Unsung Heroes - Our Local Museums

When was the last time you visited a hometown historical museum? Did you ever wonder where the funding comes from or who keeps them running? If it were not for generous individuals with a love of history, who would preserve the past? To the men and women (and sometimes children) that give of their time, energy, and resources to impart your combined knowledge, I for one am grateful.

One such venue, the Tabor House in Ellijay, Georgia recently 

hosted an Open House. Volunteers dressed in period clothing, and shared information about life in bygone times. From an explanation of the history of Cherokee in Georgia to a demonstration by two enthusiastic young children about toys of the time, it was an eye-opening event. I learned bits and pieces about the area and era that I had never heard of before. I was able to envision what life was like in the mountains of Georgia in the late 19th/early 20th century. 

The Tabor family and its many branches inhabited Gilmer County from near its inception. Early Tabors built a home near the center of Ellijay. They supported the local Oakwood Academy private school. Before government funded public schools, families paid for their children to attend classes. Neat tidbit, the first woman to graduate college in Gilmer County emanated from Oakwood Academy. Miss Emma Tabor attended Wesleyan College and received her degree in 1889. 

One descendant, Herbert, was known as “Tall Tabor.” A graduate of Young Harris College, Herbert began a career in banking and later founded the first insurance company in the mountains. With a reputation of honesty, he served his local community. He was the father of the Mountain Fair that began in 1950. 

A serious liver condition sent Herbert to the hospital. Unable to work or walk, he read about hydroponic gardening. A newspaper article titled, “One Man’s Garden Started in a Bottle… at Hospital,” explains how Herbert inquired of the local dentist to drill holes in glass bottles. He hung these receptacles on his front porch (see photo above) to grow vegetables. A lengthy convalescence helped Herbert expand his knowledge and produce. The article exclaims of his mammoth, juicy tomatoes, and yard squash. Yes, thirty-six inches long! His hobby became a passion, and he eventually took his prized produce to the Mountain Fair.

This son of an Ordinary, Judge Thomas Tabor, was known for his storytelling prowess. While healthy, he made rounds to the local stores and sat at the "Liar's bench" outside the courthouse. He gathered gossip and tall tales to share at future gatherings. He could weave a yarn with the best of them is part of his legacy.

The Gilmer County Library archives feature a book entitled, The Mountains Within Me, by none other than Zell Miller. The inscription inside this copy reads, "To Herbert Tabor, the most eloquent spokesman our mountains have ever had. Thank you for your friendship. - Zell Miller"

We can imagine this gentleman walking to the hardware and general stores, sitting on his porch, and tending his plants. Can we picture what it was like inside his home? Thanks to those preserving the past, we can get an idea of his daily life.

We step onto the porch, go through the door into the parlor. We look to the tin ceiling tiles and hear the wood floors creak before we even notice the wide and weathered planks. The pipe organ with its hidden bellows rests just beyond in the living room. The kitchen in the early days of this home would have been outside as a separate building to prevent fires. 

One volunteer explained the use of carbide in houses. Much like people have propane tanks to fuel various appliances in their homes today, carbide tanks supplied energy to light the sconces and ceiling light fixtures in some homes of this time.

For our education, a mock kitchen displays wares of the past. A wood burning stove, hand irons, brooms, cast iron pots and pans are a few of the items on display. Canned goods, hand beaters, a grinder and Ball Mason jars flank the shelves.

Narrow stairs lead up to the bedrooms. As feet were noticeably smaller in that period, the depth of these steps is roughly the size of a woman's US size six shoe.

At the top of the stairs the children's bedrooms allow visitors to comprehend a bit more of daily practices. The bed shows why we hear, "Sleep tight." The ropes tied along the pegs were often tightened to keep them taught and support the weight of the people sleeping on the tick (mattress).

There is a "toilet" in the corner. An outhouse did exist on the property. This convenience, however, served a purpose at night. Sears catalogues met needs instead of toilet paper. This I learned long ago on my uncles' farm. However, on this trip to the Tabor House, the docent explained that families in the area used corn cobs as well. That is a fact I did not learn at home or in school. Did you?

There is a room honoring those who served and serve in the United States Armed Forces. Enlightening exhibits in this room give a glimpse into life as a soldier. One item is a bullet used during surgery. In the absence of anesthesia, patients would bite down on an item to bear the pain. One object used was a lead bullet. Hence the phrase, "Bite the bullet." 

Resurrection Morn hangs on the wall. This story is from November 1863 when Rev. Willie Ragland baptized Goodwin of Company A in the Rapidan River. The Northern Army was just across the water. As the Southern soldiers approached the bank, they began to sing the old hymn, "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood." The Northern soldiers joined in and sang from across the river. War stopped for a time and peace ensued as one soldier said goodbye to his old body and welcomed in the new through Jesus.

If you would like to visit the Tabor House or support their efforts, the museum is open to the public mid-March to mid-December. 138 Spring Street, Ellijay, GA 20540

As a child, Rebecca loved to write. She nurtured this skill as an educator and later as an editor for an online magazine. Rebecca then joined the Cru Ministry - NBS2GO/Neighbor Bible Studies 2GO, at its inception. She serves as the YouVersion Content Creator, with over 100 Plans on the Bible.com app.

Rebecca lives near the mountains with her husband and a rescued dog named Ranger. If it were up to her, she would be traveling - right now. As a member of ACFW and FHLCW, Rebecca learns the craft of fiction while networking with a host of generous writers. She is working on her first fiction novel. This story unfolds from the 1830s in Northern Georgia.

Connect with Rebecca: Clubhouse Facebook Goodreads Instagram Pinterest Twitter

How Leadville, Colorado's Story Reflects the Vainglorious Wins and Tragic Losses of Western Mining, Part 2

 By Donna Wichelman

The story of Western Mining in Colorado has all the makings of an epic movie, with its vainglorious wins and tragic losses. In the end, Georgetown's decline in 1878 would prove to demonstrate the vulnerability of the mining industry in the years to come in Part 2 of Leadville's rise to Silver Queen.

Overnight, the Victorian-era community of Leadville, Colorado, rose to become the world's mining mecca. It all began in 1878, when a “black sand” that miners had previously overlooked was discovered to contain high-grade, silver-rich cerussite ore, also known as lead carbonate. It had as much as 77% lead and sufficient silver to be easily extracted during smelting. Everyone knew they had hit something big. They never expected that down the road, the industry would suffer great loss.

People flocked to Leadville from every direction of the globe, building roads and railways over high-elevation mountain passes. They came in every mode of transportation available in the late 1800s—wagons, stages, buggies, carts, horses, wheelbarrows, burro trains, and railroads. Some even braved the sometimes-brutal weather, walking up steep mountain trails, all to make their fortune from gold, silver, and lead carbonate that the Rocky Mountains yielded at 10,152 feet above sea level.

"Burro pack train, on the way to Leadville, Col." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1930. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0c740060-c536-012f-9033-58d385a7bc34

The population of Leadville grew from just a few hundred to ten thousand in a few months. At its zenith, Leadville’s population was officially counted at 14,820 in 1880, though contemporary figures suggest as much as 30,000 if one considers uncounted miners, transient laborers, and nearby settlements.

Leadville’s prosperity soared, as miners made $11 million in silver the first year and $14 million in 1880. The boom was on as Leadville became one of the richest mining districts in the world.

Very quickly, men like Horace Austin Warner Tabor (H. A. W. Tabor) rushed to establish their place among the wealthy. Most of his money came from his Matchless Mine, acclaimed to be one of the richest mines in Colorado, making him Leadville’s Silver King. Tabor incorporated his Mosquito Pass Wagon Road Company on October 8, 1878, “to promote” Colorado’s industrial interests. He also became infamous for his relationship with “Baby Doe” Tabor.

Born Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt on November 10, 1854 to a middle-class family in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Baby Doe was twenty-four years Tabor’s junior. Though this raised eyebrows, the greater scandal revolved around their love affair while he was still married to his first wife, Augusta Tabor. Unfortunately, the public disgrace destroyed his reputation and prestige, but this didn’t deter Tabor from divorcing Augusta in 1881 and marrying Baby Doe in a “lavish ceremony” in Washington D.C., among the rich and powerful in 1883.

Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO: Donna's Gallery, June 2025

Baby Doe has been considered a romantic heroine and a tragic figure, for while she led a life of great extravagance with her husband during the silver boom, when the value of silver crashed in 1893, the Tabors lost most of their fortune. At Tabor’s death in 1899, he pleaded with Baby Doe to hold onto the Matchless Mine, believing it would regain its value. It never did. Baby Doe lived in a small cabin near the Matchless Mine until 1935, enduring poverty, isolation, and harsh weather. She died of exposure at the age of 80. People have said of her that she had an “unwavering devotion” to a lost fortune. She’s buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville. (See November 4th, 2025 blog.)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_Doe_Tabor.jpg

Ironically, Augusta Tabor, who became a powerful figure for her courage, endurance, and business acumen, died a millionaire. The original Tabor Home was built in 1877 at 512 Harrison Avenue but moved to 116 East 5th Street in Leadville. The house, which looks eerily similar to the exterior of W. A. Hamill’s in Georgetown, Colorado, is now a museum and features original Victorian furnishings. https://leadville.com/explore-the-original-tabor-home/

Compared to the tragic end for Baby Doe, Margaret Tobin Brown (a.k.a. Molly Brown) grew up in Hannibal, Missouri in an Irish immigrant family of humble means. She moved to Leadville at 18, during the mining boom, hoping to make something of herself. She married mining engineer James Joseph Brown in 1886. Not long afterward, he discovered a lucrative gold vein at the Little Jonny Mine, and the Browns went from being a couple of modest means to achieving tremendous wealth.

Photo Display of Molly Brown at the Healy House, Leadville, CO: Donna's Gallery

From the beginning, Molly was heavily involved in charitable work in Leadville. So, it was only natural for her to help establish a soup kitchen for the miners’ families when the Panic of 1893 hit the nation and the value of silver fell to an all-time low. Molly continued her charity work after the Browns moved to Denver in 1894. There, she became a reform advocate and supported various causes, such as women’s suffrage, labor rights, and education. She ran for the U.S. Senate in 1909, long before women won the right to vote in 1920.

Molly rose to fame when she survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912, and true to form, she helped calm passengers and encouraged the crew to return for survivors. Afterward, she organized a fundraiser for the survivors.

Molly was also awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her humanitarian efforts during World War I. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Brown,_3qtr_view,_with_chair.jpg

Molly Brown's life, like Augusta Tabor's, demonstrates a very different outcome from Baby Doe Tabor. Though the Browns had much wealth and endured the same economic conditions in 1893, both understood the principle one can find in Proverbs:

Know the state of your flocks,

and put your heart into caring for your herds,24

for riches don’t last forever,

and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.25

After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears

and the mountain grasses are gathered in,26

your sheep will provide wool for clothing,

and your goats will provide the price of a field.

~ Proverbs 27:23 - 26 (NLT)24

Though H. A. W. Tabor and Baby Doe lived a life of luxury, enjoying their riches while they lasted, they squandered their money, haughty in their wealth and status. In the end, it was their undoing. When silver was devalued during the Panic of 1893, they lost everything. But devoted to a pipe dream, Tabor begged Baby Doe to sit on the mountain and guard their mine, and she lived a life of hermitage and died alone.

Molly Brown came from poverty. But when the Browns made it rich in the mining industry, she used her wealth and status to benefit others throughout the rest of her life. Instead of guarding a mine, she opened a soup kitchen for the miners to help the families survive the crisis and went on to do many good works to benefit many. She died a woman of honorable and moral character. 

Do not let kindness and truth leave you;

Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

So you will find favor and good repute

In the sight of God and man.

~Proverbs 3:3 - 4 (NASB 1995)

Donna is an Angel-award-winning author of Historical fiction for A Song of Deliverance. Book Two in the Silver Singing Mine series, Rhythms of the Heart, was released in November 2025. 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 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 becoming a full-time writer. 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. 

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

Opulence In A Mining Town

By Suzanne Norquist

Visit any historic Colorado mining town, and you will find an opera house (or at least hear about one that used to exist). But this icon of culture doesn’t fit the image of the male-dominated, rough and tumble, saloon-filled cluster of ramshackle dwellings . . . Which is exactly why prominent members of the community built opera houses. As a town grew, men brought their families.


Dance halls and saloons provided theatrical entertainment. Unacceptable entertainment for upstanding citizens. But an opera house oozed sophistication. No matter that few of the productions were actually operas. These venues boasted Shakespeare, musicals, vaudeville, burlesque shows, and, sometimes, opera. They served as a multipurpose facility.


Touring companies traveled from town to town on circuits mostly connected by railroads, although a theatrical group could come across the mountains by stage. A letter found in the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, describes one actress’s journey from Denver. Her stagecoach tipped over six times.


The Silver Circuit started in Denver and traveled to Salt Lake City or San Francisco with stops at the major mountain town opera houses along the way. They would perform in Denver for a week and then spend a night in each town.

The Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, was arguably the most opulent structure in the area. It was built in 1879 in a town that housed four banks, five churches, about twenty hotels, and eighty-two saloons.


The three-story structure seated over eight-hundred people. It boasted gas lights, and the modern folding seats featured gilt cast iron with red velvet upholstery. There was room for a fifteen-piece orchestra in front of the stage. A third-floor catwalk connected it to the Clarendon Hotel.


The dressing rooms were the most elaborate in the west, including a private room for the leading lady and one for the leading man. The opera house owned seven sets of scenery instead of the usual four.

Although the venue attracted famous performers, including a cast from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and possibly Harry Houdini, the town remained a rough-and-tumble place at heart.

Opening night ticket sales were disappointing because a public hanging took place the same night. The opera house couldn’t compete. And one of the businesses on the first floor of the building was a saloon. Patrons could get a drink there between acts.



The miners loved Irish poet Oscar Wilde, not because of his lecture on aesthetic theory (a branch of philosophy dealing with beauty), but because he could hold his liquor.


Opera houses brought culture and civilization to Colorado’s historic mining towns. Most of the remaining ones are in small towns where their space wasn’t needed for redevelopment. The Tabor Opera house in Leadville offers tours as it raises money for much-needed repairs. After a tour, I decided to write my first novella, “A Song for Rose” in the Bouquet of Brides Collection, about a girl who wanted to sing in the opera house.
***

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class.

She authors a blog entitled, Ponderings of a BBQ Ph.D.

“Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection
Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting.
Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist
Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?

For a Free Preview, click here: http://a.co/1ZtSRkK

Baby Doe Tabor--A Woman Who Refused to Be Made a Fool by Any Man

We have a guest blogger this month, Donna Baier Stein.

Welcome, Donna! Thanks for taking time to visit us here
at HHHistory.com. 

"A Woman Who Refused to Be Made a Fool by Any Man, a Slave by Any Rule, or a Pauper by Any Loss."

By Donna Baier Stein

Colorado’s Baby Doe Tabor was a fiercely independent woman who bucked all her era’s social expectations.

 

Baby Doe Tabor

In 1866, 12-year-old Lizzie McCourt watched a fire consume her father’s tailoring business and home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Vowing to rebuild her family’s fortune, she later married Harvey Doe, the mayor’s son, and followed him and her father-in-law to Colorado, where Harvey Doe, Sr., had gifted them a mine called The Fourth of July.

The newlyweds settled into a run-down cabin in Dogwood. Harvey proved to be an unfortunate choice for a husband and succumbed to the lures of opium and brothels. When he failed to do the work required, Lizzie overcame superstition to work side-by-side with the men down in the shafts. It wasn’t an easy task, since many miners believed that even seeing a woman before they descended into a mine was bad luck.

But at only 5’ tall, hard-working Lizzie won the hearts of her fellow miners, who gave her the nickname “Baby Doe.” She was even written up in a local Central City newspaper.

When she discovered Harvey in bed with a prostitute, she divorced him and made her way alone to the booming town of Leadville. There she caught the attention of the much older Horace “Silver King” Tabor. At the time, Tabor was married to Augusta, with whom he had a son Maxey. To everyone’s dismay, Tabor and Lizzie began an affair, with Tabor putting his mistress up in a suite at the Clarendon Hotel. He visited her by crossing a catwalk between the hotel and his eponymous Opera House.

In 1883, Horace was named to finish the term of a Colorado Senator. After he divorced Augusta, he and Lizzie were married in an extraordinarily lavish wedding at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. President Chester Arthur and his Cabinet attended, though none of the Cabinet members’ wives deigned to honor the nuptials of two divorced Catholics. At the time of their marriage, Horace Tabor was worth about $24 million. He gave Lizzie a $90,000 necklace that had once belonged to Queen Isabella and a wedding gown that cost $7,000.00.

Horace built Lizzie a square-block villa to live in upon their return to Denver. There, one hundred peacocks roamed among nude statues on the rolling lawns. The Tabors entertained the likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, and other famous actors and musicians who performed at the Tabor Opera Houses in Denver and Leadville.

Unfortunately, ten years after the extravagant wedding in DC, the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and a devastating stock market crash wiped out Horace’s vast fortune.

The cabin Lizzie lived in during the last 35 years of her life

Despite what the disapproving public had expected, Lizzie refused to abandon Horace as he worked as a day laborer and later Postmaster of Denver in the Post Office built with his funds. Legend has it that on Horace’s deathbed, he asked Lizzie to “Hang on to the Matchless Mine,” reassuring her it would again yield great wealth. She lived the last 35 years of her life in a one-room shack there in Leadville, trying to bring the mine back to life and writing down thousands of her dreams on receipts and paper scraps. She was found frozen to death on March 7, 1935, at the age of 81.

An American opera called The Ballad of Baby Doe was written by Douglas Moore. It was recently performed at the Central City Opera House for its sixtieth anniversary. While the opera focuses primarily on the love triangle between Lizzie, Horace, and Augusta, Lizzie’s life reveals she was much more than just a mistress in someone else’s story. 

 

Donna Baier Stein is the author of The Silver Baron's Wife, Sympathetic People (Iowa Fiction Award Finalist), and Sometimes You Sense the Difference. She founded and publishes Tiferet Journal. She received a scholarship from Bread Loaf, a Fellowship from the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars, three Pushcart nominations, and prizes from the Allen Ginsberg Awards and elsewhere. Her writing has appeared in Ascent, Beloit Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Virginia Quarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, Writer’s Digest, and elsewhere. She is currently completing a new collection of stories based on Thomas Hart Benton’s lithographs. www.donnabaierstein.com

The Silver Baron’s Wife traces the rags-to-riches-to-rags life of Colorado’s Baby Doe Tabor, who was featured in one of the West’s most scandalous love stories. A divorcee shunned by Denver society, Lizzie raised two daughters and after her second husband's death, lived in eccentric isolation at the still-standing Matchless Mine in Leadville. An early draft of this novel won the PEN/New England Discovery Award for Fiction. https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Barons-Donna-Baier-Stein/dp/0997101067

How One Rocky Mountain Mineral Hot Springs Has Become a Historic Icon

By Donna Wichelman

The human race has most likely enjoyed the benefits of mineral hot springs since the beginning of time. According to an article written by Mayumi Maruyama for CNN on June 8, 2023, the world’s oldest hot springs hotel opened its doors in 705 A.D. in the mountains of Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture, and you can still stay at the Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan today.

But why are these hot springs so popular around the world?

Tabacon Resort, Costa Rica: ID 246245502 © Noamfein | Dreamstime.com

Not only do mineral hot springs give warmth and relaxation to a weary body, reducing stress, but they also are reputed to provide all manner of other health benefits. Hot Springs enhance blood circulation due to the calcium and sodium bicarbonate in the water, and the elevated sulfur levels have antifungal and antibacterial properties, just to name a few.

It’s no wonder that Sigmund Dreher, the villain Georg Töpfer’s henchman in my historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, relished the mineral baths at Hot Soda Springs in Idaho Springs, Colorado. Though the hot springs were minuscule compared to the lavish Roman-style bathhouses the German man of military might had been accustomed to in Baden-Baden and he despised their position sitting “in the middle of an open, dusty field along a pathetic creek,” the Ocean Bath House at least gave him some level of stress reduction in a pinch. It was also the spot Dreher chose to conduct a clandestine meeting with his lackey, Elias Jones, to scheme against the mining mogul Stefan Maier.

Bath House at Idaho Springs: New York Library Digital Collections, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication ("CCO 1.0 Dedication")

Historically, the Ute and Arapahoe held the Hot Soda Springs as a magical and sacred land for worship and healing before the white man ever came on the scene. The Soda Creek divided the line between the two nations.

Depiction of the Ute and Arapahoe at Hot Soda Springs: Every Day Migration to the Healing Waters

Then, in 1859 George A. Jackson headed into the Rocky Mountains through Mt. Vernon Canyon, hoping to find placer gold along the Vasquez Fork (today known as Clear Creek). As he explored the canyon and walked through snow drifts, he noticed steam rising from Soda Creek. Cautious of the local Indians, he crept up to find a thick vapor rising, which turned out to be what he referred to as the Big Geyser, and the place became known as Idaho Springs. Several years later, the geyser quit spewing water and steam and became pools of hot springs that bubbled up from the ground.

Following the discovery of the hot springs, miners used the baths for washing since it was a source of hot water. Two of those miners bought the land, but frustrated with their lot, they sold it to Dr. E.M. Cummings in 1863. Being a clever businessman, Dr. Cummings built a log and wood-frame house and charged the public for “health baths.”

Bath House at Idaho Springs: New York Library Digital Collections, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (CCO Dedication")

In 1866, Harrison Montague bought the property, tore down the cabin, and built two large bathhouses, a stone bath house he called the “Ocean Bath House” and the “Mammoth.” A few years later, he built the center section still used today and called the area surrounding the hot springs the “Saratoga of the Rocky Mountains,” a hot springs resort in upstate New York known for its beautiful gardens and elegant Grand Hotel.

 Bath House at Idaho Springs: New York Library Digital Collections, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication ("CCO 1.0 Dedication")

Underground Caves: Picture C/O Indian Hot Springs Resort

Gazebo Built in 1869, Hot Soda Springs Resort: Donna's Gallery, June 2019

Records from those early years show that five thousand people visited annually, crediting the strong healing powers of the baths. A local doctor in the community once complained to the town newspaper in 1879 that he was losing business to the hot springs since “Mr. Montague kept his baths open all winter.” 

The story is evidence of how well-visited the hot springs were then for their health benefits. Today, we know the hot springs are rich with minerals, including calcium, fluoride, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, silica, sodium, sulfate, and zinc, another reason the pools are so popular today.

Many historical figures have visited the Indian Hot Springs Resort. In A Song of Deliverance, Dreher mentions the infamous Jesse James. But many others have stopped by to soak in the hot springs, including Billy the Kid, Walt Whitman, Baby Doe Tabor, the Vanderbilts, and the Roosevelts. More contemporary folks include Clint Eastwood and John Denver.

John Denver: ID 79448564 | John Denver © Rene Van Den Berg | Dreamstime.com

The Indian Hot Springs Resort has become a historic icon for the community of Idaho Springs. In 2014, the Lee family took over the resort, promising the previous owners that they would not let the historical significance of the hot springs die. 

The Lees continue to improve the facilities with updated pools, spa, and accommodations but maintain the historic nature of the property and buildings. The historic Gazebo where Signmund Dreher and Elias Jones met in A Song of Deliverance still exists, and the center section of the Ocean Bath House has been lovingly maintained. 

You can learn more about this beautiful Indian Hot Springs Resort in the Colorado Rockies by going to their website at https://indianhotsprings.com.

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.

The History of Christmas Songs by Donna Schlachter – with Giveaway

 

Child Christmas carolers in Bucharest, Romania 1929 (Wikipedia)

 

Given the time of year, I thought a blog about Christmas songs would be appropriate. I often wonder why there are so many beautiful songs and tunes written for the Christmas season, and why we only play them for a month or so each year. Seems a shame to hide them away in the archives.

So here we go. Let’s look at Christmas songs through the ages.

While no official record exists that says “this is the first Christmas song ever written”, music scholars can trace music written specifically for the season back to Latin hymns in the 4^th Century AD. Of course, prior to that, many hymns and songs were written, played, and perfomed in churches and religious settings. These early songs might have been chanted, or perhaps they were accompanied by a flute, lyre, or tambourine.

A Christmas minstrel playing pipe and tabor (Wikipedia)

 

St. Francis of Assisi is thought to have influenced music over the years, so that by the 1200s, songs appeared in regional native languages, making them much easier for folks to memorize and perform them. Now those who didn’t speak or understand Latin could engage with the words and melody because they could understand what they sang. This was critical to the sharing and spreading of music in all forms.

Carolers in native costume (Wikipedia)

 

Next, in 1426, Christmas carols in the English language first became popular when an English chaplain, John Awdlay, listed 25 carols in a published work. These would probably have been performed by “wassailers” . These artists traveled from house to house, town to town, and residents paid in the form of meals, cast-off clothing, and coins. In fact, a song has been written about the practice, “Here We Come a Wassailing”.

The 1500s saw rapid growth in the writing and publication of Christmas carols, many still sung today, including “The 12 days of Christmas”, “O Christmas Tree”, and “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”. During these Middle Ages, the British combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later “carol” came to be known as a festive religious song.

During Cromwell’s time in England, singing Christmas carols was viewed as pagan and sinful. Any practice associated with Catholic Christianity was disavowed and outlawed by those who viewed themselves as Protestant Puritans. In fact, Parliament abolished Christmas in 1645, leaving Sundays as the only holy day approved on the calendar.

Because of the perception amongst Puritans and ultra conservative denominations, this practice continues even to today. However, those who enjoyed the season and its effective outreach to pagans continued to practice in secret. As a result, fewer songs were written celebrating the season, for many years, at least in Europe.

However, as the New World opened and people continued immigrating, the practice of Christmas went with them, particularly those not of British origin. French, German, Scandinavian, and Slavik people groups brought their own traditions and music with them, incorporating them into the already-established songs found in the Americas as brought be early emigrants.

In 1660, when the Stuarts were restored to the British throne, Christmas was recognized once again as a valid religious festival, sanctioned by the Crown. During the Victorian Age, many more songs were written and introduced, such as “Silent Night”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, and “O Holy Night”. Since the day was still treated as an entire religious holiday, the songs reflected the adherence to that standard. It was also during this time that the tradition of wassailers evolved into choirs going house to house seeking alms, either for the poor or for themselves as the poor. Often these choirs obtained a license to grant permission to sing in the streets and collect offerings.

Children singing for alms (Wikipedia)

 

Beginning around the 1870s, however, secular songs were added to celebrate the season, incorporating non-religious topics, such as “Jolly Old St. Nichols” and “Up On the Housetop”. When Santa Claus appeared in his modern form around this time, many songs heralding the jolly old elf became popular. “Jingle Bells”, while not specifically about Christmas, finds itself relegated to this time of year primarily because of its wintery focus.

Christmas music has been written and published for hundreds of years. Perhaps the earliest known collection dates from 1582 and contains songs we still sing today. Later volumes appeared in 1871 and following years, reviving a number of early folks songs and reintroducing them as modern standard carols.

Just for interest’s sake, here is a partial list of top Christmas Carols: In 2008, BBC Music Magazine published a poll of the "50 Greatest Carols", compiled from the views of choral experts and choirmasters in the UK and the US. The resulting list of the top ten favored Christmas carols and motets was:^[28][29][30]

1.       "In the Bleak Midwinter" – Harold Darke
2.       "In Dulci Jubilo" – traditional
3.       "A Spotless Rose" – Herbert Howells
4.       "Bethlehem Down" – Peter Warlock
5.       "Lully, Lulla" – traditional
6.       "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day"
7.       "There Is No Rose" - traditional (15th c.)
8.       "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
9.       "Of the Father's Heart Begotten"
10.       "What Sweeter Music" – John Rutter

No matter the origin, the subject, or the tune, it seems Christmas music is here to stay. I hope you have the opportunity to settle in during this season to enjoy your favorites.

 

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Resources:

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/members-magazine/podcast-extras/history-of-carols/

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/christmas/carol-history-origins/

 About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 50 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter.

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