22, 1864. "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 100 and 50 guns and plenty of ammunition, also about 25,000 bales of cotton." The gift, of course, wasn't the guns, the ammunition or the cotton, but the beginning of the end of the Civil War.

How to Spend Your Time Here....

Most of our guests have a set idea of what they will be doing while staying with us, however, there are those of us that while drawn back again and again to the area for it's charm and history, there may be a yearning to go off the beaten path.

Here are just a few suggestions besides the obvious-

Geocaching:

If you're like me, I had no idea about this until early last year. You can read more about how it works here. This can be an exciting activity to plan with a family. There are several sites located through out the Gettysburg Area and in Adams County, PA. Click here for a few to get you started. This is a great way to get more familiar with a particular location you visit.

Sach's Bridge:

Sachs Covered Bridge was built in 1852 by David S. Stoner. Part of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began it's retreat to Virginia by crossing this bridge after the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Sach's covered bridge extends 100 feet across Marsh Creek. In 1938, the Pennsylvania Highway Department determined that Sachs Bridge was the most historic covered bridge in the state. Sachs Bridge was closed to traffic in 1968 and listed in the National Register of historic places in 1980. Floodwaters swept it from its abutments on June 19, 1996. The County of Adams rehabilitated the Sach's bridge by supporting its trusses with steel beams and by raising its elevation three feet.

Evergreen Cemetary:

The Evergreen Cemetery is a private cemetery that was located on Cemetery Hill before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. It was established in 1854 when a group of local residents headed by attorney David McConaughy bought land on Raffensperger's Hill south of Gettysburg along the Baltimore Pike for a community cemetery. The large brick gatehouse was constructed in the late 1850's. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the hill was a key position for the Union Army. As a consequence, the cemetery and its gatehouse suffered damage from incoming artillery shells, as well as from the thousands of men and horses who tramped through it during and after the fighting. The Soldiers' National Cemetery was established immediately west of it after the battle. Although today the Soldiers' National Cemetery is closed to new burials, the Evergreen Cemetery is still active and plots may be purchased.

There are many more places to see and things to do, this is just scratching the surface of visiting our beautiful area. Hope to see you soon!