The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-11-19

day opened in this water-locked land with a great
ringing of bells and every shining doorsill
there stepped into the crisp morning air the house
holds full number. Each Hans Gretchen, clasp
ing sverbound prayer book walked sedatey to
the various places of worship and there, lifting up
their sweet Holland voices, harsh, perhaps, in
speech but full and round in song, sent up musical
praise for the freedom of their land and the good
things of the earth
Church over the entire population for the nonce
broke through their usual stOlidness and there was
a general scampering of young feet in game or
dance and Gathering Of older tongues in friendly
gossip neighbor visited neighbor or father well
coined his large flock of grandchildren.
The great event of this Dutch Thanksgiving day
was dinner at which was served as central dish
a queer stew of meat and vegetables which they
called Spanish hodgepodge. For once in their prac-
tical lives the Hoanders became facetious, and
over this hodge-podge they made merry and cracked
jokes at their oldtime enemy--Spain The general
'hashlike" appearance of the hodge-podge was sup
posed to represent the condition of the Spanish
army when the Dutch had vanquished it. Even
the children entered into the fun and kept their
history fresh by gleefuy slashing into potato or
a turnip and chuckling they swallowed the NOR
sels This is General So-and-So-ah Me eat him
so!'
Well, the Puritans heartily approved of the early
religious services of the morning and their healthy
appetites could not fail to appreciate the Spanish
hodge podge, however much they may have dis
approved of the sentiment which favored it, so they
entered most heartily into the Dutch Thanksgiv
ing of October 3. In 1928 these Pilgrims held Oc
tober as a day of Thanksgiving in the New World
and here we have our first true American Thanks
giving day.
This day has passed through many vicissitudes
since that date. There is not festival on the al
manac, fixed or movable which has had the strug-
gle foe existence that our November holiday has
endured.
From 1923 until 1880 Thanksgiving day was held
in America in various months, some of the Pilgrims
keeping to October and other coonists holding
a different day by order of the governor
In 1880 the people of Massachusetts suffer
ing for food and clothing and Gov Winthrop hired
the good ship Lyon to return to England for sup
plies. For many days the vessel lay stranded off
the Isle of Shoals but finally put out. Winter came
on apace and nothing was heard of the ship The
colonists were nearly disheartened when on Feb
ruary %, 1884, the Lyon sighted, and the gov
ernor ordered that the day be given to feast
ing and thanksgiving. This is the first written
record of a Thanksgiving day in Boston; it can
still be found in the Colonial Records of Massachu-
setts 1t is interesting fact that this first Bos-
ton Thanksgiving was held on what is now one of
patriotic holidays, Washington's birthday.
The first record of joint celebration of Thanks
giving day is given in the Colonial Records of 1882
when Gov. Winthrop of Massachusetts bay, asked
the governor of Plymouth colony to join him in is