When the American colonies were being explored and settled only a few years after the great Deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 the only permanent day of Thanksgiving on the Official Calendar of the Parliament of England was November 5 when thanks was given for deliverance from the horrors of the plot. The Government by law required that prayers were said, a sermon given and the official liturgy followed, so it was appropriate that as the culture and the government was transferred to the colonies so too was the liturgy and the observation of the day. The celebration of the 5th persisted into the 18th century.In the new colonies existing precariously on the edge of the frontier the celebration of the deliverance of November 5, 1605 was exceptionally heartfelt and relevant. For the colonists God's deliverance was a daily occurrence as they were protected from the native Americans, rebellions, bad weather and crop failure. Later as political ties with England were broken the date of the Thanksgiving changed somewhat. Even so proclamations recognizing the day continued to be issued on November 5 or thereabout  highlighting the date's continuing importance.
 To the main menu click.  The fifth of November: Gunpowder treason Day came to be celebrated as Pope Day in the American colonies. Click here for more on Pope Day. While the configuration of Thanksgiving Day continued to reflect its heritage.

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Why Thursday?

The first day on November 1605 was a Saturday.  The Plot was discovered around Midnight the 4th/5th Tuesday/ Wednesday. Wednesday Nov. 5 was spent in searches, investigations and the rounding up of plotters. While we know celebrations began soon after discovery it is likely that knowledge of the discovery was not widespread till Nov 6 a Thursday.

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One of vs Institutionalized Dates

One of

The first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth was a one-of event which took place from c.   Sept. 21 to Nov. 11, 1621 in 1621. It was not called a thanksgiving by contemporary accounts.  It followed the harvest.

William Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation wrote:

They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they can be used (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.

Edward Winslow, in Mourt's Relation wrote:

Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.The Pilgrims held a true thanksgiving celebration in 1623[23][24] following a fast,[25] and a refreshing 14-day rain[26] which resulted in a larger harvest.

William DeLoss Love calculates that this thanksgiving was made on Wednesday, July 30, 1623, a day before the arrival of a supply ship with more colonists,[25] but before the fall harvest. In Love's opinion this 1623 thanksgiving was significant because the order to recognize the event was from civil authority[27] (Governor Bradford), and not from the church, making it likely the first civil recognition of Thanksgiving in New England.[25]Referring to the 1623 harvest after the nearly catastrophic drought, Bradford wrote:And afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving… By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine now God gave them plenty … for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had … pretty well … so as any general want or famine had not been amongst them since to this day.[28]

-Wikipedia, verified

William Bradford, Plymouth 1623
Harvest and Thanksgiving Day

"Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings."

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Institutionalized.

First institutionalized Congressional proclamations:

1778 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION.

It having pleased Almighty God, through the course of the present year, to bestow great and manifold mercies on the people of these United States; and it being the indispensable duty of all men gratefully to acknowledge their obligations to Him for benefits received: Resolved, That it be, and hereby is recommended to the legislative or executive authority of each of the said states, to appoint Wednesday, the 30th day of December next, to be observed as a day of public thanksgiving and praise, that all the people may, with united hearts, on that day, express a just sense of his unmerited favors; particularly in that it hath pleased him, by his overruling providence, to support us in a just and necessary war, for the defense of our rights and liberties, by affording us seasonable supplies for our armies, by disposing the heart of a powerful monarch to enter into alliance with us, and aid our cause; by defeating the councils and evil designs of our enemies, and giving us victory over their troops; and, by the continuance of that union among these states, which, by his blessing, will be their future strength and glory. And it is further recommended, that, together with devout thanksgiving, may be joined a penitent confession of our sins, and humble supplication for pardon, through the merits of our Savior; so that, under the smiles of Heaven, our public councils may be directed, our arms by land and sea prospered, our liberty and independence secured, our schools and seminaries of learning flourish, our trade be revived, our husbandry and manufactures encreased, and the hearts of all impressed with undissembled piety, with benevolence and zeal for the public good. And it is also recommended, that recreations unsuitable to the purpose of such a solemnity may be omitted on that day. Done in Congress, this 17th day of November, 1778, and in the third year of the independence of the United States of America.

1779 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it becomes us humbly to approach the throne of Almighty God, with gratitude and praise for the wonders which his goodness has wrought in conducting our forefathers to this western world; for his protection to them and to their posterity amid difficulties and dangers; for raising us, their children, from deep distress to be numbered among the nations of the earth; and for arming the hands of just and mighty princes in our deliverance; and especially for that he hath been pleased to grant us the enjoyment of health, and so to order the revolving seasons, that the earth hath produced her increase in abundance, blessing the labors of the husbandmen, and spreading plenty through the land; that he hath prospered our arms and those of our ally; been a shield to our troops in the hour of danger, pointed their swords to victory and led them in triumph over the bulwarks of the foe; that he hath gone with those who went out into the wilderness against the savage tribes; that he hath stayed the hand of the spoiler, and turned back his meditated destruction; that he hath prospered our commerce, and given success to those who sought the enemy on the face of the deep; and above all, that he hath diffused the glorious light of the gospel, whereby, through the merits of our gracious Redeemer, we may become the heirs of his eternal glory: therefore, Resolved, That it be recommended to the several states, to appoint Thursday, the 9th of December next, to be a day of public and solemn thanksgiving to Almighty God for his mercies, and of prayer for the continuance of his favor and protection to these United States; to beseech him that he would be graciously pleased to influence our public councils, and bless them with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness, and success; that he would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory; that he would grant to his church the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out his holy spirit on all ministers of the gospel; that he would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; that he would smile upon the labors of his people and cause the earth to bring forth her fruits in abundance; that we may with gratitude and gladness enjoy them; that he would take into his holy protection our illustrious ally, give him victory over his enemies, and render him signally great, as the father of his people and the protector of the rights of mankind; that he would graciously be pleased to turn the hearts of our enemies, and to dispense the blessings of peace to contending nations; that he would in mercy look down upon us, pardon our sins and receive us into his favor, and finally, that he would establish the independence of these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue, and support and protect them in the enjoyment of peace, liberty and safety. as long as the sun and moon shall endure, until time shall be no more. Done in Congress, ∥ the 20th day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-nine, and in the 4th year of the independence of the United States of America. Samuel Huntington, President. Attest, Charles Thomson, Secretary.

1780 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God, the Father of all mercies, amidst the vicissitudes and calamities of war, to bestow blessings on the people of these states, which call for their devout and thankful acknowledgments, more especially in the late remarkable interposition of his watchful providence, in rescuing the person of our Commander in Chief and the army from imminent dangers, at the moment when treason was ripened for execution; in prospering the labors of the husbandmen, and causing the earth to yield its increase in plentiful harvests; and, above all, in continuing to us the enjoyment of the gospel of peace; It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart Thursday, the seventh day [of December next, to be observed as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer; that all the people may assemble on that day to celebrate the praises of our Divine Benefactor; to confess our unworthiness of the least of his favors, and to offer our fervent supplications to the God of all grace; that it may please him to pardon our heinous transgressions and incline our hearts for the future to keep all his laws that it may please him still to afford us the blessing of health; to comfort and relieve our brethren who are any wise afflicted or distressed; to smile upon our husbandry and trade and establish the work of our hands; to direct our public councils, and lead our forces, by land and sea, to victory; to take our illustrious ally under his special protection, and favor our joint councils and exertions for the establishment of speedy and permanent peace; to cherish all schools and seminaries of education, build up his churches in their most holy faith and to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth. Done in Congress, the lath day of October, 1780, and in the fifth year of the independence of the United States of America.

1781 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God, the supreme Disposer of all Events father of mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America in their important struggle for liberty, against the long continued efforts of a powerful nation: it is the duty of all ranks to observe and thankfully acknowledge the interpositions of his Providence in their behalf. Through the whole of the contest, from its first rise to this time, the influence of divine Providence may be clearly perceived in many signal instances, of which we mention but a few. In revealing the councils of our enemies, when the discoveries were seasonable and important, and the means seemingly inadequate or fortuitous; in preserving and even improving the union of the several states, on the breach of which our enemies placed their greatest dependence; in increasing the number, and adding to the zeal and attachment of the friends of Liberty; in granting remarkable deliverances, and blessing us with the most signal success, when affairs seemed to have the most discouraging appearance; in raising up for us a powerful and generous ally, in one of the first of the European powers; in confounding the councils of our enemies, and suffering them to pursue such measures as have most directly contributed to frustrate their own desires and expectations; above all, in making their extreme cruelty of their officers and soldiers to the inhabitants of these states, when in their power, and their savage devastation of property, the very means of cementing our union, and adding vigor to every effort in opposition to them. And as we cannot help leading the good people of these states to a retrospect on the events which have taken place since the beginning of the war, so we beg recommend in a particular manner that they may observe and acknowledge to their observation, the goodness of God in the year now drawing to a conclusion: in which a mutiny in the American Army was not only happily appeased but became in its issue a pleasing and undeniable proof of the unalterable attachment of the people in general to the cause of liberty since great and real grievances only made them tumultuously seek redress while the abhorred the thoughts of going over to the enemy, in which the Confederation of the United States has been completed by the accession of all without exception in which there have been so many instances of prowess and success in our armies; particularly in the southern states, where, notwithstanding the difficulties with which they had to struggle, they have recovered the whole country which the enemy had overrun, leaving them only a post or two upon on or near the sea: in which we have been so powerfully and effectually assisted by our allies, while in all the conjunct operations the most perfect union and harmony has subsisted in the allied army: in which there has been so plentiful a harvest, and so great abundance of the fruits of the earth of every kind, as not only enables us easily to supply the wants of the army, but gives comfort and happiness to the whole people: and in which, after the success of our allies by sea, a General of the first Rank, with his whole army, has been captured by the allied forces under the direction of our illustrious Commander in Chief. It is therefore recommended to the several states to set apart the 13th day of December next, to be religiously observed as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer; that all the people may assemble on that day, with grateful hearts, to celebrate the praises of our gracious Benefactor; to confess our manifold sins; to offer up our most fervent supplications to the God of all grace, that it may please Him to pardon our offenses, and incline our hearts for the future to keep all his laws; to comfort and relieve all our brethren who are in distress or captivity; to prosper our husbandmen, and give success to all engaged in lawful commerce; to impart wisdom and integrity to our counselors, judgment and fortitude to our officers and soldiers; to protect and prosper our illustrious ally, and favor our united exertions for the speedy establishment of a safe, honorable and lasting peace; to bless all seminaries of learning; and cause the knowledge of God to cover the earth, as the waters cover the seas.

1782 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION.

It being the indispensable duty of all nations, not only to offer up their supplications to Almighty God, the giver of all good, for his gracious assistance in the a time of public distress, but also in a solemn and public manner to give him praise for his goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of his Providence in their behalf; therefore, the United States in Congress assembled, taking into their consideration the many instances of divine goodness to these states, in the course of the important conflict in which they have been so long engaged; and the present happy and promising state of public affairs; and the events of the war in the course of the last year now drawing to a close, particularly the harmony of the public councils, which is so necessary to the success of the public cause; the perfect union and good understanding which has hitherto subsisted between them and their allies, notwithstanding the artful and unwearied attempts of the common enemy to sow dissension between them divide them; the success of the arms of the United States and those of their allies, and the acknowledgment of their independence by another European power, whose friendship and commerce must be of great and lasting advantage to these states; and the success of their arms and those of their allies in different parts do hereby recommend it to the inhabitants of these states in general, to observe, and recommend it to the executives of request the several states to interpose their authority in appointing and requiring commanding the observation of the last Thursday, in the 28 day of November next, as a day of solemn thanksgiving to God for all his mercies: and they do further recommend to all ranks, to testify their gratitude to God for his goodness, by a cheerful obedience to his laws, and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness. Given, &c.

1783 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it hath pleased the Supreme Ruler of all human events, to dispose the hearts of the late belligerent powers to put a period to the effusion of human blood, by proclaiming a cessation of all hostilities by sea and land, and these United States are not only happily rescued from the dangers distresses and calamities which they have so long and so magnanimously sustained to which they have been so long exposed, but their freedom, sovereignty and independence ultimately acknowledged by the king of Great Britain. And whereas in the progress of a contest on which the most essential rights of human nature depended, the interposition of Divine Providence in our favor hath been most abundantly and most graciously manifested, and the citizens of these United States have every possible reason for praise and gratitude to the God of their salvation. Impressed, therefore, with an exalted sense of the magnitude of the blessings by which we are surrounded, and of our entire dependence on that Almighty Being, from whose goodness and bounty they are derived, the United States in Congress assembled do recommend it to the several States, to set apart the second Thursday in December next, as a day of public thanksgiving, that all the people may then assemble to celebrate with one voice grateful hearts and united voices, the praises of their Supreme and all bountiful Benefactor, for his numberless favors and mercies. That he hath been pleased to conduct us in safety through all the perils and vicissitudes of the war; that he hath given us unanimity and resolution to adhere to our just rights; that he hath raised up a powerful ally to assist us in supporting them, and hath so far crowned our united efforts with success, that in the course of the present year, hostilities have ceased, and we are left in the undisputed possession of our liberties and independence, and of the fruits of our own land, and in the free participation of the treasures of the sea; that he hath prospered the labor of our husbandmen with plentiful harvests; and above all, that he hath been pleased to continue to us the light of the blessed gospel, and secured to us in the fullest extent the rights of conscience in faith and worship. And while our hearts overflow with gratitude, and our lips set forth the praises of our great Creator, that we also offer up fervent supplications, that it may please him to pardon all our offenses, to give wisdom and unanimity to our public councils, to cement all our citizens in the bonds of affection, and to inspire them with an earnest regard for the national honor and interest, to enable them to improve the days of prosperity by every good work, and to be lovers of peace and tranquillity; that he may be pleased to bless us in our husbandry, our commerce and navigation; to smile upon our seminaries and means of education, to cause pure religion and virtue to flourish, to give peace to all nations, and to fill the world with his glory. Done by the United States in Congress assembled, witness his Excellency Elias Boudinot, our President, this 18th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and of the sovereignty and independence of the United States of America the eighth.

1784 By the United States in Congress assembled. A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it hath pleased the Supreme Ruler of the universe, of his infinite goodness and mercy, so to calm the minds and do away the resentments of the powers lately engaged in a most bloody and destructive war, and to dispose their hearts towards amity and friendship, that a general pacification hath taken place, and particularly a Definitive Treaty of peace between the said United States of America and his Britannic Majesty, was signed at Paris, on the 3d day of September, in the year of our Lord 1783; the instruments of the final ratifications of which were exchanged at Passy, on the 12th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1784, whereby a finishing hand was put to the great work of peace, and the freedom, sovereignty and independence of these states, fully and completely established: And whereas in pursuit of the great work of freedom and independence, and the progress of the contest in which the United States of America have been engaged, and on the success of which the dearest and most essential rights of human nature depended, the benign interposition of Divine Providence hath, on many occasions, been most miraculously and abundantly manifested; and the citizens of the United States have the greatest reason to return their most hearty and sincere praises and thanksgiving to the God of their deliverance; whose name be praised: Deeply impressed therefore with the sense of the mercies manifested to these United States, and of the blessings which it hath pleased God, to shower down on us, of our future dependence, at all times, on his power and mercy as the only source from which so great benefits can be derived; we, the United States of America, in the Committee of the States assembled, do earnestly recommend to the supreme executives of the several states, to set apart Tuesday, the 19th day of October next, as a day of public prayer and thanksgiving, that all the people of the United States may then assemble in their respective churches and congregations, to celebrate with grateful hearts, and joyful and united voices, the mercies and praises of their all-bountiful Creator, most holy, and most righteous! for his innumerable favors and mercies vouchsafed unto them; more especially that he hath been graciously pleased so to conduct us through the perils and dangers of the war, as finally to establish the United States in freedom and independence, and to give them a name and place among the princes and nations of the earth; that he hath raised up great captains and men of war from amongst us, to lead our armies, and in our greatest difficulties and distresses hath given us unanimity to adhere to and assert our just rights and privileges; and that he hath been most graciously pleased also, to raise up a most powerful prince and magnanimous people, as allies, to assist us in effectually supporting and maintaining them; that he hath been pleased to prosper the labor of our husbandmen; that there is no famine or want seen throughout our land: And above all, that he hath been pleased to continue to us the light of gospel truths, and secured to us, in the fullest manner, the rights of conscience in faith and worship. And while our hearts overflow with gratitude, and our lips pronounce the praises of our great and merciful Creator, that we may also offer up our joint and fervent supplications, that it may please him of his infinite goodness and mercy, to pardon all our sins and offenses; to inspire with wisdom and a true sense of public good, all our public councils; to strengthen and cement the bonds of love and affection between all our citizens; to impress them with an earnest regard for the public good and national faith and honour, and to teach them to improve the days of peace by every good work; to pray that he will, in a more especial manner, shower down his blessings on Louis the Most Christian King our ally, to prosper his house, that his son's sons may long sit on the throne of their ancestors, a blessing to the people entrusted to his charge; to bless all mankind, and inspire the princes and nations of the earth with the love of peace, that the sound of war may be heard of no more; that he may be pleased to smile upon us, and bless our husbandry, fishery, our commerce, and especially our schools and seminaries of learning; and to raise up from among our youth, men eminent for virtue, learning and piety, to his service in church and state; to cause virtue and true religion to flourish, to give to all nations amity, peace and concord, and to fill the world with his glory. Done by the United States, in the Committee of the States assembled, witness the honbl Samuel Hardy, chairman, this-- day of--, in the year of our Lord, &c. and in the 9th of the sovereignty and independence of the United States of America.

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First Presidential Proclamation

THANKSGIVING DAY 1789
 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - A PROCLAMATION
George Washington

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor - and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be – That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks – for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation – for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war –for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed – for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions – to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually – to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed – to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord – To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us – and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789. GO. WASHINGTON.

National Holiday- Lincoln

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

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Disclosing the Seasonal Mysteries:

Here are two proclamations of 18th century New England:

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By the Honourable,

Wiliam Dummer Esq;

 Lieutenant Governour & Commander in Chief, in and over His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New-England.

A Proclamation for a General

Thanksgiving

Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God of his Great Goodness, to Favour us with many undeserved Blessings in the Course of this Year, Respecting as well our Nation, as our land; More especially, For that He hath preserved the persons of our Sovereign Lord the King, and Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, with the rest of the Royal Family, and has graciously directed & succeeded His Majesty's wise councils for preserving the tranquility of Europe that he hath granted us a good measure of Health and in many instances, a plentiful harvest, Notwithstanding the Scorching Drought in the Summer past; That he hath so far protected our Sea-Coasts from the Merciless Pirates, (some of whom it hath pleased God in a remarkable Manner to deliver into our Hands, ) and Defended our In-Land  frontiers from the Rage and Violence of the bloody Salvages, and Granted us a very signal Victory over the Eastern Indians at Norridgewock.; And that He is pleased hitherto to Continue to us our invaluable Privileges Civil and Ecclesiastical; All which,  with innumerable other Instances of the Divine Favour and Goodness demand our grateful and publick Acknowledgements:

I have thought fit, with the advice of his Majesty's Council, to Order and Appoint, That Thursday the Fifth of November next, be Observed as a Day of General Thanksgiving throughout this Province; Exhorting both Ministers and people in their respective Assemblies, Religiously to Celebrate the same by Offering up their Cheerful Praises and unfeigned Thanks to Almighty God the Author and Bestower of all our Mercies; And all Servile Labour is forbidden on the said Day.

Given at Boston the Seventeenth of October, 1724. In the Eleventh Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

By Order of the Hounourable the Lieut. Governour, with the Advice of the council,

Josiah Willard, Secr. W. Dummer

God Save the King

Boston, Printed by B. Green, Printers to His Hounour the Lieut, Governour & Council 1724

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BY THE HONORABLE

Jonathan Trumbull, Esq;

Governor of the English Colony of Connecticut, in New-England, in America

A Proclamation.

And all Servile Labour is forbidden on said Day.

GIVEN under my Hand, at the Council-Chamber in New-Haven, the Thirteenth Day of October, in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord GEORGE the Third, of Great-Britain, France, and Ireland, KING, Defender of the Faith, &c. Anoq; domini, 1772.

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Jonth Trumbull

 Puritans The fifth and Thanksgiving

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UNCLE TRACY'S THANKSGIVING

UNCLE TRACY'S THANKSGIVING. 1675?

'T Was up to Uncle Tracy's

The Fifth of November,

Last Thanksgiving night

As I very well remember

And there we had a Frolic,

A Frolic indeed,

Where we drank good full Glasses

Of old Anise-seed.

And there was Mr. Holmes

And there was Peter Drew,

And there was Seth Gilbert

And Seth Thomas too

And there were too many

Too many for to name,

And by and by I '11 tell you how

They carried on the Game.

They carried on the Game

Till't was late in the night,

And one pretty Girl

Almost lost her Eyesight .

No wonder, no wonder

No wonder indeed,

For she drank good full Glasses

Of old Anise-seed.

GOD save the King.

Hale, Edward, Everett, New England History in Ballads,1903. p.29

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 Thanksgivings Day Parades and Fantasticals

1909- (1870) The Surviving Fantasticals

New York Times, Nov. 23, 1909, pg.8.

Elizabeth Pleck, “The making of the domestic occasion: The history of Thanksgiving in the United States,” Journal of Social History (Summer 1999) Vol. 32, Iss. 4; pg. 773, 17 pgs).

Pleck writes,

‘As William Dean Howells put it, “The poor recognize [Thanksgiving] as a sort of carnival,” a masculine escape from the family, a day of rule breaking, and spontaneous mirth . . . Drunken men and boys, often masked, paraded from house to house and demanded to be treated. Boys misbehaved and men committed physical assaults on Thanksgiving as well as on Christmas.”

“Groups of men, crossdressing, who called themselves the Fantastics or Fantasticals, masqueraded on Thanksgiving beginning in the 1780s. . . Subsequently the Fantastics copied these and other elements of English mumming, such as drunkenness and ridiculing authority . . . An editorial in a Pennsylvania newspaper in 1870 defended the Fantastics, on the grounds that “it is better to be merry than sad, and if, as some genial writer asserts, a good hearty laugh takes a nail out of your coffin, a parade of the fantasticals can not fail to lessen the bills of mortality.” 

William Shepard Walsh, “Curiosities of popular customs and of rites, ceremonies, observances,” Social Science (1897), p. 924 wrote:

Curiosities of popular customs and of rites, ceremonies, observances, and miscellaneous antiquities

by Walsh, William Shepard, 1898

 
                              


Image above-

Title: Grand fantastical parade, New-York, Dec 2d. 1833
 
 Summary                 
Another burlesque parade (see no. 1833-11), satirizing Andrew Jackson as a military hero and President and the local militia displays of the period.
 The print apparently portrays one of the mock processions actually held in New York during the 1830s. A motley array of characters, some of them 
on horseback and carrying banners, swords, and lances, proceeds from left to right. They include mainly clowns and other carnival-type figures, with some literary 
and historical characters such as Don Quixote and Napoleon. The procession is led by a clown-like general resembling Jackson.  The banners read: 
"Our General!! May he "soon" meet his "reward" in Heaven for his "everlasting" services on "earth."  "Death to the Militia System."  "Soldiers in 
"peace. Citizens in "War.""  The print is labeled "Part 1st" in the upper left corner. Below the title are the following lines: "Come get thee a sword, 
tho' made of lath. There's Best's son the tanner, and Dick the Butcher, and Smith the weaver, as ragged as Lazarus. No eye hath seen such scarecrows. 
I'll not march with them that's flat. Shakespeare."
                    -Library of Congress

                                                  Holiday Street, Fantasticals, New York -1867
                                                  
Thanksgiving Maskers 1910-15
                                             

-Library of Congress

Thanksgiving maskers 1910
                                        
-Library of Congress

The River Press, Montana, November 29 1911 Maskers

                                                                            

-Library of Congress




By 1930, the library blog reports, some New Yorkers were ready to move on. School Superintendent William J. O'Shea 
instructed administrators that "modernity is incompatible with the custom of children to masquerade and annoy adults on 
Thanksgiving day" by asking for gifts and money.
Others kept the tradition alive. The Madison Square Club for Boys and Young Men, for instance,
 put on Ragamuffin Parades in an attempt to bring order to the occasion. The 1940 parade, according to the library blog, 
featured more than 400 children and touted the group's motto: "American boys do not beg."
Ragamuffin parades continued to be popular into the 1950s, but they were eventually overpowered by another burgeoning 
tradition catapulted into prominence by the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street. The new symbol of Thanksgiving also 
showcased people in fantastic masks and costumes and, in addition, hoisted giant character-based balloons. It was called 
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
--https://www.npr.org/sections/theprotojournalist/2014/11/19/365195079/when-thanksgiving-was-weird

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