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Thanksgiving Day & Dinner through the Years
As of the Year 2011
By Mary Gage
Research Assistant James Gage
© 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
The year 2011 is the fiftieth anniversary of Thanksgiving Day becoming a national (federal) holiday. Up until 1941, Thanksgiving Day was a state holiday.
Prior to statehood, in the colonial days each colony appointed its own day of Thanksgiving at their discretion. This carried over to statehood, thus each state by law had the right to appoint or not appoint a Day of Thanksgiving.
The idea of a national holiday came about during the Revolutionary War when the Continental Congress issued a national proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving, each year of the war. This was carried on periodically after the war by the Presidents. Most states abided by the federal government’s date. On the years without a national proclamation each state decided for itself whether or not to hold a Day of Thanksgiving and what day it would be held on.
An influential editor of a popular lady’s magazine became the driving force behind establishing what has become our American Thanksgiving held on the last Thursday of November.
Table of Contents
Origins and History
People’s Response to President Lincoln’s second 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Response to Sarah Hale’s efforts in promoting a National Thanksgiving
Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner in the 1890’s
Thanksgiving Dinner Menus Through the Years
Common Foods that showed up in many of the menus
Pudding Recipes associated with Thanksgiving
Reference to New England Thanksgiving
Sports on Thanksgiving Day
Appendix I – President Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Appendix II – President Lincoln’s (2nd) 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
“Days set apart for thanksgiving were known in Europe before the Reformation, and were in frequent use by Protestants afterward, especially in the Church of England, where they were a fixed custom long before they were in New England.” (Earle 1893, 216)
The first Thanksgiving in New England took place not at Plymouth, Massachusetts but off the coast of Maine. The Popham colonists at Monhegan Island held a religious service in 1607 in which they celebrated ‘Gyving God thanks’ for their safe arrival. (Earle 1893, 216)
An account of the Pilgrims first Thanksgiving in New England, given in thanks for a bountiful harvest, was “written on December 11, 1621, by Edward Winslow to a friend in England:
‘Our harvest being gotten in our governor sent four men on fowling that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labors. They four killed as much fowl as with a little help beside served the company about a week. At which times among other recreations we exercised our arms [practiced shooting their guns], many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoyt with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer which they brought and bestow’d on our governor, and upon the captains and others.’” (Earle 1893, 217)
Earle could not find any record of a special religious service associated with the Pilgrim’s feasting. That was unusual as at that time, a day of thanks was normally associated with a religious service. The second Pilgrim Thanksgiving occurred two years later after a day of prayer due to a drought in early summer that almost killed their whole crop. At the end of nine hours of prayer it rained. Thus, the second Pilgrim Thanksgiving was ordered and observed sometime in 1623.
“In 1630, on February 22d, the first public thanksgiving was held in Boston by the Bay Colony, in gratitude for the safe arrival of food-bearing and friend-bringing ships.” This again was in response to a shortage of food. “On November 4, 1631, Winthrop wrote again: ‘We kept thanksgiving day in Boston.’ From that time till 1684 there were at least twenty-two public thanksgiving days appointed in Massachusetts – about one in two years; but it was not a regular biennial festival. In the year 1742 were two Thanksgiving Days.” (Earle 1893, 219-220)
Thanksgiving was not always associated with food. In Joshua Coffin’s A Sketch of The History of Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury [Massachusetts] From 1635 – 1845 he points out:
1677 –“ Thanksgiving, November third, on account of a plentiful harvest and a cessation of the wrath and rage of the enemy.” (p. 120)
1682 – “November 23rd. ‘Thanksgiving appointed on account of a very plentiful harvest.’ (p 137)
1692 – “July 14th. Thanksgiving appointed on account of peace, the charter, and so forth.” (p. 158)
According to Earle “The feast of thanks was for many years appointed with equal frequency upon ‘Tusday com[e] seuen-night,’ or ‘vppon Wensday com[e] fort-nit.’ Nor was any special season of the year chosen: in 1716 it was appointed in August; in 1713, in January; in 1718, in December; in 1719, in October.” (Earle [1893] 1988, 221) From the 1690’s onward in Massachusetts, Thursday became the preferred day of the week for Thanksgiving.
Massachusetts was not the only colony to observe Thanksgiving Day. Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Netherland (New York) were mentioned in different histories.
“… early in the Revolutionary War the Continental Congress adopted the practice.” The Continental Congress appointed eight days and sent recommendations to the heads of state government to promote the observance. “With only one exception, Congress suspended business on the days appointed for thanksgiving.” The days were Thursday, July 20, 1775 ; Friday, May 17, 1776 ; Dec. 11, 1776 ; Wednesday, April 22, 1778 ; Thursday, May 6, 1779 ; Wednesday, April 6, 1780 ; Thursday, May 3, 1781 ; and Thursday, April 25, 1782. “Washington issued a proclamation for a general thanksgiving by the Continental army on Thursday, Dec. 18, 1777 ; and again, at Valley Forge, May 7, 1778. As President, Washington appointed Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, a day for general thanksgiving throughout the Union …” (Harper 1909, v.9 p.64)
In the same year (1789) that President Washington issued the first Presidential Proclamation a prayer book was published and distributed in America. “The Book of Common Prayer, revised (1789) for the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America, directed the first Thursday of November (unless another day be appointed by the civil authorities) ‘to be observed as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the fruits of the earth,’ etc.” (Harper 1909, v.9 p.64) The prayer book advocated an annual religious based holiday for giving thanks for the harvest. Did the idea have any influence?
It would be six years before President Washington issued a second Thanksgiving Proclamation on Thursday, February 19th, 1795. Note Thanksgiving Day was appointed in February. Washington was followed by President Adams who appointed a “Fasting & Humiliation” day in 1798 and again the following year on Thursday, April 25, 1799. Then the country had to wait another six years before President Madison issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation on Thursday, April 12, 1814 and on the 2nd Thursday of April 1815. From 1816 through 1861 no Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations were issued. (Source: Pilgrim Hall Museum http://ww.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc.htm)
Though the presidents did not make Thanksgiving Proclamations between 1816 and 1861, by 1855 it appears to have become an annual event in most states. In 1855, The History of Massachusetts stated, “Thus the time-honored festival of Thanksgiving was instituted – a festival which, originally confined in its observance to the sons of the Pilgrims and the State of Massachusetts, has now become almost a NATIONAL FESTIVAL,” (Barry 1855, v.1 p.103).
Presidential Proclamations for a Day of Thanksgiving resumed in 1862 during the Civil War. In the South, Jefferson Davis early in 1861, proclaimed a Day of Fasting and Humiliation and in 1862 he issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation for victories in war. In the North, President Lincoln issued Thanksgiving Proclamations for victories in war in the spring of 1862 and the spring of 1863. The basis for these proclamations were war victories on both sides.
Later in 1863 Lincoln issued a second Thanksgiving Proclamation on October 3rd. In it Lincoln made a proclamation for a general day of thanks for “the gracious gifts of the Most High God”. The gifts he mentioned were a bountiful harvest, peace that was preserved with foreign nations during the war, “order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theatre of military conflict, while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.” Although it included a mention of the Union Army’s and Navy’s forward progress it focused on how the nation as a whole is still respectful and remaining lawful. Lincoln as President of the United States of America reached out to everyone, both the North and the South. “It has seemed to me fit and proper that they [God’s Gifts / Blessings] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people …” This is Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation that people refer to when talking about America’s Thanksgiving. (For full text see Appendix II)
How did Lincoln’s second proclamation come about? Anne Blue Wills, an assistant professor of religion at Davidson College researched the origins of President Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (Town Common (Newspaper) 11/25 – 12/1, 2009). Wills traced it back to a New Hampshire widow, Sarah Hale, who was a writer trying to support her family. Hale was hired by Louis Godey as editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine from 1827 to 1877. Godey’s magazine was published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hale’s monthly column each November, year after year focused on Thanksgiving. Hale advocated for an annual national holiday held on the last Thursday of November. She saw it as a holiday for every American from the elite to the servant. She viewed it as a non-religious and non-commercial holiday, and as a way to get back to our roots. “Hale early on began calling on the president and Congress to declare Thanksgiving as a nationwide event … Godey’s was the major women’s magazine of its day, and Hale’s campaign eventually had its desired influence. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln made the first declaration for a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.”
President Lincoln did not make the first declaration of a nationwide Thanksgiving Day, that is credited to the Continental Congress in 1775, who was followed by President George Washington in 1789 and again in 1795, who was followed by several more American Presidents. President Lincoln followed his predecessors when he said, “… I do, therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficient Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” The proclamation declares one day like his predecessors had done before him. It does not declare Thanksgiving to be an annual national holiday. What it did do was reach out across the dividing lines of the North and South during the Civil War advocating a national Day of Thanksgiving irregardless of race, nationality or which side you were on.
Lincoln’s second 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation was the first of an unbroken string of presidential proclamations that continues today. (for a full list of Presidential Proclamations see, Pilgrim Hall Museum http://ww.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc1862.htm)
People’s Response to President Lincoln’s second 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Windermere Farm in Gray, Maine
Diary of Ethel Porter
“Thanksgiving, 1863”
“Made a dozen apple pies. 8 mince, 10 squash, 10 custard, 10 pumpkin.
Baked 4 spice walnut cakes
Cooked 22 lb. turkey, 6 chickens, 3 hams and a large piece of venison. Could not bring myself to butcher the darn goose.
Baked 8 loaves of bread and 8 pans of biscuits
Went to church. Long sermon but liked Mr. Lincoln’s talk at Gettysburg which minister read.
Rufus got into the new cider. I was upset. It tasted smart.
Had stewed oysters from Portland for supper also pudding and apple brandy.
Bessie’s boy going to army. Seems he was just a baby.
Rufus worked in woodlot after supper.
Moon bright.” (Reprinted in An Old New England Farm by Kenneth MacIver and William Thomson 1983, 32-33)
Under this diary entry there is a list of foods and notes on what the family did that day. By this date in New England, Thanksgiving was already a well entrenched holiday. What makes it standout is the fact Ethel wrote about it in her diary. What we do not know is if this was a common yearly diary entry or uncommon due to President Lincoln’s proclamation. The author was not able to find a copy of the diary.
After the cooking was done they went to church. This appears to have been a common activity. The following is a reminiscence written in 1835 from a young boy’s perspective:
“Late in the autumn, when all the fruits of the field have been gathered in, the Governor of the State, with the advice of his council, issues a proclamation, recommending to the inhabitants the observance of a stated day for thanksgiving and praise to God for the blessings of the season. The day appointed is generally about the middle of November. The week before its arrival, all the families of the State commence preparations for thanksgiving feast. The art of cookery is tasked to its utmost. The oven groans with puddings and with pies, and excepting in the poultry-yard, there is universal glee. One would think that every family were preparing a feast for an army. I well recollect the principal drawback on my youthful pleasures in this jocund [jovial] season, was the quantity of oven wood I was under the necessity of splitting. But when I saw batch after batch of smoking pies issuing from the oven ; the huge milk-pans, filled with the rich combination of stewed pumpkins and milk; and the mountainous plum-pudding, filled with the swollen raisins, more precious than pearls and diamonds, I could not refrain from rubbing my hands with extacy [ecstasy].”
“At eleven o'clock, the bell rings for public worship. The people then, in accordance with the recommendation of the Governor and his council, assemble in their churches. By much previous exercise, the choir are generally prepared with the best music they are able to furnish. The officiating clergyman generally takes this opportunity to present some topic of a national character, and to enforce upon his congregation, attention to their political duties. Those subjects which he would hardly feel at liberty to discuss in the pulpit on the Sabbath, he avails himself of this opportunity to present.” (Abbott 1835, 137-141.)
Abbott’s reminiscence shows us that the cooking took place during the week before the holiday. That seems to be the case with Ethel Porter too, as it would be impossible to prepare and cook 50 pies, 1 turkey, 3 hams, 6 chickens and then make them into pies, a roast of venison, plus 8 loaves of bread and 8 pans of biscuits all before going to church.
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American Thanksgiving Dinner at St. James Hall, London
Thursday, November 26th, 1863
Presented here are excerpts from the 103 page book compiled by the group of Americans who held a special Thanksgiving Dinner. The book contained President Lincoln’s 2nd 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, menu, toasts, and speeches given in honor of the day. There was a poem and hymn written for the occasion. This was a major event.
“In accordance with the above Proclamation [President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation], the loyal Americans in London and their guests attended a THANKSGIVING DINNER, at St. James Hall, Regent Street, at three o’clock p.m., on Thursday the 26th of November, 1863, given under the direction of the following:
Committee
Hon. R. J. Walker, Washington, D.C.
Charles L. Wilson, Esq., Illionis
P. Mc. D. Collins, Esq., California
Captain E. G. Tinker, Conn.
Hon. F. H. Morse, Maine
B. Moran, Esq., Pennsylvania
Sewall Warner, Esq. Mass.
R. Hunting, Esq. New York
Henry Starr, Esq., Mass.
Gerard Ralston, Esq. Pennsylvania
G. W. Belding, Esq., New York
A. J. Valentine, Esq. Maine
B. F. Brown, Esq. Mass.
W. E. Broderick, Esq., Maryland
The following were the order of Exercises : - 1st Reading of the President’s Proclamation for Thanksgiving, by Richard Hunting, Esq. 2nd Prayer by Sella Martin. 3rd Hymn written for the occasion – Tune, Auld Lang Syne.”
Dinner Menu
Potages [Soups]
A la Conde Brunvillier Bisque aux Ecrevisses
Poissons [Fish]
Turbot, Sauce Hollandaise
Cabillaud, Sauce aux Huitres
Turbans de Filets de Maerlans au Gratin
Eperlans frits
Entrees
Petities Bouchees garni de Coq de Bruyere
Fricassee de Poulet a la Washington [Chicken Fricassee]
Cotelettes de Lievre aux Truffes
Ris de Veau pique a l’Oseille
Pate chaud de Poulardes aux Champignons
Quenelle de Gibier a la Lincoln
Grosses Pieces
[Turkey] Dindon rotis farci aux Truffes
Poulardes braise a la Prairie
[Roast Duckling ?] Oisons rotis, Sauce aux Pommes [Apple Sauce]
Selle do Mouton [Lamb or Mutton] Quartier de Boeuf [Beef]
_______
Second Service
Rots
Faisians [Pheasant] Perdreaux [Partridge] Canards sauvages [Wild Duck]
Entremets
Gelee a la Macedoine Crème d’Amerique
Gelee a la Victoria Suedoise d’Orange
Crème de Maizena a la Glen Cove
Abricot a la Regence Meringues Suissses a la Chantilly
Gateaux a la Napolitaine Patisserie assortie
Pumpkin Pie a l’Americane Mince Pie a l’Anglaise
Pounding a la Dipomatique Pound glace a la St. James
Dessert
Without knowledge of French it can be easily understood there were many dishes created and named in honor of the occasion. There was a Washington and Lincoln dish, a diplomat (dipomatique) dish, American Pumpkin Pie, a dish in honor of Queen Victoria and even a dish for St. James, the place where the feast was held.
This Thanksgiving Day dinner was special. It was a direct result of President Lincoln’s proclamation. Yet it was worldly as it was held in England by those “sojourning in foreign lands”, served French cuisine and had an original song that would later became synonymous with New Years’ Eve, “Auld Lang Syne.”
………………………………….
Civil War Soldier’s Letter (dated 1864)
“THANKSGIVING” IN THE ARMY.- The following extract from a letter received from a soldier in the army of the Potomac, shows how the rank and file fared on the late “Thanksgiving” day: “We had a great time at our Thanksgiving feast to-day. It was truly kind of the folks at home to remember the “poor soldier,” but bless you, how much do you think the “poor soldier” partook of? Well, you can imagine. Two small chickens were divided between twenty three men. The pies were smashed into a perfect squash, and a spoonful of the same to each man ; one ginger snap, one little short cake, two ounces of butter, and about three ounces of cheese, one pickle, and six small apples, composed the great sensation feast of Thanksgiving that the soldiers received.”
The letter thanked the folks at home for sending the food for a Thanksgiving dinner. But let us not think the folks were so stingy in their gift of food. The letter went on to say “The boxes opened at headquarters or some other place, and all of the turkeys taken out, along with everything else worth having. The dead beats and officers in the rear got the fat of the things, and by the time they reached the front, it was not worth dividing.” The good folks at home had sent food for a feast but it had been swiped by those hanging out behind the front lines. However, that did not deter the poor soldiers on the front line from celebrating Thanksgiving which meant a great deal to them. In the true sense of Thanksgiving they gave thanks for what they had “fresh meat and fruit” if only a spoonful, it was a far cry from the hardtack they lived on. They willingly shared their meager meal amongst all of them equally. (December 12, 1864 Evening Union)
Response to Sarah Hale’s efforts in promoting a National Thanksgiving combined with her last Thanksgiving Editorial in Godey’s Lady Book and Magazine
Godey’s Lady Book and Magazine (p. 434 vol. 95 Nov. 1877)
“FROM G. WASHINGTON WARREN’S HISTORY OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT ASSOCIATION.
“Of those noble women who by their timely appeal and patriotic sympathy averted the continued disgrace of the unfinished monument, the greater number have passed on to their eternal reward; but they have left upon earth a record of their service and zeal for the public good which history can never forget.”
“Of the few who still survive, Mrs. Hale, for many years past a resident of Philadelphia, has, during her protracted life, constantly employed her vigorous pen for the elevation of her sex, and for the promotion of a laudable national sentiment. For thirty years in Godey’s Lady’s Book, under her editorship, she has pleaded for the establishment of a National Thanksgiving to be observed every year on the last Thursday of November, that being the day that was selected by President Washington in 1789, when he was requested by a Joint committee of both Houses of the first Congress to set apart a day by Proclamation “as a day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer.” In that original model Proclamation, Washington referred to this country having become “a Nation,” and also to our “National Government,” our “National transgressions,” and our “National duties.” If such a proclamation had been issued every year by Washington and his successors in the Presidential office, it never would have been forgotten anywhere that the United States was indeed a nation. National Fasts also have been occasionally proclaimed by different Presidents in time of threatened disaster, as on account of the prevalence of the Asiatic cholera, and by President Buchanan in 1860, before the outbreak of the Civil War. By a correspondence with the Governors of all the States in 1859, Mrs. Hale was instrumental in persuading them to appoint the last Thursday in November of that year for a State Thanksgiving. By similar efforts, a national Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Lincoln in 1863, and every succeeding year by the President for the time being. She has urged, and still urges, Congress to pass a Joint Resolution, recommending the annual observance of the last Thursday of November as the day of National Thanksgiving, so that it may never be overlooked by any President.”
This is probably the last occasion upon which the Editress of the Lady’s Book will speak to the public through the pages of this magazine, on a subject which has been near to her heart for many years. We have thought fit to reprint this extract from Mr. Warren’s excellent book, and to add to it only a few lines of our own.
“The present year is the beginning or the second century of our Republic. We celebrated the close of the first by a great International Exhibition, by a proclamation of peace and good-will to mankind. We have entered the new century in the same spirit. A spirit of conciliation, of compromise, of mutual concession, seems for the time to have entered into our national politics; and North and South. East and West are approaching to a closer union. What a happy occasion is this to cement this alliance, to render it indestructible, by the perpetual legislative establishment of a day of National Thanksgiving!”
“Let us feel that our great Home Festival is no longer an anniversary whose celebration depends upon thirty-seven State governments, or even upon the yearly inclination of the Executive. Let us have the day which Washington consecrated by his selection set apart forever as a season of Thanksgiving for the mercies and blessings of the year. Let the Forty-fifth Congress, in the name of the American people, enact that from hence forward the last Thursday in November shall be observed, throughout the length and breadth of our land, as the day of our National Thanksgiving.”
………………………………….
It would take Congress another 64 years to enact Sarah Hale’s long sought after National Thanksgiving. But it was never forgotten after Lincoln’s 2nd 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. According to The Insurance Yearbook 1883-84 and Legal Counselor and Form Book: A Hand Book of Business Law and Legal Forms for All the States and the Provinces of Canada (1910) the vast majority of states recognized Thanksgiving as a legal state holiday and prohibited all business and banking activities on that day. However, it would not be until December 26, 1941 that Thanksgiving was made a federal holiday by Joint Resolution of Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner in the 1890’s
1889 – $1.00
New York: From an article in the New York Herald (11-24-1889) “Many Men of Many Menus ------- Thanksgiving Dinners from Varying Historical and Social Aspects ----- How Our Bachelor Mayor Will Dine ----- Old New England Modes of Feasting – Thanksgiving Day as Observed in the South – A new York Swell Thanksgiving Dinner – A Menu for Most of Us – A Dollar Thanksgiving Family Feast” Only one menu included the price of the dinner.
$1.00 Menu for a family of six
Clam Soup
Boiled Chicken with a border of rice
Cranberry Jelly
Celery
Beans, Spanish Style
Suet Pudding
1891 – $23.99
Newburyport, Massachusetts: From the cookbook of Mrs. R. Lyman Winship, published in A Cargo of Good Food from Newburyport, Massachusetts
Thanksgiving Dinner 1891 at the home of Mrs. Winship, for seventeen people
Raw Oysters
2 Turkeys: 11 pounds and 10 pounds
2 Chickens Pies (four chickens of which I made two pies – the crust made with one large cup of butter and the same cup two-thirds full of lard and the rest butter)
White Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Squash
Onions
Cranberry (two quarts)
Celery (four heads)
Mrs. Putnam’s Christmas Plum Pudding
Peach Ice Cream (made with two quarts cream, one jar of my peaches and two and a half dozen macaroons pounded with extra sugar, and one pint of milk.)
2 White Mountain Cakes (One loaf plain and one with fruit)
One dozen Havana Oranges
One dozen Tangerines
One basket Tokay Grapes
One basket Concords [Grapes]
One dozen Bananas – apples and pears [likely one dozen each fruit]
One jar Prunes
Two pounds Figs
One Dutch Cheese
One pound Water Crackers
Two pounds Water Wafers
One bunch of Raisins from S.S. Pierce (tied with pink ribbon)
Five pounds of Shellbarks
Two quart bottles of Olives
Four pounds of mixed nuts
One and a half pound of shelled almonds (which I salted)
Four bottles of claret wine
Coffee
The whole expense of the dinner aside from the claret wine was $23.99.
1896 – $5.00
From The Daily News Cookbook in Chicago, Illinois
Contributed by Mrs. P. B. Gehr, Riverside, Ill.
Bisque of Oysters
Planked Whitefish, lemon and walnut sauce
Roast Turkey with chestnut filling
Cranberries
Mashed white potatoes
Baked sweet potatoes
Mashed Turnips
Sweetbread Salad
Mince Pie, Pumpkin Pie
Ice Cream
Nuts, Raisins
Black Coffee
The dinner served at a home in Newburyport is quite similar to the menus published in the 1896 Boston Cooking School Cook Book (See Menus). There was one exception, there were no pies instead there was an abundance of fresh fruit. The bananas, oranges, tangerines, and grapes were all imported, only the apples and pears would have been locally grown. The fresh fruit may represent wealth verses fruit pies which may have represented common folk’s food. Given that, it is interesting to note the lady of the house said “I made Mrs. Putnam’s Christmas Plum Pudding” indicating she made the pudding herself.
$23.99 may seem like a low price for a dinner but for its time it was extravagant compared with the $5.00 dinner. The Daily News Cookbook was “Designed to Furnish “Good Living,” in Appetizing Variety, at an Expense Not to Exceed $500 a Year for a Family of Five …” In its preface, it stated: “The three Holiday menus – New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas – are an exception in the matter of expense. The dinners on these occasions are arranged for ten persons, and a cost of five dollars was permitted.” That was not $5.00 per person it was for the whole dinner. At $5.00 for ten people (50 cents per person) it would cost $8.50 for seventeen people. The $23.99 for seventeen people was triple that, and more because it did not include the wine. On the extreme opposite end of the social ladder is the $1.00 dinner for six people which breaks down to 15 cents per person.
Thanksgiving had truly become a holiday for every United States citizen irregardless of social status. People found a way to celebrate with a feast. Sometimes as with the poor soldiers it was but a spoonful of fresh food. The lady with a family of six who had to economize found a way to serve a feast for $1.00. At $5.00 a family could indulge in a fancy upscale type feast. The $23.99 cost purchased an extravagant and lavish feast, with unheard of quantities of fresh fruit in November.
Of note: The Boston Cooking School trained women who would go on to work in the wealthy homes of New England. The Boston Cooking School Cook Book although it sold on the retail market reflected what was taught in school. In turn, the cookbook reflected what was taking place in the real world of the upper class of society. Its Thanksgiving menu is similar to the Newburyport dinner.
Thanksgiving Dinner Menus Through the Years and Around the Country
The earliest published Thanksgiving dinner menu may be the American Thanksgiving Dinner. It was published in 1863 in London, England. Beginning in the year 1875 Thanksgiving dinner menus start to show up in newspapers. Cook books lagged behind for it was not until 1896 that cook books started publishing Thanksgiving dinner menus. The Boston Cooking School Cookbook published a “Menu for Thanksgiving Dinner” in 1896. That was Fannie Farmer’s first authorship of this cook book. In The Daily News Cookbook, Being a Reprint From the Chicago Record Cook Book copyright 1896, is a menu for Thanksgiving dinner.
1835 – New England
from New England and her Institutions: By One of Her Sons (1835) By Jacob Abbott. This is not a menu but it gives some insight.
“…I saw batch after batch of smoking pies issuing from the oven ; the huge milk-pans, filled with the rich combination of stewed pumpkins and milk; and the mountainous plum-pudding, filled with the swollen raisins, more precious than pearls and diamonds, …”
1863 – Windermere Farm in Gray, Maine (New England)
from An Old New England Farm by K. MacIver and Wm. Thomson, 1983
12 Apple Pies
8 Mince Pies
10 Squash Pies
10 Pumpkin Pies
4 Walnut Cakes
1 22 lb. Turkey
3 Hams
1 Venison, large piece
8 Loaves of Bread
8 Pans of Biscuits
1863 – American Thanksgiving Dinner in London (See “People’s Response to President Lincoln’s second 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation”)
1875 – “A Thanksgiving Dinner – The Proper Thing as Indicated by a New York Authority “
(Daily Inter-Ocean, Chicago, Illinios, Nov. 24, 1875)
Oyster Soup
Fish: Halibut Boiled served with drawn butter and chopped parsley
Roast Turkey stuffed with chopped blanched almonds and raisins
Giblet Gravy
Roast Beef
Roast Canvasback Duck
Chicken Pie
Vegetables: Potatoes mashed and browned; Onions in milk; Sweet potatoes boiled and browned;
canned corn and asparagus
Celery
Cranberry
Pies: Pumpkin, mince and apple
Ice Cream and Charlotte Russe
Or Hedgehog a sponge cake soaked in wine and stuck with almonds on outside
1880 – “A Sunday Dinner – A Suggestion to the Cook – The Bill For a Thanksgiving Feast”
(Cincinnati Daily Gazette, Ohio, Nov. 20, 1880)
Menu No. 3
Blue points [oysters]
(with a quarter of lemon on each plate)
Mock turtle soup
Boiled red snapper – Oyster sauce
Roast Turkey – Chestnut stuffing
Potatoes – Stuffed tomatoes – Asparagus with cream sauce
Cabinet pudding
Fruit Coffee
“Not a bad Thanksgiving bill of fare if strengthened by a plum pudding and ices to taste, and a bill of company to match, to give thanks and be merry.”
1889 – from “Many Men of Many Menus, Thanksgiving from Varying Historical and Social Aspects, How Our Bachelor Mayor Will Dine, Old New England Modes of Feasting – Thanksgiving Day as Observed in the South – A New York Swell Thanksgiving Dinner – A Menu for Most of Us – A Dollar Thanksgiving Family Feast” (New York Herald, Nov. 24, 1889)
New England – “When we lived in Bond street, now,’ went on my informant, ‘and that was a great many years ago, our dinner generally began with a white soup, followed by roast turkey, baked sweet potatoes and other vegetables and fried oysters, with real home made ice cream.’”
Still under the New England section was this menu from hand written recipes. “On an enormon[u]s platter at each end of the table lay a glorious, golden brown turkey flat on its back; on the sides were two luscious hams boiled in cider and festooned with graceful overshadowing box; there was a tender sirloin roast of beef, an immense venison pasty, sausages garnished with fried apples and pumpkin pie and plum pudding, with satellites of fruit tarts. There were also homemade pickles and preserves, brandied fruits and apple butter.”
Old Charleston, South Carolina
Mock Turtle Soup
Boiled Fish Egg Sauce
Boiled Ham Saddle of Venison
Steamed Rice
Scalloped Oysters Oyster Patties
Stuffed Crabs
Roast Ducks Prairie Hen
Plum Pudding Charlotte Russe
Blanc Mange Jelly
Floating Island Ice Cream
New York – for Four Hundred
“ ‘Thanksgiving is an exploded custom, like New Year’s’ said one of New York’s most distinguished epicures. We dine much the same as on ordinary days. This, for instance, will be the typical menu.’ ”
Soups
Tortue Claire Consomme a la Celestine
Bouchees au asplicon
Fillets of bass au gratin
Potatoes a la Parisienne
Fillets of beef, truffed
Haricots verts
Entrees
Truffed sweetbreads Supreme de volaille
Pate de sole gras in jelly
Roman punch
Canvasback duck Celery Mayonnaise
French pudding Ices
Cheese Wafers
Fruit
Coffee
New York – Menus for the Best of Us
“A very sensible bill of fare for this occasion has been given me by a New York society lady as one which will be used in her own family.”
Oysters in Ice
Soup Cream of Rice
Boiled Turkey Oyster Sauce
Cauliflower au gratin Potatoes au Surprise
Chicken Pie
Dressed Celery Cranberry Jelly
Mashed and Browned Potatoes
Lettuce Salad
Thanksgiving Pudding Wine Sauce
Mince and Apple Pies, Tarts
Cheese, Olives, Salted Almonds, Fruit
Coffee
New York – Thanksgiving on One Dollar a Day
Clam soup
Boiled Chicken with a border of rice
Cranberry Jelly Celery
Beans, Spanish Style
Suet Pudding
New York – Mayor Grant’s Menu
Blue Point Oysters
Soup Consomme Royal
Boiled Red Snapper Egg Sauce
Sweetbreads, larded and braised, with Spinach
Roast Leg of Lamb Mint Sauce
Assorted Vegetables
Roast Grouse, Bread Sauce, Jelly, Celery
Castle Pudding Brandy Sauce
Fruit Cheese
Coffee
The New York menus favored a fish dish, and rice which is similar to the South Carolina menu.
1891 – Newburyport, Massachusetts Thanksgiving Dinner (See “Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner in the 1890’s”)
1896 – Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Cooking School Cook Book
Oyster Soup, Crisp Crackers,
Celery, Salted Almonds
Chicken Pie
Roast Turkey
Cranberry Jelly
Mashed white potatoes
Squash
Onions in Cream
Mince, Apple, Squash Pie
Neapolitan Ice Cream
Fancy Cakes
Nuts, Fruit, and Raisins, Bonbons
Crackers, Cheese
Café Noir
1896 – Chicago, Illinios: The Daily News Cook Book (See “Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner in the 1890’s”)
1912 – Boston Cooking School Cook Book
Two changes from 1896 edition
Added: Giblet Gravy
Stuffing for Turkey
1920 – American Cookery, Formerly The Boston Cooking-School Magazine of-Culinary-Science and Domestic-Economics, November, 1920, Vol. XXV, No. 4, p282
Formal I
Celery Raw OystersOlives
Radishes
Eggs Stuffed with Anchovies, Sauce Tartare
Hot Galantine of Turkey, Giblet Gravy
Cranberry Punch
Onions Stuffed with Pecan Nuts Mashed Potatoes
Squash Baked with Molasses and Butter
Broiled PartridgeCelery-and-Red Pepper Salad
Pumpkin PieIndividual Charlotte Russe
Nuts Raisins Grapes Pears
Black Coffee
Formal II
Oyster Broth Celery
Boiled Halibut, Oyster-Crab Sauce Boiled Potatoes
Roast Turkey Stuffed with Chestnuts
Sausage Croquettes Cranberry Frappe’
Buttered Onions Squash au Gratin
Chicken Timbale, French Mushroom Sauce
Cress Salad
Banberry Cakes Caramel Bavarian Cream
Nuts Raisins Fruit
Coffee
Country I
Celery Olives Radishes
Roast Turkey, Bread Stuffing, Giblet Gravy Mashed Potatoes
Squash Turnips Buttered Onions
Squash Pie Cranberry Jelly Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Cranberry Tarts
American Cheese
Nuts Raisins Fruit Coffee
Country II
Oyster Stew, Browned Crackers
Celery
Roast Pork Tenderloin Candied Sweet Potatoes
Onions in Cream Baked Squash
Cranberry Sauce
Pumpkin Pie Cottage Cheese
Raspberry (Canned) Sherbet Macaroons
Nuts Raisins Coffee
Two Formal Dinners and Two Country Dinners were listed. Here a distinction is being made between the different social classes. In the New York Herald article “Many Men of Many Menus” (11/24/1889) there is a quote that reflects the country dinner. “The minister prefaced some remarks on the occasion by saying. ‘Children, I want to tell you what Thanksgiving is– ‘Oh, I know what it is,’ said my mother jumping up. ‘It’s roast pig and pumpkin pie.’” By Comparison, the dinner menu of Mrs. Winship in Newburyport, a city, reflects the formal dinner (see “Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner in the 1890’s”).
1922
Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries
Published by GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, New York, 1922, p 47
Oyster Cocktail, Celery, Olives, Roast Capon, Giblet Stuffing, Brown Gravy, Jellied Cranberry Sauce, Glaced Sweet Potatoes, Button Onions, Peas au Jus, Lettuce Salad, French Dressing, Cheese Nut Balls, Bar-le-duc, Cracker Pudding, Whipped Cream, Nuts, Coffee, Bon-bons
This menu reflects the menu published in the Boston Cooking School Cook Book with minor changes. It called for roast Capon verses roast Turkey, it added peas and lettuce salad.
1938
The Settlement Cook Book, Compiled by Mrs. Simon Kander, Milwaukee, Wis., 1938, p 617
New England Thanksgiving Dinner
Cream of Oyster Soup, topped with Whipped Cream
Celery, Salted or Sugared Almonds, Bread Sticks
Roast Turkey, Chestnut Dressing with Giblet or Plain Gravy
Cranberry Jelly, with Apple Balls
Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
Creamed Onions, Stuffed Squash
Pumpkin Pie, with Cheese, Ice Cream, Cookies
Fruit, Coffee, Nuts, Raisins
1947
Secrets of New England Cooking by Ella Shannon Bowles and Dorothy S. Towle, 1947, p 304
Oyster Stew
Roast Turkey with Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce
Buttered Squash, Buttered Onions
Mince Pie, Apple Pie, Squash Pie
Cracker Plum Pudding
Thanksgiving Chicken Pie recipe was listed separately (pp 73-75)
2011
New England at author’s family Thanksgiving Dinner
Roast Turkey with bread stuffing, gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows & brown sugar
Squash and Peas
Olives, celery, pickles
Cranberry Jelly
Pies: Apple, Pumpkin, Squash
Nuts
Wine
Coffee
Common Foods that showed up in many of the menus
Familiar Foods associated with Thanksgiving
Turkey
Squash
White potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Celery
Cranberry
Pies: Apple, Pumpkin, Mince
Nuts
Onion dish
Unfamiliar Foods associated with Thanksgiving
Oysters
Fish
Ham
Venison
Chicken Pie
Raisins
Ice Cream
Cake
Pudding
Of the list of common foods only one acquired a recipe with the name Thanksgiving added to it. It was Thanksgiving Pudding. The Boston Cooking School Cook Book was the only cook book to ever publish a special Thanksgiving Pudding recipe. It started out with one recipe and a few years later added a second recipe. One was a cracker custard pudding that was baked. The second was a suet pudding that was steamed. Although other cook books did not have a special Thanksgiving Pudding recipe, several menus around the country listed pudding or plum pudding.
Pudding Recipes associated with Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Pudding – also called Cracker Pudding
This recipe comes from Out of Vermont Kitchens (1973, St. Paul’s Cathedral Edition, page 239) and is similar to the Boston Cooking School Cook Book recipe. It is similar to bread pudding which has a custard base but it is made with crackers.
Grandmother’s Thanksgiving Pudding
9 Montpelier crackers (rolled fine) (or soda crackers rolled to make 2 cups)
1 quart (4 cups) milk
½ cup molasses
4 Tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ lb. seeded raisins
1/8 lb. citron, cut fine (optional)
3 eggs
1/8 teaspoon soda
Mix all ingredients except eggs, soda & butter in a large saucepan.
Cook over low heat until mixture thickens & raisins will not settle.
Remove from stove, add butter, beaten eggs, and soda.
Stir well and pour into a greased casserole dish.
Bake in a slow oven about 2 hours
Serve warm with hard sauce
This pudding keeps well & may be reheated
Serves 8 – 10
From: Bertha Little Larabee
Plum Pudding was not just a Christmas Tradition
“…without roasted turkey and plum-pudding, there could be no orthodox thanksgiving dinner.” (The Boston Book: Being Specimens of Metropolitan Literature, Occasional and Periodical (1836) edited by Henry Theodore Tuckerman)
Christmas Plum Pudding was served at Mrs. Winship’s extravagant Thanksgiving Dinner. Christmas or English Plum Pudding is a fancy version of ordinary suet pudding. The Boston Cooking School Cook Book listed a plum style pudding over the years as Thanksgiving Pudding II (1912 – 1926) – Thanksgiving Steamed Pudding (1933 – 1959) – Thanksgiving Pudding (1965). They are all the same recipe.
½ lb. stale bread crumbs 2 oz. citron, chopped fine
1 cup milk, scalded ½ lb. suet, chopped fine
½ cup sugar ¼ cup wine, currant jelly, or grape juice
4 eggs ½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ lb. raisins, chopped & floured ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ lb. currants ¼ teaspoon clove
¼ lb. figs, chopped fine ¼ teaspoon mace
½ teaspoon salt
Soak bread crumbs in milk, let stand until cool, add sugar, beaten yolks of eggs, raisins, currants, figs, and citron; add suet, mix together, add wine, currant jelly or grape juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, mace. Beat egg whites stiff and fold into mixture. Place in deep baking dish, cover with foil, place dish on a rack in the cooking pot, add water up to one inch of dish, and steam for six hours. Replace water with boiling water when needed.
Genuine English Plum Pudding
2 lbs. raisins 2 lbs. flour
1 lb. currants 6 eggs
1 lb. sultanas 1 qt. milk
1 lb. mixed peel (lemon, ½ glass brandy
orange and citron) 8 tsp. baking powder
2 lbs. beef suet 2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 lbs. bread crumbs 1 tsp. cinnamon
2 lbs. sugar 1 tsp. allspice
Clean the raisins, currants and sultanas, and dry thoroughly. Chop the suet very fine. It is a good plan to use the meat chopper for this, sprinkling a little flour in it to prevent sticking. For the bread crumbs use only the soft inside part of a stale loaf and grate fine. Slice the peel very fine. When these ingredients are ready, put together in a large mixing bowl, with the sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, flour and baking powder. Mix well. Beat the eggs, and add to them the milk and brandy. Pour this slowly into the fruit mixture and mix thoroughly. It is better to use the hands for this. Grease several china bowls, holding about 1½ pts. each, and fill with the mixture, using a wooden spoon, and pressing down to fill evenly. Fill each bowl a little more than level. Cover each pudding with a piece of oiled paper. Tie a cloth over each one with a strong, white string, tying about ½ down the bowl, so that the cloth will not come off when the pudding begins to cook. Lap the four corners of the cloth up over the top of the bowl and tie in a couple of knots, so that the pudding can be lifted out easily when cooked. Get the puddings all read the day before they are to be cooked. Put enough water in a large cooking utensil to cover the puddings. When it comes to a boil, drop the pudding in carefully running a toasting-fork under the knots of the cloth. Boil slowly for 10 hours. Add boiling water from time to time as needed. When done, lift the puddings out with the fork, remove the clothes, and carefully wash and dry them [clothes]. Put the puddings on the range shelf or some warm place, and let them stand for several days or until well dried out, for if they are not properly dried they will mould. When dry, tie clothes on again. Then put the puddings in a dry place and they will keep for months. In England we make them in the Fall, and use them throughout the winter. When needed, steam or drop into a kettle of boiling water for one hour. Serve with brandy sauce or cream. Or place a sprig of holly in the top; pour brandy around the pudding and set fire to the brandy. This recipe will make from 8 to 10 puddings.
Mrs. Edgar H. Harvey.
From Best Things From Best Cooks, For the Benefit of the Bridgeton Hospital, Bridgeton, N.J., 1915, page 62
References to New England Thanksgiving
As of 1835 Thanksgiving was linked with New England. In New England and her Institutions: By One of Her Sons written by Jacob Abbott and published in London. He states: “Thanksgiving.–A custom has been transmitted to us from our Purtian fathers, of setting apart a day at the close of the harvest, for thanksgiving and praise.” (p 137)
The following year another book was published in Boston titled, The Boston Book: Being specimens of Metropolitan Literature, occasional and Periodical with an account by T. Gray, Jr. of a “New England Thanksgiving”. (p 241)
The next mention is in a magazine the Monthly Miscellany of Religion and Letters published in Boston. It came out in Volume V, December, 1841. The article was named: “The New England Thanksgiving”. The article retraces the dates Thanksgiving was held in Massachusetts in chronological order up to 1762. It is not a complete list.
An article in the New York Herald on November 11, 1889 ran “Many Men of Many Menus, Old New England Modes of Feasting–Thanksgiving Day as Observed in the South–A New York Swell Thanksgiving Dinner–A Menu for Most of Us–A Dollar Thanksgiving Family Feast”. The article’s title refers to old modes of Thanksgiving feasting in New England. It implies Thanksgiving was originally a New England holiday.
In 1896 Fannie Farmer began publishing holiday menus. At first she called it “Thanksgiving Menu”. Later editions up to the 1912 edition continued to call it “Thanksgiving Menu”. In the 1917 edition she renamed it “New England Thanksgiving Menu”
Out in Milwaukee, Wisconsin there was a cooking school along with a cook book as popular in that area as was the Boston Cooking School Cook Book was in New England. The cook book was called The Settlement Cook Book. This cook book began publishing menus in 1920 but did not include special holiday menus for many years. Sometime between its 1921 edition and its 1938 edition it began to publish holiday menus. The 1938 edition called it “New England Thanksgiving Dinner.”
New England became synonymous with Thanksgiving probably through print media. Judging by The Settlement Cook Book the holiday became known as New England Thanksgiving throughout the states.
Sports on Thanksgiving Day
In writing to a friend in December 1621 about the Thanksgiving the Pilgrims held Edward Winslow said: “At which times among other recreations we exercised our arms [practiced shooting their guns],” (Earle [1893] 1988, 217) Winslow noted they enjoyed recreations and shot their guns, the Pilgrims participated in games and sporting at America’s first Thanksgiving that was based on a feast rather than a religious service.
“The stores are all closed, and the general appearance of the city and of the village, is nearly that of the Sabbath. In the distant fields, not a few are found, who desecrate the day by entire devotion to amusements. The Bowling Alley is thronged by dissolute loungers. The idle and the dissipated congregate for field sports and shooting-matches, and pass the day …” (New England and her Institutions: By One of Her Sons (1835) By Jacob Abbott.) Abbott’s full account is a reminiscence of Thanksgiving from his boyhood. This account was written in 1835, indicating Thanksgiving as he knew it dates back to the at least the early 1800’s. Just when sports became a common practice of the day is unknown. What is known is the practice has continued into the 21st century with high school and college football games.
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President George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
THANKSGIVING DAY 1789
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - A PROCLAMATION
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor - and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be – That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks – for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation – for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war –for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed – for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions – to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually – to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed – to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord – To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us – and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
GO. WASHINGTON.
Appendix II
President Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation
A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA.
THE year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever'-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggressions of foreign States, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theatre of military conflict, while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
The needful diversions of wealth and strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal, as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege aud the battle-field, and the country rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigour is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people ; I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficient Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers, in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President, WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
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For a list of Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations pleas see Pilgrim Hall Museum http://www.pilgrimhall.org/ThanxProc.htm
Bibliography
Abbott, Jacob
1835 New England and her Institutions: By One of Her Sons. London: Published by R. B. Seeley & W. Burnside.
Earle, Alice Morse
1893 Customs and Fashions in Old New England. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Harper
1909 Harper’s Encyclopedia of United States History. New York: Harper & Brothers Pub.
MacIver, Kenneth & William Thomson
1983 An Old New England Farm.Cape Neddick, ME: Nor’East Heritage Publications.
