Person:James Christmas (1)

James Yancy Christmas
Birth: 1828
Warrenton
Warren County
North Carolina, USA
Death: Jul. 9, 1888
Washington
District of Columbia
District Of Columbia, USA

Name: James Y. Christmas
Side: Confederate
Regiment State/Origin: Confederate Troops
Regiment Name: Wood's Regiment Confederate Cavalry.
Regiment Name Expanded: Wood's Regiment, Confederate Cavalry (1st Mississippi Cavalry) (Wirt Adams' Regiment)
Company: A
Rank In: Private
Rank In Expanded: Private
Rank Out: Private
Rank Out Expanded: Private
Film Number: M818 roll 5

Date: Wednesday, July 11, 1888
Location: District of Columbia
Paper: Critic-Record
Article type: Historical Obituary

Death of J.Y. Christmas

The son-in-law of Mrs. Myra Clarke Gaines, Colonel James Yancey Christmas,
died Monday, after a lingering illness, at his residence, 1504 Sixteenth
street. He suffered from indigestion. He gained considerable notoriety
about eight years ago, after killing his brother-in-law, William G.
Whitney. Mr. Christmas was sixty years old and a native of Warrenton, S.C.
He resided in this city since the war, and being connected with Mrs. Gaines
by marriage, he devoted a good portion of his time in looking after her
famous suit. Like all Southern men, he possessed the faculty of making
friends, and before his health began to fail he was a very prominent
society gentleman.

He leaves a daughter and two sons and a host of friends to mourn his loss.

Family links:
Spouse:
Rhoda Jane Gaines Whitney Christmas (1833 - 1879)*

Children:
William Wallace Whitney Christmas (1865 - 1960)*
Rhoda B Christmas Kennedy (1867 - 1944)*

*Calculated relationship

Burial:
Unknown

Edit Virtual Cemetery info [?]

Created by: historyseeker
Record added: Aug 15, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 95397971

A strange coincidence.
by Lisa Y. Henderson

A WELL-AIMED SHOT – Ends the Career of William G. Whitney – The Shot Fired by Jas. Y. Christmas — Particulars to the Affair – What a Family Feud Lead to – Testimony at the Coroner’s Inquest – Christmas Sent to Jail.

Saturday afternoon, at 5 o’clock, James Y. Christmas shot and instantly killed Wm. G. Whitney, at No. 1326 I street northwest, in the building known as the Catacazy Mansion, and now occupied by the Misses Harrover, as a boarding-house. Here Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines had been living with her son and his wife and their three children and her son-in-law, Mr. Christmas and his three motherless children. The men had been in the hair-mattress business as partners, but, owing to some disagreements, the partnership was dissolved. Whitney then went into business with H.A. Linger & Co., 1117 Nineteenth street.

…

A STRANGE COINCIDENCE, associated with this homicide, is the fact that many years ago, previous to the war, the father of Mr. Christmas shot and killed a free negro in North Carolina, and was tried and hanged for the crime. A cousin of Christmas was also hanged for murder.

…

Evening Critic, Washington DC, 27 June 1881.