Digest>Nov/Dec 2016

Photo Caption:

On December 9, 1941, just two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, local businessmen from Calais, Maine came to the St. Croix River Lighthouse on Dochet Island and asked Elson Small to chop down the perfect tree to send to the White House for Christmas. It was thought that, by sending a Christmas tree from the island where the first Christmas in America had been celebrated in 1604, it would show solidarity between the British Empire and the United States, and to help boost morale at a time when President Franklin Roosevelt would be hosting Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the White House. Connie Small is shown here holding the ax that Elson Small used to chop down that tree. (Lighthouse Digest archives.)
Back to the edition of: Nov/Dec 2016

Story:

Lighthouse Keeper Elson Small Honored with Marker
Back to the edition of: Nov/Dec 2016

All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.


Subscribe
to Lighthouse Digest



USLHS Marker Fund


Lighthouse History
Research Institute


Shop Online












Subscribe   Contact Us   About Us   Copyright Foghorn Publishing, 1994- 2024   Lighthouse Facts     Lighthouse History