One of our nobler human traits has been the periodic public expressions of gratitude. Thanksgiving Day is an example of that. In the Bible, Exodus 23:16, God directed Moses to institute the Festival of Harvest, “Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field.” There have been many other festivals of thanksgiving, most notably in England and Europe dating from the 1500’s.

In the United States, the popular Thanksgiving tradition is the 1621 harvest feast with Pilgrims and Natives at Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. But there were other earlier events.

¯ English settlers who arrived in 1619 at Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia, began an annual thanksgiving celebration as dictated by the group’s charter from the London Company: “the day of our ships arrival…in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.” The annual celebration continued until the settlement was abandoned in 1622.

¯ Present day St. Augustine FL was mentioned by another writer as the site of the “America’s REAL First Thanksgiving.” The Spanish arrived there on September 8, 1565 and celebrated the first Catholic mass on American soil, followed by a feast of thanksgiving for their safe arrival. They feasted with local Timucua natives.

Scholars have validated the Virginia, Spanish, and other similar events, yet popular belief still clings to the Plymouth Colony Thanksgiving.

Marietta’s first Thanksgiving was celebrated on December 25, 1788, along with Christmas. Northwest Territory Governor Arthur St. Clair issued the proclamation on December 17; an excerpt: “For as much as it is incumbent on all men to acknowledge with gratitude their infinite obligation to Almighty God for benefits received,…I do hereby ordain that Thursday, the 25th day of December, be observed as a day of solemn thanksgiving and praise…” Why December? According to local law, November 28 was the date set for Thanksgiving. It was postponed that first hectic year, but not forgotten.

And, what’s Thanksgiving without turkey? Our earliest pioneers relied on wild game for meat, including turkey. This continued the traditions of the colonies and Native Americans had domesticated turkeys for centuries. Historian Samuel Hildreth includes numerous reports that turkey was abundant here. It was on the menu at the first July 4 celebration feast.

Marietta and Belpre suffered periods of food shortages in 1789 and 1790. An emotional Belpre man remembered the end of one period of famine. His family had gone several days without meat. In desperation, he walked into the woods not expecting to see any game. He was stunned to see a small deer cross his path. Trembling with excitement, he shot the deer. He felt a “glow of gratitude and thankfulness to the Almighty, such as he had never felt before.” Turkeys soon returned in large numbers, which Hildreth cited as comforting evidence to settlers of Divine Providence – like the quail God provided for the Israelites.

Dr. Solomon Drown was here and wrote a letter to his family in Providence, “It being Christmas (and Thanksgiving), public worship was introduced by reading…in the Church Prayer Book. Gen’l Parsons read a sermon adapted to the occasion. Good singing. I dined at General Goodale’s and as this is such a new country, perhaps you will like to know our bill of fare. A boiled dish, Turkey, beef and bacon, cabbage, turnips and potatoes, butter, etc., A roast turkey 17 pounds. A turkey pie, custards, wheat bread, etc.” Turkey was mentioned three times.

Settlers in the new territory, despite many challenges, had much to be thankful for.