An event?
Well, what about an annual event?
What about Thanksgiving?
With the day rapidly approaching, I found
myself wondering how my ancestors celebrated the holiday, how their personal
and societal perspectives might have differed from our own – so spent some time
reading through old family diaries...
From the diary of John Allen Gould
(1785-1860):
Nov 25, 1847 – Thanksgiving day – My
Children with their Wifes and little ones were all at home & in good health
Nov 26, 1857 – Annual Thanksgiving. I visited my daughter
Wilson (Margaret Gould Wilson) and took dinner with her and her husband. This
is the first time that I have dined from home on thanksgiving day for about
forty years
Nov 25, 1858 – This was the annual Thanksgiving day. My son
George and his family was with me, and Margaret and her husband called upon us
in the evening. In former years my Children were usually with me on
thanksgiving day, but now they with their families have become so numerous that
it is not convenient to continue the practice.
My mother’s side of the family had its
diarists, too; Selah Howell (1840-1910) wrote a little note nearly every day in
his Unitarian “Day by Day” inspirational book. It’s confusing, mostly, in that
on any given page there are comments from the 1870s through the 1900s;
sometimes wading through it is an exercise in patience.
Here
are some clips from the page you see here:
1880 – All home, children well & happy. God be praised.
1894 – All at home No. 4
Cedar Ave. Marion
1897 – All at home except dear Fred & Carry
1898 – Will, Fanny, Marion & I. Nannie in Ohio
My 3rd-great aunt, Roxanna Wilder
Sabin (1832-1925) kept diaries for most of her life; my great-grandmother,
though, tossed most of them in the furnace in 1925 – she saved only a few of
them. Here’s her comment from 1910:
Thursday 24 – The whole family at Waban –
Ethel & I & Ed at Lute’s – Fred and Polly there. Ethel “belt crazy”
I
don’t know what “belt crazy” means, but I do know something for certain: all
these entries – from 1847 to 1910 – every entry was about home and
family...every single one.
And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Happy Thanksgiving to you all...
How wonderful to have family diaries to give you such a sense of what your ancestors were like and what their family life was like. Thank you for a different perspective on this week's theme.
ReplyDeleteHaving the diaries is truly a blessing -- and does, as you say, provide a sense of what they were like. I'm lucky, I know.
DeleteSo many diaries - how wonderful to have such a picture into lives lived so long ago.
ReplyDeleteWhat truly amazes me, Jackie, is that nothing much has changed over the years. Really.
DeleteThose diaries are great. And I'm intrigued by what she means by belt crazy. Were belts a fashion item of the times or do you think there is some "hidden" meaning. I doubt it ! Just great.
ReplyDeleteI thought it might be a fashion statement, too. I can't imagine any other explanation, but maybe another Sepian will come up with something!
DeleteIt most certainly is! I especially noticed how thankful they were for all being well, a most important thing back in those days! I still believe for the most part, families do come together especially on Thanksgiving! We sure do!
ReplyDeleteSo do we -- from Maine and Massachusetts; even from California. When John Allen Gould's family gathered, they came from towns within a 10-mile radius of his home...the more things change, the more they stay the same (as we say in Maine).
DeleteWonderful to have such a personal account. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia, it's the wrong season for it, but we've been invited to our first ever thanksgiving party next weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it!
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DeleteAnd I'll give thanks for my Sepians in Australia -- have fun at your party, Jo!
DeleteIt's really interesting to see those entries. I have a lot of Thanksgiving postcards which have made me wonder what else people did on Thanksgiving besides spend time with their families. In particular, I wonder whether the flags and bunting on many of the cards relate to some patriotic event or if they are used just because Thanksgiving is an American holiday.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, Thanksgiving was simply a day of giving thanks; now, of course, it's been turned into a celebration of capitalism (to jump-start the Christmas frenzy). The flags and bunting are, to me, simply another way we Americans have inserted our misguided sense of "patriotism" into yet another holiday. Bah! Humbug!
ReplyDeleteWhat surprise me whenever we talk about Thanksgiving with America acquaintances is how few of them know anything about its real origin.
ReplyDeleteI know. It doesn't seem too tough -- you give thanks for getting the harvest in!
ReplyDeleteOriginally, of course, Thanksgiving was to celebrate the success of the harvest. Now it's more about families gathering, thankful they're able to be together in person or by phone or Skype or whatever. This modern day & age has changed a lot about the way we get together, but however it's accomplished it's a thankful thing.
ReplyDeleteI read that they had "thanksgivings" for all kinds of things -- not just harvest -- and started them back in the 1500s! But here in the USA, it's mostly about eating too much and shopping for Christmas; too bad!
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous -- I have no diaries from my family. It could make one absolutely belt crazy. (What??? -- )
ReplyDeleteThose diaries are pure gold!
ReplyDeleteAnd that "belt crazy" comment is driving me nuts -- I was hoping somebody out there would know what that means (or, perhaps more correctly, what it meant).
Wouild "belt crazy: be part of a fashion trend of the time, meaning wearing several (at least more than the one needed to do the job) belts the way some women wear several bracelets and rings today?
ReplyDeleteWouild "belt crazy: be part of a fashion trend of the time, meaning wearing several (at least more than the one needed to do the job) belts the way some women wear several bracelets and rings today?
ReplyDelete