"On Thursday, Nove, 30, 1876, Thanksgiving day, set apart by the puritans on account of its being the anniversary of their first landing in this country. We went as invited by Mr. Bonson, to his house to dine. His party consisted of Mr. Platt Smith a very old man and his wife much younger, Mr. & Mrs. Herodand their niece Miss Burton, Mr. & Mrs. Winall, Mr. John R. Waller, Miss Spensley of Mineral Point, daughter of Mr. Spensley who married Thos. Spensley's daughter of Reeth, Mr. W. and myself, Miss Watts, Mrs. Bonson's two boys and one girl. We dined off Roast Turkey and Plumb Pudding and various other things amongst which was sour Krout, a German dish made of fermented cabbages. Mr. Bonson particularly wished me to try the krout saying that he never met with anyone who liked it at first. I surprised him be telling him that I liked it, which I did tolerably well, and he promised me the receipt." There are two notes. The separatist Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, not the Puritans." Richard Bonson owned 1,238 acres in Julien Township, about a mile northwest of Centre Grove. A native of Yorkshire, he had emigrated to Dubuque in 1834. In addition to serving on the Mining Claims Setlement Committee and the COunty Board of Supervisors, he had been elected twice to the state legislature. His first wife was Jane Burton of Derbyshire; his second wife was Harriett Watts Pierson (also spelled Pearson) of Manchester, England. Platt Smith was a lawyer who specialized in mineral claims and criminal cases. The Dubuque & Pacific Railroad was one of hi major interests. His first wife died January 23, 1841. Joseph Herod was the Treasurer of the Iowa Pacific Raliway Company. He was a native of England who had emigrated to Dubuque in 1852, and in 1875, he was elected School Treasurer. Samuel S. Winall, partner in the printing, binding, and book manufacturing firm of Palmer, Winall & Company, was married to Sarah J. Wallis in 1875. Childs, Dubuque County His! tory, 464, 661, 892,900, 966; Franklin T. Oldt and P. J. Qugley, History of Dubuque County (Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Associates, 1911), 643, 664 - 65; John Rider Wallis, Notes from the Bonson Diary (Dubuque: privately printed, 1973), 1-2; John Rider Wallis, Platt smith 1813-1882: A Briedf Biography (Dubuque: Dubuque County Historical Society, n.d.), 1-8; Wolfe, Dubuque Directory, 114, 206, 232, 241; Hawley, Dubuque City Directory, 95, 173, 195, 203; Dubuque County Directory, 68, 174, 202, 210."