Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 282, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 November 1910 — Origin of Thanksgiving Festivities By SAMUEL WILLIAMS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Origin of Thanksgiving Festivities By SAMUEL WILLIAMS

By SAMUEL WILLIAMS

HE autumn of 1621 f fggipjk \ waned on a prosperous | community. Plymouth, w;; z / Ma 3 3 • • was both healthy and wealthy. Sickness, though it had ; ' destroyed one-half the company of pilgrims, had ceased, and the

crops, as a whole, had been good, the peas alone falling. All the houses in the settlement had been put into condition and a goodly stock of furs and prepared lumber had been made ready for export to England by the next ship. The waters swarriffid with fish and sea fowl were abundant. The call of the’ wild turkey was heard in the woods and the patter of the fleeting deer was nothing strange. The summer was past; the harvest ended. The pilgrims decided upon a period of recreation. The governor sent out four huntsmen, who in one day secured game to last the colony a week. Hospitality was extended to Msssksoit, of the neighboring settlement, who brought 90 people with him. The guests remained 30 days. The company engaged in rounds of amusements, in which military drills and religious services formed a part. Thus, heartily and loyally,'was Inaugurated the great New England festival of Thanksgiving. For two centuries it has continued to be observed, at first mostly In the eastern states, but it has now become national, its annual return finding a welcome from boundary to boundary, both at top and bottom and either extremity of the nation. Thanksgiving day is peculiarly an American custom, though tjiere are some writers who claim that it la not possible to determine the date of the first John A. Goodwin, In his historical review, "The Pilgrim Republic,” is positive, however, that the first celebration occurred in the fall of 1621, this being followed in 1623 by the first Thanksgiving proclamation, by the governor of Massachusetts. ku 1630 there arrived at Plymouth 1< vessels, bringing with them 880 colonists, making the number nearly 1,200 Instead of a mere 300. On July 8, 1630, another Thanksgiving W|B held in acknowledgment for this BO cession to the ranks of the colonutß. The Dutch governors of the New

Netherlands also appointed different dates for public thanksgiving, from time to time, and In some historical Works there Is record of a dispute as to which of these colonies deserved the credit for having first Inaugurated the day. Most of the best founded historians, however, give the credit to the New England states. The Dutch governors of New Netherlands appointed occasional days of thanksgiving In 1644, 1645, 1655 and 1C64, and the English governors followed their example in 1755 and 1760, and the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States In Its prayer book, ratified in 1789, recommends for 'Thanksgiving day the first Thursday in November, unless some other day be appointed by the civil authorities. There were also occasional recommendations by other religious bodies, but no regular annual recommendation by the governor erf 1 New York before 1817. The struggle' of the colonies for independence marks the beginning of

general observances of days of thanksgiving in this country. The congress of 1777, the one which prepared the articles of confederation for adoption by the colonies, adopted a resolution setting apart ihe eighteenth day of December, 1777?. to be observed as a day of solemn thanksgiving and praise throughout the United States. Washington, during his administration, issued two thanksgiving proclamations, one in 1789 and the other in 1795, just after the suppression of the “Whisky rebellion,” which bad threatened the peace of the country, and President Madison issued one upon the declaration of peace in 1815. However, tn the early years of the nation the rule was for the colonial custom to be followed and the proclamation made emanated from the governors. The western states, largely people from New England or New York, early followed the lead of these portions of the country. As we have seen, the annual recommend*

tlon by the governors of New York began in 1817. From that time the observance gradually crept southward and westward, and in 1885 Governor Johnson of Virginia adopted it, and though In 1857 Governor Wise of Virginia declined to make the proclamation on the ground that he was unauthorized to Interfere In religious matters, in 1858 a Thanksgiving day was proclaimed in eight of the southern states.

The day had thus naturally grown to be a national institution of almost universal observance, when the Civil war brought to sudden ripeness this along with many other tendencies, and President Lincoln put upon it the seal of his official proclamation. President Lincoln’s first proclamation was In 1862, on account of the first important victory of the national arms. He issued a similar recommendation in 1863.