One of the recurring themes in soldiers’ letters and diaries during the Civil War was the weather. It had an influence on their daily lives, in camp, on the battlefield, and while on the march.
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John Henry Hopkins Jr. served at Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, PA, from 1876 to 1887. During his final year of teaching at the General Theological Seminary in 1857, Hopkins wrote the popular song "We Three Kings" for a Christmas pageant held at the college.
One of the more unusual customs that marked Christmas in certain areas of Pennsylvania was barring out the schoolmaster. Alfred L. Shoemaker, in his book, Christmas in Pennsylvania, says that custom had its roots in the 18th century pay schools. In his book Danville Past and Present, Montour County author and newspaper Editor D.H.B. Brower wrote: “There was one day in the year when the "master's" anger was braved, and that was in the time-honored custom of "barring out the master" on Christmas.
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