Hi Everyone! I wanted to share a few thoughts on Thanksgiving and to invite your feedback! The first American Thanksgiving is generally recognized as the 1621 event shared by the Pilgrims (known to one another as the Separatists and the Strangers) and their neighbors, the Wampanoag. Their celebration was a mixture of religious and political importance. Certainly, the Pilgrims had much to be thankful for as God provided for them in that first, extremely difficult year. The sharing of food with the natives probably helped the political relationship for a time. The pledges of peace and friendship between the Indian guests and the Pilgrims lasted until the growth of the colonies created tensions between the two groups. Their feast was different from what we know as Thanksgiving. It was probably mostly meat: venison, fresh fowl and fish. There were no pies or breads because the baking wasn't possible and flour was very scarce. Corn was probably served along with beans and squash, and some kinds of dried fruits. This celebration was not repeated by the Pilgrims. Now, fast forward to John and Elinor in 1635. My hunch is that John and Elinor did not celebrate Thanksgiving at all. My reasons are that John and Elinor would not have been used to celebrating the harvest in England and that they were not terribly religious. Further, I think that none of the Whitney's celebrated Thanksgiving until about the 1860's. It is true that a Harvest Festival was sometimes celebrated in rural areas of England, but J& E were from London. Would they have been involved with the rural society enough to recreate a celebration of harvest in their new home in Watertown? Is there record of a widespread non-religious Harvest celebration in England? I think it more likely that John & Elinor would have celebrated days set aside by the church, such as Christmas and Easter, in an effort to fit in with the new community. Immigrants who came to the New World looking for religious freedom certainly celebrated God's grace and bounty by setting aside days of special remembrance. The Pilgrims' 3 day feast reflects the tradition of religious thanksgiving, though these affairs in Europe were usually solemn events held in the church. I think J & E came to the New World looking for economic opportunities, not religious freedom. He signed a statement before stepping aboard the "Elizabeth and Ann" pledging, among other things, loyalty to the Church of England. That was probably a political move he had to make to be allowed to leave. I haven't found any reference to John's involvement in a church in Watertown. If there is some reference I have overlooked, I hope someone shares it. There is plenty of reference to his buying and selling of land. His respected place in the community assumes some level of material gain. His will lists the goods of a well to do person of the times, especially considering all that he gave his children before his death. The notion that John Whitney prospered is widely held. In 1777, the Continental Congress proclaimed a national Thanksgiving to remember the victory over the British at Saratoga. This was to be a quiet day of reflection. Later, Presidents Washington, Adams and Monroe proclaimed days of Thanksgiving, but by 1815 there was not much mention of such a day. In 1825 Sarah Jesepha Hale began a 40 year campaign to establish Thanksgiving and finally on November 26, 1863 Abe Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated the last Thursday in November. In 1939, FDR moved the day to the third Thursday, but the uproar prompted a joint resolution of Congress to move the day to the fourth Thursday in 1941. I haven't found any reference of early Whitney celebration of Thanksgiving. In fact I've found no reference at all until the stories of my parents' experiences of Thanksgiving celebrations during the Depression. More than once I have heard both of them remark about how fortunate they were to have been "poor" in the country rather than the city. I would be interested in Thanksgiving stories others could share. Well.......anyway.........I think John and Elinor would be pleased to see how well the family has done. The numerous branches and generations tell the story of this country! I personally have a great deal for which to be thankful, including all of you who have enriched my studies of family history by adding so much humor, personal insight, and scholarship. Please accept my best wishes for a happy, healthy holiday season. And, I'll be watching for your responses to my above ideas! from, Carolyn Whitney Branagan

> Now, fast forward to John and Elinor in 1635. My hunch > is that John and Elinor did not celebrate Thanksgiving at > all. My reasons are that John and Elinor would not have > been used to celebrating the harvest in England and > that they were not terribly religious. Further, I think > that none of the Whitney's celebrated Thanksgiving until > about the 1860's. I think that Carolyn is right, but perhaps not only for the reasons she puts forth. John and Elinor were residents of Massachusets in Watertown and that colony was principally comprised of Puritans. Though we tend to lump together all early settlers in New England, there were really some sharp differences between the Calvinistic Puritans and the Pilgrims. Although I am not qualified to discern the theological differences, I suspect that the Pilgrims had a somewhat less rigid approach to the cycle of the Church Year. It was the Puritans who did not celebrate Christmas because they saw too much pagan influence in it. Easter may have been a different matter--the pernicious greeting card industry and the candy and egg folks weren't yet a factor. Then, too, Thanksgiving did not become an annual event and J & E did not arrive in New England until some 14 years after the original Plymouth celebration. > I haven't found any reference to John's > involvement in a church in Watertown. I believe, but have no reference at hand, that John was a freeman of Watertown. In that era and place, such a designation must have meant that he was a regular attender at his church. How seriously he espoused its tenets may be another matter, but he could not ignore the church and be a freeman in the town. Now that we've dealt with that, what's this business about Plymouth's being the first Thanksgiving in America? Are we to ignore Jamestown? Mike Poston Rockville, Maryland