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Three cannons broke the early morning silence, fired from Fort Harmar at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, the loud noise echoed off the face of Harmar Hill. The early morning ruckus was quickly answered by an equally loud firing of cannons from the garrison at Campus Martius on the east side of the Muskingum River.
This clatter likely woke up most of the residents of the young city of Marietta, waking them up on the first Christmas morning in town on Dec. 25, 1788.
The governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair had proclaimed the day to be a day of Thanksgiving. The families were therefore celebrating two holidays on the same day. The tradition at the time was to celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. It is unclear why it was delayed with some speculation that the Scottish-born St. Clair had simply forgotten. He was not a well man at the time and had a lot going on including intense treaty negotiations with the native American tribes. In his proclamation on Dec. 13, he wrote "for as much as it is incumbent on all men to acknowledge with gratitude their infinite obligations to almighty God for benefits received, and to implore his superintending care and providence for future blessings. I have thought proper to set apart a day for that purpose, and do hereby ordain that Thursday, the 25th of December be observed as a day of solemn Thanksgiving and Praise."
All the liquor in town was taken into custody until the completion of the treaties assured that the Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations would not get out of hand. The booze was returned to the residents the following month.
The weather that December had been cold, putting a layer of ice on the river and snow on the new settlement. The river had become impassible, delaying a supply boat from Pittsburgh.
Thirty families now called Marietta home and they were likely preparing that morning to celebrate in their own way. Many had just arrived in Marietta and were likely thankful to have completed the long journey from New England.
Later in the morning, many of the families in Marietta would attend a divine service.
"I was obliged to preach, much against my will, from Psalm 103: Verse 2 and such a piece of work I believe you never heard; I am sure I never did," wrote Judge Samual Parsons in a letter to his friend Rev. Manasseh Cutler.
The holiday meal would seem just appropriate in 2023 as it did in 1788. In a letter to his family, Dr. Solmon Drown wrote of a meal of beef and bacon, cabbage, turnips and potatoes, butter and roasted 17-pound turkey, custard and wheat bread.
A week later the New Years holiday was celebrated by some with the Virginians across the river at the Isaac Williams plantation where the group enjoyed merriment and "musick."
The friendly neighbor across the river helped the young settlement get through the early years.
The following winter he would need to sell them corn after they nearly ran out of food after both issues with the planted crops and the fact that wild game, that had been so plentiful when they arrived and become harder to find.
Art Smith is online manager of The Times, he can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com