Show 4 r 27 d i iLi Li c c- c 5 o. o 2 1 r A l y re I tb tJ I 1 i I I hI h I J 1 sf 4 f b a a t y f l nc l Under r 7 r m s ors a n s J By ELMO SCOTT WATSON DAY DAT is the oldest of ot our national American holidays older holidays older by a hundred and fifty years than Independence Independence Independence Inde Inde- day older by more than two hundred years than Memorial day and nearly three hundred years older than Armistice day dav Fo For this anniversary dates from the tle year 1631 and how it Is so familiar a story stork stor to every American Amer Amer- t ican can that It need not be sere Mere except in tj ld d poetic fashion as given Sn n u the adjoining Although Although Thanksgiving day Is now years does not mean that it has been observed try emy year for that length of time as is the case caseb tub ii b other holidays s 's such as Christmas and New rr ears ear's rs which this nation naHon shares with others In fa fact ct l surprising as It ma may be to many there we we were a great many years in In which Thanksgiving Thanksgivings KS s ant observed except possibly In New gland where It originated and even there it its its' s' s snot not observed ed annually without interruption li It my may also be news to many Americans to learn learnt t tai Thanksgiving Ing was not always celebrated In ember In Massachusetts Thanksgiving day ay r W celebrated only eighteen times during the forty year one one year one year period between 1621 and 1662 and of this number only three of these observances dame e In November How flow would It seem to celebrate Thanksgiving m thE middle of summer Rather Inappropriate ate tit dot It be And yet et four of these early New Newland England land celebrations were held In June two In iny ML July y one In August but the remainder came durn dur- dur n g months of the cooler seasons In fact summer Thanksgiving I day celebrations remained fairly frequent ent until after the year 1700 IlK I rod fr or were all of the Thanksgivings observed lc is as fiS Is the case now for material pros pros- I gerity i tit 7 for tor bountiful crops an abundance pJ ot food I p d the like At least three of the early Thanks Thanks- I US hD rings S In ice Boston were held to give thanks be- be ease guse the city had been saved from earthquakes I jew few days previously Such was the case exactly 13 hundred years ago when on Thanks Thanksgiving g wing l iii a i a sermon was delivered In the old North lurch under the title of A Thunder and Earth Earth- tV ke i Call Coli to On that occasion Iii fl led his flock fiock ln to thanksgiving services canse use they had been saved sayed from death In a Thanks ring earthquake earlier In the week Thanks Thanks- rI g 1774 Is also associated with an e earth earth- arth tr iV Quake r. r e although this was less Ics serious in Its acts Ji than th i first on one c. c And a third earthquake as s k I la followed by a thanksgiving and a sermon the old South church I I t DU earthquakes w were ere not the only cause for forI finks ant it In Wb I R celebrations In the early days On 22 22 1630 a great public Thanksgiving it fate lc ce 7 e was TM h held ld In Boston In celebration of the f arrival of ships bringing food and fr friends ends I that across oss the Atlantic It is curious us to note I the Th hanks c cf t Ing of 1749 1149 was held because 1 rell relief lIet I ti art from the most severe stretch of hot Feather er tit fer r l i mown known r that the Massachusetts colonists had This sultry spell lasted for three sod baths torms during rine which Innumerable swarms of ms tf flOk ks and nd grasshoppers pre preyed ed on vegetation dried ared up and fishes dIed jn- jn n the rivers to s tank stank 50 so that people in the vicinity nearly located n a II In J n 1075 Gw 5 the colonists were engaged d e adr i life Je fe an and death struggle with the Indians the h here w leadership s of the great gloat King Bing Philip and Was as- as Ity Iut l at asno no thanksgiving celebration that year tars say w will with Iti the con conclusion Conclusion of one of the numerous hire re the French Drench and the Indians Indans In n 1742 I For or Fore We tW two Such celebrations n more ore re than 15 reind re re- mil ned Ined std T y yeara earR Thanksgiving ind nd ad it as a strictly New England g celebration t Wn wa was as s not until after the Republic had been heen C air d t that at the observance h became a national t DOD sa of In 1 just Before con congress adjourned 11 lu ut of 01 ter e v ad adopting he Constitution Chas Ellas Hou- Hou lit t New ew w Jersey Introduced a resolution mil all IIII also i u the t ep lIk k ivin 11 ing 10 1 1 to set aside a tl day of public n to and nu pra prayer prayer- er It u is ls a curious fa tat fact t I that I lat ire re In s 1 not nOI sill all i Of the members of congress oasis a the Ino mood at that tIme The o 0 oil t l' l d less show that when In In- 9 rec J I lis resol requesting g gh the President ent t eta day p or f h end h. h I to the lie people of t the e Wilted United States g nil nd prayer to to be beI The First Thanksgiving And now said the Governor gazing abroad cm on the up piled store storo Of the sheaves heaves that dotted the clearings and covered the meadows oer o'er j meet that thai w wo we render praises because of this yield of grain Til ms meet that the Lord of the harvest be thanked for His sun and rain And therefore 1 I William Bradford by the grace of 01 God today And the franchise of this good people Governor o ol 01 Plymouth say Through virtue of vested power power ye ye shall gather Kather with one accord And bold in the month November Thanksgiving unto the Lord He hath bath granted us peace and plenty and the quiet weve we've sought so long Ions He hath bath thwarted the wil wily savage and kept him from wrack and wrong And our feast the Sa Sachem em shall be bidden that he be may know We w worship warship bip his own Great Spirit who the harvests grow So J shoulder your matchlocks misters masters there Is hunting hunting hunt hunt- ing of all aU degrees And fishermen take your tackle and scour for spoil the seas And maidens and dames of Plymouth your delicate crafts employ To honor our first Thanksgiving and make It a feast of Joy I We fall fail of the tho fruits and dainties we dainties we fall fail of of the theold theold theold old home borne cheer Ah Au these are the lightest losses mayhap that befall us here But see sec in our open clearings how golden the melons lie He Enrich them with sweets and spices apIces and give sive us the pumpkin pie I ISo ISo So So bravely the preparations went on OD for the autumn feast The deer and the bear were slaughtered wild game from the greatest to least Was Wu heaped in 10 the colony cabins brown home brew served for wine And the plum and the grape of the forest for orange and peach and pine At length came the day appointed the snow had bad beun be begun begun be- be gun un to fall faU But the clang from the meeting house belfry beUry rang merrily over all And summoned the folk of mouth Pi who hastened with glad lad accord To listen Usten to Elder Brewster as he fervently thanked the Lord In his scat sate Governor Bradford men men matrons and maidens fair Miles Stan Standish dish and all aU of his soldiers with corselet and sword were there And sobbing and tears and gladness bad had each in 10 Its turn the sway For the grave crave of the sweet Rose Standish oer o'er- shadowed Thanksgiving day And ADd when Massasoit the Sachem sate down with witt his hundred braves And ate of the varied riches ea of gardens and woods and waves And looked on the harvest with harvest with a blow on 00 his brawny chest t He muttered The gO good d Great Spirit loves His white children b best belt st st. Margaret Junkin Preston observed by acknowledging with grateful l hearts the many signal favors of ot Almighty God especially especial ly Iy by affording them un an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness several members objected to It One member took the stand that the President dent had no business to tell teU the people wh whet what t they should do sI since ce the people might not be Inclined to give gl thanks until they knew whether the Constitution was going to work or not I 1 More Jore than that he ho thought It was a matter for the several states to decide be he was from South Carolina Carolina Caro Caro- lina llna destined to be the thc leading exponent of states' states rights and not for tor congress But despite this and other objections the measure was passed tossed h and andas andas andas as a result of 01 this resolution President George Washington i Issued suell such a proclamation on October Octo Octo- ber her 3 establishing the first Thanksgiving by P Presidential Pres proclamation ou November 20 of that year year It was this precedent no doubt had most to todo todo todo do with making Thanksgiving a II November I flute date t However c even cn n with this precedent Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Thanks Thanks- giving did not become e an nn animal uD l event for tor nearly three-quarters three of ot a century and we owe Ita adoption and especially its observance on the thelast thelast thelast last Thursday day In November ember to another great President Abraham Lincoln The summer of 1861 was a gloomy one for the nation The he memory of the disaster at Bull Run was still fresh in the minds of the people and the destruction of the Union seemed Imminent On August 12 Lincoln Issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday Thursday Thursday Thurs Thurs- day in September as a day of or humiliation prayer and fasting How conscious he was of the need for such a d day y Is shown by the wording of the document Whereas when our own beloved country once by the blessing of God united prosperous and happy Is now afflicted with faction and civil war it is fit for us to to- recognize the hand of God In this terrible visitation and ip sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as ns a nation and as Individuals to humble bumble ourselves before Him and to pray for His mercy As a result of this proclamation thousands of persons throughout the North refrained retraIned from food on that day and prayed for the nations nation's salvation The regular Thanksgiving ing celebration of the New England states and others to whom the old Pilgrim Pilgrim Pil Pil- grim custom had spread was a rather subdued and quiet one that year The next year Lincoln issued a proclamation on on April 10 asking the people of the thc North to meet at ut their customary places of worship to give thanks for the victories of the Union armies early in the year But during the summer the tide swung strongly in favor of the Confederate armies and again th the customary Thanksgiving day after harvest time was a somewhat somewhat some some- what gloomy affair The momentous year of 1863 brought forth three proclamations The first dated March 3 designated designated des des- April 30 as a day of fasting and prayer On July 15 following the victories at Gettysburg Gettysburg Gettysburg Gettys Gettys- burg and Vicksburg the the President President issued another one setting August 6 G as a day to give thanks at the prospects of peace By this time the idea of Instituting a national day of thanksgiving seems to have been pretty strongly established In Lincoln's mind The outlook for the Union cause seemed bright and on October 3 1563 he Issued a proclamation which established the precedent for Thanksgiving day as we now observe It It was in this do document that he used the phraseology which has become so familiar In all subsequent Thanksgiving proclamations by our Presidents The year now drawing to its close has been filled with the blessing of fruitful fields and healthful skies And so the thelast thelast thelast last Thursday In November is hereby set apart as the day of thanksgiving and praise The next year President Lincoln on July 7 by direction of congress designated the first Thursday Thurs day of ot August as a Ia day of ot national humiliation and prayer On October 20 of the same year he Issued his second and last regular thanksgiving proclamation setting apart the last Thursday In November for tor observance of the day day- Before that I day arrived It was definitely known that Lincoln by an overwhelming majority had been chosen to succeed himself The prospects for an early end co o 0 the war seemed more favorable so 50 that this was an auspicious occasion for a great thanksgiving celebration on i n By Thanksgiving day had come to be be recognized as an annual event and In that year President t Andr Andrew w Jackson followed the precedent set by Lincoln and in his hs proclamation said sold In conformity with a n recent custom that may now be regarded as us established on national consent con consent sent nt and approval I hereby etc From this l date down to the present time the custom Inaugurated orated by Lincoln has been observed by every President So the day of thanksgiving first observed ed more than years ago by one small section of the country and celebrated at Irregular Intervals even by the people of ot that section an anniversary which gained official recognition only 00 GO years ago ugo has become a fixture In n our cal calendar t I observed ed on a wide nation scale until with I IaU all aU of the tradition which has hus gathered around I It It Is s one of ot the most Important events event In n tru i nearly early arl exl existence of the average American r A |