The Blossoming Rod tells the short Christmas tale of a happy family and their plot to give the head of the house just exactly the gift he wanted for Christmas, something that doesn't happen very often! Sub-titled "A Christmas Story," it is the spirit of Christmas jumps off each and every page.
Mary Stewart Doubleday Cutting was the daughter of Civil War Brevet Brigadier General Ulysses Doubleday and his wife, née Mary Stewart. She was the granddaughter of Ulysses F. !Doubleday, who served in the War of 1812 and was elected to both the Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth Congresses. She was the niece of General Abner Doubleday.