HOLIDAY HISTORY - November 23, 2006
I was reading the book, “America
Celebrates,” published by Ideals in 1996, and
found more about the history of the holiday
through the writings of Alice Brotherton and
Gladys Taber. It also includes part of William
Bradford’s own account. I am surprised (also
ashamed) that it took this long in my life to
become aware of more of the facts of the first
Thanksgiving.
In November of 1621, the
residents of Plymouth Plantation, a
Massachusetts Bay settlement of English
religious separatists known as Pilgrims,
celebrated a feast of Thanksgiving. In the year
since their arrival in the New World, the brave
Pilgrims had seen 43 of the original 103 perish.
They had endured a colder and harsher winter
than anything they had ever imagined. They had
cleared land by hand and built small homes, made
peace with the Indians, and enjoyed good health.
They watched, worked and prayed
all summer as their food supply dwindled and new
crops grew. The Pilgrims were not celebrating a
good harvest. There 20 acres of corn was a good
crop, but their six acres of English crops --
peas, barley and wheat -- had failed. Bradford
comments that this was due to the bad seed, late
season, both, or some other defect, but they
were able to increase the weekly food ration a
little. In addition to one peck of meal per
person, from the Mayflower’s supplies, they also
received one peck of corn. All of this was a
good reason to declare a holiday so that, as
Bradford puts it, they might, “after a more
special manner, rejoice together.”
They set a date in October and
sent an invitation to Massosoit. They were
dismayed when he showed up with 90 braves, but
the great chief dispatched several hunters into
the forest and so had five deer to contribute to
the feast. The menu also included roast goose,
roast duck, eels, clams, and other shellfish,
two kinds of bread, and bowls of crisp
watercress, leeks, and other “sallet greens.”
There is no record that they ate
any of the wild turkeys, or the cranberries from
the nearby bogs, or even pumpkin pie. It did
mention wild plums and dried berries. It was a
great holiday. The feasting went on for three
days. Captain Miles Standish organized a parade,
both Indians and Pilgrims played games of skill
and chance, and there was plenty of singing and
dancing. The celebration was a success and they
repeated it every year
The first Thanksgiving was
barely over, when the Pilgrims discovered they
had overestimated their harvest. The meager
weekly ration had to be cut in half, and people
braced themselves for another bitter winter.
Still, they did not lose hope. With God’s help,
they would survive.
The lesson is worth remembering,
because when life seems grim, it is good to be
reminded of those early Pilgrims and their
courage and fortitude, but especially of their
faith.
Thanksgiving began as an
official holiday in 1789 when President George
Washington called for a national Thanksgiving
Day in honor of the newly signed Constitution,
which guaranteed civil and religious freedom in
the new nation. “It is the duty of nations to
acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to
obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits,
and humbly implore His protection.”
Thanksgiving was celebrated
sporadically and regionally, but did not become
an annual tradition until 1863, in the middle of
the Civil War, when the threat to the Union’s
survival made Americans more aware than ever of
the blessings of their citizenship.
Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of
the popular “Godey’s Lady’s Book,” had been
promoting a national day of Thanksgiving since
1846. She urged Americans to begin this day as
“a renewed pledge of love and loyalty to the
Constitution of the United States.”
In 1863, President Abraham
Lincoln was hopeful for the survival of the
Union after the Union victory at Gettysburg, and
proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day.
Presidents, from that time forward, have
regularly issued Thanksgiving Day proclamations.
At our Thanksgiving service, the
pastor read a very lengthy list of blessings. My
thought at the time was, “There is enough, just
on his list, to thank God five or more times
every day of this week.”
This harvest celebration reminds
Americans of the trials and joys of our Pilgrim
ancestors and the reasons for their thankful
hearts that long ago autumn.
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Happy birthday, Lisa!
Nov. 15 was Lisa’s birthday. I
can remember because it was Carl’s birthday,
too. I also remember that back in November of
2002, Lisa came to work for the Chronicle and I
was timidly assuming the position of publisher.
Newton, Maureen, Bill, Lisa and
I had a lot of learning and adjusting to do.
Now, four years later, we have added Bill Bailey
and Lisa Sheldon to the staff.
As I count my blessings this
week, I thank God for these coworkers that truly
have Calhoun County’s best interests in mind as
they do their work.