Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-24
FACTS ABOUT THANKSGIVING.
When the Day Was First Celebrated
i'm This Gaunfrx

The article in Saturdays issue of The
Star relative to Thanksgiving is calculat ed
to imparJ no small amount of misinforma-
ton concerning that much-loved holiday"
writes Mr.. ]. II. Gayle 10 The Star Con-
tinuing, he says:
Perhaps the most glaring error is con-
tained in the statements regarding the
history of the day in Virginia; that one
Johns the governor of Virginia in lS,s
in letter to the state Legislature urgently
recommended the recognition OF Thanks
giving in Virginia. and offered In case his
recommendation proved satisfactory. TO at
once issue a proclamation that the legis-
lature did not approve of the suggestion
contained in Johns letter. and that no
Thanksgiving daT was proclaimed or OBJ
served in Virginia ntil the year 1857 when
Governor Wise took the metaphorical bull
by the horns and issued a proclaim ton
setting apart day for the feast
THE facts are these: During the sum-
mer and early fall months of the year lS:I5
the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth were
well nigh desolated by yellow fever. As is
natural in such cases the cooler weather
of the fall brought a great measure of
relief. and Jos. Johnson. the then GOV
ernor of Virginia. deeming il "A proper oc-
casicn for setting apart a day of thanks
giving, did so and recommended its ol,serv-
ancc throughout the state The day was
observed accordingly. These circumstances
are related in Governor Johnsen's message
December. 1sa' after an adjournment of
two years.
I'm the year 1857 Governor Wise. john
sons successor. referred in his annual mes
sage to the legislature 10 requests made of
him 10 appoint Thanksgiving day and
among those who thus importuned the gov
ernor was the then mayor of Alexandria
These requests, the message says. he de-
cllned TO accede TO- because the state Of
flcers have no authority or power TO inter-
fere in religious matters belonging exclu-
sively to private individuals ana church
organizations: because he was not anpoini-
ed to handle Gods holy things and would
not dare, ALPHABETICALLY and cantingly to
huckster them in the market of popularity
among men,.
LAS intinated. the article is otherwise de-
ficient and erroneous. The Thanksgiving
under Governor Winthrop referred to took
place in February, 1854, and not in 1870.
Nor was that the first American Thanks
giving day. The chronicler of the happen
ngs in the colony Of Plymouth tells Us that
in the fall of 1921, '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
fruit of our labors;' and this occasion is
claimed in the notes to the chronicles 10 be
the first Thanksgiving day.
In 1913 Plymouth had another Thanks
giving. which bears a striking resemblance
to that under Governor Winthrop. of Mas
sachusetts bay. in 1881, in that the timely
intervention of Providence caused a fast to
mouth were in sore distress by reason of
drought of long continuance. A day was
set for fasting and prayer. and i'm the midst
of the ceremonies the weather was over
cast the clouds gathered together on all
sides and on the next morning distilled such
sweet and moderate showers of rain con-
tinuing some fourteen days that the honest
folk were moved to appoint another SOL
emn day wherein to return thanks to God
for having dealt so graciously with them.
Il have spoken of these occasions in Ply
mouth as the earliest instances of the
American Thanksgiving day because I find
it said in an article in the American Ency-
clopaedia that the occasional observance of
a day Of thanksgiving was not unusual in
Europe, such day having been observed in
Leyden, Holland. October 3, 1919. the first
anniversary of the deliverance of that city
from siege. No other instance of the OBJ
servance of the custom in Europe is given.
However, as an annually recurring festival
Thanksgiving day is unquestionably all our
own and has existed a national insti-
tuition by virtue of yearly Presidential proc
lamations since 1862 without interruption"