As I’ve mentioned before, Abraham Holmes doesn’t make much mention of either Christmas or Thanksgiving. This is not surprising as the Puritan influence was strong. Christmas and Thanksgiving weren’t official national holidays until 1863.
While we live in a state where the first Thanksgiving occurred in the 1620’s, the idea of a national day of gratitude was principally the mission of one woman, Sarah Josepha Hale (she wrote the poem, “Mary had a little Lamb”) began in the 1840’s lobbying for a unifying day of thanksgiving in the hope of bringing a divided country together. She wrote letters to governors, state representatives, and 5 different presidents. Finally, in October of 1863, Pres. Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. He hoped that it would bring comfort to a nation divided by the Civil War.
The date for Thanksgiving moved around with Pres. Franklin Roosevelt changing it to the 3rd Thursday of November during the Depression and Congress in 1941, placing it on the 4th Thursday of the month.
Back to early New England, days of thanksgiving were declared locally for a good crop or the end of a drought and were long days spent praying in church. However, it is surprising that in the Rochester Journals that contain the memories of many residents who grew up in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s, there is almost nothing written about the holiday which had been in place for 70 or more years.
In the 4th version of the Rochester Journals, there are two mentions of Thanksgiving. The first is one entrant’s memory that the only school holidays were Christmas and Thanksgiving. The second was written on November 21, 1879, by Roxanna Rounseville, mother of Frank Rounseville. It is among the letters that she wrote to her son while he was on a whaling voyage. In her first letter she explains that she would keep “a sort of journal for you, and in that way, I shall keep you posted in all the great events that may happen in our little town.” She knew that getting letters to a crew member on a whale ship was an iffy business at best.
Back to November 21, 1879, she writes, “Thanksgiving Day- I would like to know what my Boy had for his dinner today. Something good, I hope”. She goes on to say, “You remember that Thanksgiving is the great hunting day for all the mill hands and Arthur went up to Ben’s last night to borrow your gun”. Apparently, both Arthur and his friend, Job Gifford, had a “grand time planned.”
It, however, was not meant to be, as a letter requesting a last- minute order for boxboards arrived and hunting had to be replaced by work at the Rounseville Sawmill. One wonders whether anyone enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner. So, whether you’re eating or hunting, Happy Thanksgiving from the Rochester Historical Society.
By Connie Eshbach