Ye Old Time Thanksgiving in Colonial Feasting
Historians note early colonial Thanksgiving shifted to turkey and pumpkin pie after sermons and harvest feasts. Massachusetts made it an annual holiday in 1684, with women preparing grand tables while ministers warned of doom. Wealthy households served turkey and pie, middle class mixed fowl, and the poor ate pie, cider flowed, and hospitality extended to strangers despite superstition.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington Star
Massachusetts
New England
Connecticut
Jefferson
Causes for Thankfulness in a Thanksgiving Season
Chancellor 8, B McCormick from Pittsburgh reflects on the privileges of living in America during Thanksgiving. He notes abundance, employment, harvests, prosperity, and the collective effort driving better conditions for human well being.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
America
McCormick
Pittsburgh
Taft Calls Nation to Acknowledge Blessings from All Giver
President Taft urges a God fearing nation to testify devout gratitude for the countless benefits it has enjoyed. He frames gratitude as a moral duty and civic virtue.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William H. Taft
A New Thanksgiving by James W Beckman
This essay reflects on Thanksgiving origins and the 1621 harvest, arguing true gratitude arises from hardship. It contrasts rich ease with poverty, calls for resolve in facing life and destiny, and notes America’s duty to endure sorrow while valuing strength to bear burdens.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James W. Beckman
America
Character and iron will triumph over disaster in life
The Sunday Magazine reflects on destiny and courage praising character over charity. It emphasizes persistence, fortitude, and strength to continue life’s course unbroken by disaster or overly daunted by success. It values perseverance and resilience in adversity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
The
Sunday Magazine
Sure His Time Had Come
In an English hospital ward a patient regaining consciousness from surgery sees a Wesleyan minister and two clerics enter in black coats prompting the startled remark The undertakers The line suggests a wry comment on a man who keeps a time lock on his pocketbook and implies a humorous twist.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scott
Undertakers
Gold Dust Found in California Valleys Claim
The London Chronicle recounts Captain Shelvocke's 1719 voyage where a California valley yielded a black mold that, when sunlit, resembled mingled gold dust. He notes initial bias against gold presence yet tried washing the earth to verify, bringing away samples he later lost in China.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
North America
London Chronicle
World
Shelvocke
California
China
Berlin Court Awards Iron Cross to School Masters
Berlin authorities announce an iron cross will be awarded to school masters who persuade 100 school children to subscribe to the war loan. The program aims to boost patriotic funding and student civic participation during the conflict.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Berlin
Novel English Church at Southsea Reuses a Ship Bell
A new church in St. Paul parish Southsea began as a stable. The altar cross was used by Rev. H. W. Workman when a naval captain aboard the Good Hope King Edward VII and the Irresistible, all three sunk in the war. The bell is an old ship's bell.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Paul
Southsea
England
H. W. Workman
Rivers in Korea and British hay purchase
The western coast tides of the Yellow Sea drive large muddy rivers inland as a 30 foot tide surge. The British government bought 1,000 tons of hay in Kansas City to ship to a battlefield via New Orleans.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Korea
Yellow Sea
Bays of Fundy
Kansas City
New Orleans
Thanksgiving Hymn Of Gratitude And Daily Bread
A devotional prayer thanks God for daily bread and all life mercies. The speaker praises providence and asks renewed commitment, hoping prayers and songs honor God beyond Thanksgiving Day throughout the year.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Christ Jesus
The Thanksgiving Bird Shows Bronze Glow and Rising Demand
The bronze turkey, prized for beauty and size, leads among North American varieties with weights over forty pounds, while white and other types trend in size. U.S. census data from 1896 and later reflect fluctuating supply tied to rising demand, but turkey remains a scarce feature of many Thanksgiving tables despite growth in production.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
United States
Benjamin Franklin
Department of Agriculture
Gray
New York Sun
First Thanksgiving traced to 1588 at St Pauls London
The earliest recorded Thanksgiving is linked to the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada at St Pauls Cathedral London. English settlers in America adopted the custom early in colonial history, making Thanksgiving a common practice. The tradition is described as a natural outgrowth of human nature with roots in ancient times.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Paul's Cathedral
London
Elizabeth Proclamation Declares Thanksgiving Day Rest
The sixteenth century proclamation by Queen Elizabeth calls for a day of thanksgiving with no servile labor and gratitude for abundance. A second note praises Iowa’s leadership in livestock and blood supply as a wartime asset.
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Elizabeth
Thanksgiving Day on the Cotton Plantation The Harvest of Joy and Fear
A historical portrait describes Thanksgiving at a cotton plantation with master and workers sharing gratitude yet also detailing hunting possums, torched hunts at night, and the preparation of a communal feast. It notes the labor shift before the holiday and the setup of tables, bunting, and a fiddler’s stage for a day of feast and dancing.
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Possum
Perm
Transfigured Village at Year’s End
A famed English novelist depicts a hillside Scotch village that lacks beauty by day but transforms at sunset each day. The kirk and cat glow as the year’s events become meaningful through toil, harvests, fireside gatherings, and gatherings in gratitude at God’s house on Thanksgiving.
They're Grateful to America Poem on Food Origins
An English writer praises the influence of the discovery of America on modern meals. He credits Columbus with enriching tables through the turkey canvasback duck potato tomato vanilla and other goods.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
America
Columbus
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!