When Christmas Traditions Bring the Victorian Age into the Twenty-first Century

By Donna Wichelman

Rarely does a person have the chance to step into another era unless, perhaps, they are an actor on the stage. Yet, less than three weeks ago, I experienced a sense of time travel into the Victorian age at the annual Christmas at the Hamill House in Georgetown, Colorado. The event blends the traditions of the 1870s and 1970s when the Georgetown Society, now known as Historic Georgetown, Inc., first acquired William A. Hamill’s house and began the restoration and preservation project.

Donna and friend Cindy Bell Attending Christmas at the Hamill House: Donna's Gallery, December 2024

William A. Hamill stands out as one of the most important figures in Georgetown, Colorado’s history. As a mining mogul during Georgetown’s silver mining heyday of the 1870s and ’80s, he was one of the wealthiest men in Clear Creek County, making money through land speculation and buying and selling mines in Georgetown and Silver Plume. Mr. Hamill also invested in newspapers, wagon roads, and railroads. He served as a state Senator in the first Colorado State Legislature, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Colorado Republican Party, and State Railroad Commissioner.

William and Priscilla Hamill had five children whose family fortunes were affected by the devaluation of silver in 1893. They moved to Denver in the wake of the waning industry, but several of Hamill’s descendants still stay in touch with Historic Georgetown, Inc., including a great-great-grandson and a great-great-great-grandson, who desire to preserve the family and community's history.

Historic Georgetown has worked hard to maintain the Victorian ambiance of the town. To that end and with the support of the Hamill family, they have also lovingly restored the Hamill House and maintained its Victorian roots. In my Gilded Age Historical Romance, A Song of Deliverance, I took a little fictional license since Joseph Watson originally built the house in 1867 as a modest Gothic Revival home. Only in 1874 did his brother-in-law, William A. Hamill, buy the house and, in 1879, expand it into a lavish mountain estate.

At first glance, the exterior front of the Hamill House is unassuming, though one might ponder the beautiful granite walls surrounding the property. But a walk around to the south side allows a view of the more extensive alterations William and Pricilla Hamill made to the house with its conservatory and two-story addition. The Hamills also constructed a two-story stone Carriage House and an office building, where Mr. Hamill conducted business, at the back of the property.

Christmas at the Hamill House, December 2019--Donna's Gallery

South Side View of the Hamill House, August 2024--Donna's Gallery

William A. Hamill's Offices--Donna's Gallery, August 2024

Hamill House Carriage House: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

South Side of the Hamill Estate: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

The house’s interior reveals the growing wealth and social status of the Hamills in the community. According to the museum’s brochure, “The black walnut woodwork, four fireplaces, lighting fixtures, wall/border/ceiling papers, door and window hardward, and approximately two-thirds of the furnishings … are all original. The carpets and draperies are reproductions based on patterns known to exist in 1879."

Thus, one can delight in the décor moving from room to room, imagining what it must have been like for refined ladies in their bustled dresses and dashing men in their evening frock coats dining with the Hamills in front of the marble fireplace with its white onyx columns. Perhaps they started the evening drinking aperitifs in the parlor with its elegant gas-light chandelier, lavish flocked wall and border papers, intricate wall and ceiling moldings, and listened to the music played on the square piano. Then, after the meal, the men retired to the library with its red-leather chaise lounge, one of them taking a book from the ornate bookcase to study the maps, while another heads to the conservatory filled with plants and flowers to smoke a cigar.

Hamill House Parlor: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

Hamill House Parlor and Square Piano: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

Hamill House Library: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

Newly Refurbished Conservatory and Fernery: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

Indeed, the Hamills were well known for entertaining and particularly enjoyed inviting people to their traditional Christmas celebrations. Christmas at the Hamill House emulates the spirit and elegance that would have accompanied their traditions--the yule log procession, wassail toasts, a special reading of T’was the Night Before Christmas, lighting the Christmas tree, and the presence of Saint Nicholas. Lastly, guests would have been invited to sing Christmas carols around the Christmas tree to lend joviality to the festivities.

The Hamill House Museum is worth touring any time of the year, especially if you're a fan of historical fiction of the Victorian era. There are also several other museums from Georgetown's silver mining days that will give visitors a feel for what it would have been like to live during the Gilded Age as the West expanded.

Couple in Victorian Garb, Christmas at the Hamill House Parlor: Donna's Gallery, December 2019

Silver Plume Singers Sing During the Wassail Toasts: Donna's Gallery, December 2024

Donna Gives a Wassail Toast: Donna's Gallery, December 2024

A Reading of T'was the Night Before Christmas: Donna's Gallery, December 2019 

Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony: Donna's Gallery, December 2024

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released on December 3, 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.