The First Thansgiving - "One Small Candle"

"...and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation, let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise." _{Gov. William Bradford, 1640's}

Two decades after the famous landing of the Mayflower, Bradford sat down to write of Pymouth Colony, in a family journal to pass on to his descendants, relating the period of time from the first beginnings in England, their sojourn in Holland, and their first 20 years in New England.

Little did he imagine that that journal would be in print and read by tens of thousands nearly 400 years later.

The actual journal's history is a fascinating tale in itself, but to cut it short, it was lost during the Revolutionary war and not rediscovered until the mid 1800's.

I actually have an edition printed in the 1800's. It is an amazing story of fortitude, hardship, persecution, arrests, intrigue, a hurricane at sea, "a great and Fearful Earthquake" (in 1638, see footnote*), loan sharking (the Adventures back in England) - most of all, pure grit...all for the right to worship God according as they found in the Bible...which was against the law to have when they started out.

Bradford writes of that first Day of Giving Thanks, (1621, sometime after the 18th of Sept,) "...they begane now to gather in the small harvest...and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter,...and had all things in good plenty..."

some were busy fishing, cod, bass "& other fish, of which they tooke good store...and besides water fowle, there was great store of wild Turkies, of which they took many, besides venison,,,meale and Indean corne."

In "Mourt's Relations" (written by Bradford and Winslow, they listed other foods that dressed the tables those 3 days of feasting and games with Chief Massasoit and 90 braves (who went out and bagged 5 deer.)

They had roast duck, roast goose, clams and other shellfish, eels, white bread, corn bread, leeks and watercress and "other sallet herbes," wild plums and dried berries and both white and red wine "very sweete & strong," made from the local grapes. (Cranberries, by name, are NOT named, but Plymouth abounds in cranberry bogs so it is plausible they had them also.)

This yearly harvest festival remained pretty much a local holiday until Pres. Lincoln declared it as a National holiday, for the last Thursday of Nov.

earthquake in June of 1638, Plymouth/Boston area: " This year, about the first or second of June, was a great and fearful earthquake. It was in this place heard before it was felt. Ir came with a rumbling noise or low murmur, like unto remote thunder. It same from the northward and passed southward; as the noise approached nearer, the earth began to shake and came at length with that violence as caused platters, dishes and such things upon shelves, to clatter and fall down. Yes, persons were afraid of the houses themselves...[people] could not stand without catching hold of the posts and pales..." He goes on to say that the leaders of the town were having a meeting to decide some matters - and it seemed as if the Lord may be showing his displeasure. there followed one good aftershock and that for the following years, the summers were cooler and shorter and frosts earlier.

(I hope there isn't another quake soon down there - the BIG DIG has already sprung several leaks!)

the Pilgrims were not the ones who dressed in black and white, (that was the Puritans,) they loved color - indeed, Elder William Brewster's favorite cloak was a long red, velvet cape...and Gov Bradford had a blue grosgrain suit and a "Paire of green drawers" - They were a fascinating people (not 'cast offs')

Brewster had entered Oxford College at age 15 and read 5 languages - had hundreds of books, Bradford and Standish also had large libraries...etc.

They planted the seeds... Happy Thanksgiving

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