The "Thanksgiving Dinner As it Was In 1621...But Perhaps Not Today!" Story

 Preface:  I wrote this story about two weeks ago in anticipation of being with friends and family today to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  Carol and I made a final decision a few days ago to stay in our safe home and not attend our traditional Thanksgiving feast with other family members.  We made the choice hoping everyone would understand that celebrating one day might have been the beginning of the end for both of. us.  We look forward to the Christmas season and hope the COVID-19 virus will release it's grip on the world so we don't have to miss this holiday also.  Please read on...and have a safe Happy Thanksgiving Day!

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with my wife about Thanksgiving Day and what we will do about attending and hosting the Thanksgiving meal.  Traditionally, we usually go to our daughter-in-law's mother's home in nearby Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.  Most years Etta would invite about ten to the dinner, but this year she told us there would be eight.  We thanked her for the invite and told her we would let her know soon.  We also celebrate Thanksgiving on the Saturday after the holiday at our niece's home in nearby Ephrata.  There are usually about 20 family members at that dinner with each family bringing a dish or two.  My wife, Carol, usually does two turkeys for that celebration.  But, my brother called the other day and said there will be no Thanksgiving dinner at his daughter's house this year.  So, we either go to dinner at our daughter-in-law's home, or don't celebrate Thanksgiving.  Tough choice to make.  We try to reason that no one is ill at present...but who knows what could happen.  We don't want to become a statistic for a turkey meal!  Tough to miss the holiday.  We tried to think...what would the Pilgrim's do?   It was back in 1621 that the Pilgrims famously shared a harvest feast with the Pokanokets.  This feast is now considered the basis for the first Thanksgiving holiday.  Do you remember about the Pilgrims and the establishment of the Plymouth Colony in 1620.  The Pilgrims were the English settlers who came to North America on the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony in what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts.  The colony was named after the final departure port of Plymouth, Devon.  They had fled religious persecution in England for the tolerance of 17th-century Holland in the Netherlands.  Plymouth Colony was the second successful English settlement in America, following the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.  It was in September of 1620 that about 100 people set sail from England on the Mayflower.  That November the ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod.  They didn't remain there, but traveled to Plymouth harbor where they landed and created the first permanent settlement of Europeans in New England.  These settlers were known as the Pilgrim Fathers, or simply the Pilgrims.  This rag-tag group consisted of 35 members of a radical Puritan faction known as the English Separatist Church.  The Mayflower was a three-masted merchant ship and originally was accompanied by a smaller vessel, the Speedwell.  This ship proved to be unseaworthy and was forced to return to port, leaving the Mayflower on its own.  Some of the most noteworthy passengers on the Mayflower were Myles Standish, a professional soldier, and William Bradford, a Separatist congregation leader who wrote his account of the Mayflower voyage and the founding of Plymouth Colony.  Rough seas prevented the Mayflower. from landing in their destination of Virginia, but after 65 days they landed on the shores of Cape Cod.  Some wanted to stay while others wanted to try and find Virginia.  The Pilgrims knew something had to be done or they would never reach their destination so they signed the Mayflower Compact in which they agreed to join together in a "Civil Body Politic."  

The Mayflower Compact being signed.

This compact was the first document to establish self-government in the New World.  An exploring party went ashore and the Mayflower finally landed at what they would call Plymouth Harbor.  More than half of the English settlers died during that first winter due to poor nutrition and housing.   Leaders such as Bradford, Standish, John Carver, William Brewster and Edward Winslow kept them together.  In April of 1621, after the death of their first governor, John Carver, Bradford became governor and would be chosen for that position 30 more times.  The Native Americans who lived in the area where they establish Plymouth Colony were the Wampanoag people who had been there for 10,000 years.  The Pilgrims built their settlement and also got to know Tisquantum, also known as Squanto, an English speaking Native American.  He was responsible for teaching the Pilgrims how to plant corn as well as where to fish and hunt.  

Thanksgiving Day dinner.

Then in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims famously shared a harvest feast with the Pokanokets.  Since that day in history we have celebrated that special day every year...except perhaps this year...due to the COVID-19 virus.  So, even thought we may not be eating turkey, stuffing sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, we still wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.