Guests Tour Hanley House by Candlelight

To Scot Boulton, the Hanley House in Clayton is a reminder of pre-Civil War history in St. Louis County.

"I think it's extremely important for people to be connected to it," said Boulton, who is chairman of the Clayton History Society.

Two candlelight tours of the city's oldest surviving house happened Dec. 23. Boulton has helped out with the tours for four or five years and his daughter, Elizabeth, attended for the first time.

Sarah Umlauf, the city's community resource coordinator, led about 30 guests through the house in the role of Jennie Yore, one of the late Hanley family's 11 children. Her attire included a hoop skirt and bonnet.

Candles—surrounded at their bases by greenery—flickered in the windows in honor of the Christmas holiday. Outside, red bows had been hung on the white picket fence.

The tour included a performance of Mozart's Sleigh Ride Suite by the Clayton Silver Strings, an adult amateur string orchestra; a visit from Father Christmas, who presented guests with brown paper bags that held candy; a candle-making demonstration from Joy Stinger, who invited youth and adult volunteers to help her as she poured beeswax into molds and prepared them for cooling.

Geoff Partlow, a financial adviser with Wells Fargo in Clayton, attended the tour. He has been assisting with plans to build a Hanley House garden that will feature vegetables from the Hanleys' era. His interest in history began when he worked as an antique dealer. He collects pre-Civil War American glass and has donated several lacy pieces from the 1820s and '30s to the Hanley House.

"It was very carefully crafted," Partlow said, commenting that he loves the stories that artifacts tell.

Ben Murphy, an English teacher at Clayton High School, moved to the city with his family about six months ago. He brought his 2-year-old daughter, Genoni, to see the Hanley House for the first time.

While she spent part of the tour in her father's arms, she was among the youngsters standing in a line at the front of the room for the candle-making.