Meadow Garden was a work in progress in the 1790s when George Walton and family spent early American Christmases there.
Walton, at 26, had been one of the youngest signers of the Declaration of Independence, representing Georgia on July 4, 1776.
Today, the Georgia State Society Daughters of the American Revolution continues efforts to discover and recreate the experience of the household. The society has operated the house as a museum in Augusta since 1901.
That includes the experiences of approximately 17 enslaved people, ranging from young children to age 80, and identified in legal documents, Director Ransom Schwerzler said.
George Walton, who became a prominent Georgia lawyer, would likely have spent as much on candles and lamps as the modern family spends on its light bill, she said.
The society takes great pride in presenting the home during the holidays by candlelight, she said.
Actual Christmas decorations were likely sparse during the period, she said.
Days leading up to Christmas were a period of reflection, but upon the Dec. 25 birth of Jesus date, the 12 days of celebration began, Schwerzler said.
“In the revolutionary period here in the South, we definitely still took our cues from England,” she said.
For the 12 days the household would pull out all its best – china, silver, freshly-slaughtered meat and preserved fruits and vegetables – to celebrate with family and friends.
During the festive 12 days is when presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson got married, she said.
The Waltons, who married in September 1778, spent their first two Christmases with one or the other as a British prisoner of war, Schwerzler said.
Meadow Garden, which sits off 13th Street in Augusta’s medical district, originally faced what is now the Augusta Canal and Walton Way, she said. The property once spanned 121 acres toward Broad Street.
In 2019, the house underwent a massive restoration that restored its uneven roof line, and meticulous restoration efforts continue.
A hidden stairway to the half-story upstairs was recently recreated, she said. Donated items once deemed period-appropriate are being replaced, under newer Department of the Interior standards.
Schwerzler, a longtime volunteer and military spouse, replaced former director Stephani Roohani when Roohani took a job with Historic Augusta earlier this year.
State Daughters of the American Revolution Regent Betty Harrah said the public would relish the experience at Meadow Garden.
“It’s a chance to come and go back in time and think about what it was like during George’s time,” she said. “It’s excellent for us to just have Meadow Garden. It’s a treasure. We love it.”
