Christmas in Woodstock, CT
This is the 200th post for Abby Epplett, Historian! Last Saturday — December 9, 2023 — I returned to Woodstock, CT for Christmas festivities. I previously attended Arts & Crafts Fairs on the grounds of Roseland Cottage and toured the mansion itself. On this trip, I returned to the famous “Pink House” to view its vintage Christmas decorations, visited a local park, toured a surprise exhibit at a nearby library, and admired a historic church.
Christmas at Roseland Cottage
From 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 9 and Sunday, December 10, Roseland Cottage held its annual Christmas open house. The mansion was decorated as if in 1887 with historic ornaments, trees, and other decor, much of which belonged to the original home owners. During the late 19th century, the wealthy Bowen family spent summers in Roseland Cottage and winters in another mansion in New York City. During Christmas at the now torn down winter residence, the family dined on a breakfast of chicken fricassee, a tasty stewed chicken dish that modern eaters would prefer for dinner. Every family member would unwrap their presents and lay them on the bed, then travel from room to room admiring what everyone got. The Bowen grandchildren dressed up in costumes with silly hats, masks, capes, gloves, and fancy walking sticks.
Christmas decorations included both live trees and feather trees, the first type of artificial tree popularized in Germany and coming to the United States around that time. The sparse, thin branches of the tree made of green-dyed goose feathers allowed the expensive glass ornaments to take center stage. One comical story from this tour involved family patriarch, Henry C. Bowen, and two of his grandsons. For Christmas, he had received a toy drum, while they received toy trumpets. Their “music” caused the poor grandma, Ellen Holt Bowen, to leave the concert with a headache. These stories were recorded by members of the Bowen family in their shared Christmas memory book.
Roseland Park
Down the road on land once owned by the Bowen family stood Roseland Park, “203 acres of forested land, manicured lawns, sports fields, and playgrounds” according to the official website. A long tractor ride took visitors on a tour through part of the expansive property. The Bowen family donated the land to the public in 1876, eleven years before the Christmas portrayal at Roseland Cottage. During the life of Henry C. Bowen, the park was most known for his elaborate Fourth of July celebrations, an event well-attended by dignitaries, wealthy elite, and local people. Today, signage near the events barn emphasizes the connection between the park and Roseland Cottage.
Bracken Memorial Library & Caroll Spinney Exhibit
Across the street from Roseland Cottage is Bracken Memorial Library, part of Woodstock Academy and one of four public libraries in Woodstock. In 1843, Henry C. Bowen purchased and renovated the academy, then assisted with several restructurings over the next thirty years. The library was built in 1923 in honor of Howard Webster Bracken, an alumni of the school who had died unexpectedly at age 50 in 1919.
As a Blackstone Valley history note, Bracken is buried in Hopedale Village Cemetery, because his wife Lillie Josie Bancroft Bracken was the daughter of Joseph Bancroft, cofounder of the original Hopedale utopian community with Adin Ballou. In fact, Bracken’s obituary is featured on the Hopedale history website Hope1742, my go-to source for Hopedale information. Finally, the Bancroft-Bracken family loved their libraries, as Hopedale’s library is named Bancroft Memorial in honor of Joseph.
On the balcony inside the library is a small exhibit curated by Woodstock Academy students on the life of Caroll Spinney. He was best known for his work on Sesame Street as the characters of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Spinney lived in Woodstock for much of his life, famously owning a home near the nudist colony.
South Woodstock Baptist Church
One of my last stops for the day was South Woodstock Baptist Church, which hosted a Christmas singalong, snacks, and crafts in their finished basement. Like many New England small towns, the village of South Woodstock is part of larger Woodstock and has a population of just over a thousand people. The church’s claim to fame is that it was the site of the first fair held by the Woodstock Agricultural Society in 1859. The fair format has changed many times in the past 164 years, moving to its present location in 1870, but the annual Woodstock Fair is still the largest in Connecticut.
