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The Origin Of Thanksgiving

The Origin Of Thanksgiving image
Parent Issue
Day
25
Month
November
Year
1897
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The first recorded instance of anything iu the nature of thanksgiving in the history of our country is the following entry in an old Bi ble belonging to one of the flrst pilgrinis: ' ' Sonae bom to Susanna White, December 19th, 1620, yt six o'clock morning. Next day we meet for prayer aud thanksgiving. ' ' This, however, is not generally aocepted as the first observance of that nature, since it hardly partook of the character of a general thanksgiving. But 15 months after the pilgrims sailed from Holland they held a barvest festival which lasted a week. This is geuerally spoken of as the first Thanksgiving in New England, but it was not a day set apart by the governor, nor was it attended by any religions observance. A few years later precisely the same thing occuwed. Thereupon Jnly 30, 1623, was appointed as a day of thanksgiving, and before the second sunset a relief ship arrived. Fast days and thanksgiving days came at irregular intervals for a number of years, the latter" following some marked ëvent of a benef-' icent nature, such as getting rid of Anne Hutchinson, whose preaching caused such a turmoil in New England, for the tennination of King Philip's war and the close of the Bevolution and the triumph of independence in America. Then came the practice of the governor of each state naming a day for general thanksgiving. These at first were not coincident, but the beautiful custom has prevailed for a considerable time, and doubtless will prevail for ages to come, of the president appointing such a day, generally the last Thursday in November, to which the governor of each state assents by uaming the same day. Thus there is one day each year when the 45 states and the territories fronj the Atlantic to the Pacific and from British America to the gulf return thanks to God for his manifold blessings and inercies.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News