Christmas Tree

The Children of New York Avenue Church
and the First White House Christmas Tree

"The final act of adoption of the German toy' [the Christmas tree] into American Christmas tradition came about in 1856 by none other than the President of the United States, New Hampshire-born Franklin Pierce, who set up the first decorated Presidential Christmas tree in the White House.  President Pierce entertained and passed out gifts around it to the children of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church Sunday School".

Kevin Rawlings.
We Were Marching on Christmas Day: A History
and Chronicle of Christmas During the Civil War
Baltimore: Toomey Press, 1996.