The Western news., 1947-11-27
The Heritage Of Plymouth;
The First Thanksgiving
CAS- presented by Mrs. Luvia Craven
at the Libby Woman's Club

t at the Libby Woman's Club
over the river and through th'
l woods
: To Grandfather's house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry
the sleigh
Over the drifting snow"
Soon it viii be Thanksgiving Day,
We know it also as turkey day,
pumpkin pie day, the day Of the
gathering Of families, the meeting
lof friends. II belongs 70 no one
lcreed or stock among US, nor does
lit honor any one great man. fs
The whole fanily's day. And II
comes at the turn of the year when
the frost am on de pumpkin" and
| it's a time when we can very well
all feel a kinship TO our land.
Over 10000, 900 Americans think
of Thanksgiving as one of the, most
sincere and friendly feasts- and,
yet. it was founded in insecurity
and danger by those first co0ra-
geous men who faced it with a
spirit of bravery, well known by
all Americans of today
In the year 1920, just 327 years
ago, a little shop, for SO days tos-
sed its way across the Atlantic
Ocean. This ship, known as the
MayflOwer, was only of a 180 tons,
considered a sturdy little ship, but
twas indeed fragile craft to have
to brave the rolling waters of the
sea, especially when the equinoctral
storms were at their peak On the
Mayflower were 102 colonists seek
ing the shores of a New World for
new homes and to be free from
religious oppression. They had
sailed from the shores of Holland !
in September and on November i9
they dropped anchor inside the tips
of the waters of Cape Cod; later
moving into the harbor of Ply /
mouth, where they were to build /
their homes in the wilderness.
These settlers carried with them
royal permission to build and make
their homes in Virginia William
Bradford writes of the grim aspect
of the new country-the season was
winter and it was a cold and bitter
one; with fierce and violent storms 4
it dangerous to travel from
one known place to another, let
alone exploring an unknown coast
While some days yet at sea, Brad
ford also records as follows: we S
thought we should form an associa- 1
ton and agreement by which we |
should combine ourselves into one I
body for a government, and to j
choose governors as we saw fit, I
and it must be a written agree {
nent. Accordingly they framed
he Mayflower Compact in which /
hey promised to be one body poll i
ic, and to obey such laws as were i
or the general good of the Colon
SITS. Fittingly the Pilgrim Fathers n
ldopted the Mayflower Compact and r
basic rule was formed for our
irst democratic government, also n
allied our first written constitution, L
nd the forerunner of the Decla- a
alton of Independence. The May v
lower Compact was signed Nov.
l, 1920 just 327 years ago on what il
We celebrate now as our Armistice 81
Jay. b
Thanksgiving Day is a heritage of G
'lymouth. No other nation in the o.
yorld celebrates such a day-the g
ustom Is distinctly American. The Il
Irst Thanksgiving Day held in A rfC
lerica was in November in 1921 c.
the Plymouth colony and by the ol
ilgrim Fathers. 1t was not at the Il
me intended to be an annual feast. W
or was it to be an occasion of W
0cial merrymaking-but rather an h
ccasion for religious purposes, that NJ
le settlers might give thanks for p'
le perils passed and the bounties
ley were enjoying. They were W
)r the first time free from the OF
ersecution of the English Church. sE
nd for the first time they could tn
ave their own homes and worship 81
cd according to the dictates of m
lelr own conscience. So Governor G.
radford set time to mark the be- in
inning of feasting and giving tn
ianks and showing their gratitude. is
is known this feast lasted several ca
ays and was very much like the m
arvest festivals still held in coun- m
y districts of many lands. Gov.
radford sent -four men a fowling," ar
Id these men within a day or so us
He'd enough wild turkeys for a of
eek's feasting of all the colonists, WI
Id from this time on it has be- he
me custom-turkey on Thanks mi
wing Day. Pi
Now let US picture in our minds an
e first Thanksgiving tables - Tt
ng, rudely built tables, with the he
ps polished with sand and soap tol
: the Pilgrim Women until they he
canned almost like our finest linen lei
TRpRTGE RYRwTnAv pAvTv fTl