LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - DECEMBER 20, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio A most unusual Christmas tree has been set up in the upstairs bedroom window at LeRoy House. It is a “ladder tree” created by attaching evergreens to a wooden ladder. In 1892, Mr. andMrs. James H. Covert had created a ladder tree at their home in LeRoy. Last year, Trish Riggi at the Library was able to find the article in the December 28th issue of the LeRoy Gazette. The ladder was “trimmed with evergreens and surmounted by a large snowball composed of cotton which was filled with presents. The ladder was trimmed with bags of candy, popcorn, dates and raisins which the children know to enjoy.” Last year the Historical society went on a trip to the German Christmas market at Kitchener- Waterloo, in Canada, and there was an exhibit of Christmas postcards which included a photograph of a ladder tree in a church in the United States in the early 1900s. In the photograph, the ladder tree is in front of the huge evergreen tree. I have read that the idea of a ladder tree in a church is related to the story of “Jacob’s Ladder” which is mentioned in Genesis in the Bible. In a dream, Jacob sees angels ascending and descending a ladder into Heaven. And the story of Jacob’s ladder lends itself to the old fashioned wooden toy, called a Jacob’s ladder. I also found a description of a ladder tree in a 1908 book on primary education. In the section for second grades, a teacher writes about their Christmas ladder: “We have nothing elaborate. Everyone takes part and our ‘dressing up’ consists of gilt and crepe paper, and tinsel over the suits. There are so many calls on the janitors we have given up having a tree, but have a ladder instead. We wind a high step ladder with white and trim it with evergreens and red bells. It is very pretty. We can do it all ourselves and the children are just as happy as when we had a tree.” I have lit our ladder tree with battery candles so it can be seen through the window, although I suspect candles were never used on a ladder tree. It would have been too dangerous. But there was a man in LeRoy who built a tree that he thought was much safer than a tree with candles. Mr. Parmelee was living in Hawaii, but he sent a letter back to the LeRoy Gazette which described his novel idea. “ I am not sure of the year. Was it 1865 or 1866 or 1867. But we had it in the Starr Hall. One year it was in Central Hall and afterward in the church. This particular tree in Starr Hall was my pride. It was the first Christmas Tree in LeRoy to be illuminated by gas. The idea was evolved through many consultations and discussions with James McKenzie. A lead pipe leading up beside the trunk of the tree and branches of small lead pipe that could be twisted among the branches. I spent an entire day in Rochester searching for the small pipe, of such a size that the ordinary gas burner would screw into it. James McKenzie did the plumbing work and Gideon Fordham superintendent of the gas works, kindly loaned the burners and assisted in installing the apparatus. I looked on. Thus, we were enabled to do away with the dangerous and dripping wax tapers and at the same time obtain the proper effect of simultaneous lighting, the gas being turned down to its lowest limit and at the proper time turned on with the instantaneous light. I am now wondering if that idea was original with us.” Apparently not. Miss Collins wrote about not being able to have a gas lit tree in the American Agriculturalist “What a pity we cannot have gas out here in the country and so have a Christmas tree drop light, like the one cousin Tom has in Liverpool (England). The most vivid imagination could scarcely convert our little candles and lamps into fifty bright jets which illuminated the tree. “ The article also included illustrations for building the gas pipe system that fitted inside the tree. A couple of years ago, during our annual Christmas Candlelight Tour of LeRoy House, we included the story of Mr. Parmelee’s gas tree. We imagined the conversation between he (portrayed by Scott Ripley) and his wife (portrayed by Joanne Graham), when he suggested that he build a gas light tree at home. His frantic wife, insisted that he find somewhere else to put it! It is really hard to imagine a tree lit with gas jets, and it was an easy decision not to include a gas lit tree in the window display. Next week, I will explain how the LeRoy family might have celebrated Christmas when they lived in LeRoy house in the 1830s. The Ladder Tree