Lafayette ( LA ) Daily Advertiser, March 30, 1999

There was no Christmas for Massachusetts exiles

by Jim Bradshaw

When the Acadians arrived in Massachusetts, a law was still in effect that forbade the observance of Christmas under penalty of a fine of five pounds.

The Puritans believed that the birth of Christ should be observed solemnly , not with celebration.  They passed a law in Massachusetts that fined anyone who celebrated Christmas by " forbearing labor, feasting, or in any other way."

But the Acadians had apparently always observed the feast, causing Rev. Ebenezer Parkman to note in his journal at Christmas 1759, " Neither Leblanc... nor Mrs. Barns who trades with him & many other customers who come to her shop, keep the Feast of the Nativity as they ought ( in my judgment) to do, considering their Profession."

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