That 1st Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. — H.U. Westermayer

The Pilgrims set foot at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower, including all but 4 of the women. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining 53 colonists decided to celebrate with a feast – including 91 natives who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true “thanksgiving” observance. It lasted three days.

While the 1621 event may not have been called Thanksgiving, the sentiment was certainly present in that historic celebration, just as it would play a defining role in how the tradition developed over the centuries to come.

It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale (who also wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies’ Magazine, and later, in Godey’s Lady’s Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale’s obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. (from wilstar.com)

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My family and I visited the Plimouth settlement in 1988. The reenactors included sailors, pilgrims and Indians, and were very good at their roles. We were warned that “they didn’t know anything about the 20th century” and couldn’t answer those kinds of questions.

I especially remember watching a “pilgrim” woman frying corn cakes for her family’s lunch. She was working over an open fire and one of the cakes dropped into the ashes. She very carefully lifted it out and put it back on the pan. Food was much too precious to waste.

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But before I start to be grateful that I don’t have to serve burnt, ashy food to my family, I should stop to remember that food is scarce and precious in much of the world today. . . and think about how I use the abundant blessings I have been given.

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What are you grateful for today?