BY PAMELA COZZENS
HOPKINSON
307—272-8979
pamhopkinson®gmailcom
I remember read-
ing George VWashington’s
words of thanksgiving and
Providence: “I flatter my—
self that a superintending
Providence is ordering ev—
erything for the best and
that, in due time, all will
end well.”
We recently were able
to connect some lineage
to passengers on the May—
flower voya e. It was part
of a family iscussion over
our early Thanks iving
dinner. Both lines 0 con—
nection for my children
were through their grand-
mother‘s lines; The fact
that‘they both survived a
voyage across the ocean
and the first winter in the
“new land” made us thank—
ful for their tenacity and
grit. Further study of this
period took us to a man
named Tisquantum, more
The Bible Church held a live nativity scene during the Holiday Mingle in
2010. Pictured are (l-_r)
readily known as Squanto.
Tisquantum was a
member of the Patuxet
Tribe. He and others‘in his
tribe. went aboard a ship
from early explorers and
were kidnapped and taken
to Spain and sold into slav—
ery. Tisquantum ended up
in England and learned the
lan uage and later jumped
at t e chance to travel back
to his former summer vil—
lage to be a translator be-
tween the English and the
Native Americans. Sad-
1y, when they arrived, he
discovered his whole vil—
lage no longer existed, but
a story goes that they had
succumbed to plagues.
Tisquantum was a key
figure in meeting the Pil—
grims and helping them to
survive in their new envi—
ronment. The seeds they
had brought with them did
not adapt to the harsh en—
vironment they were now
in. He helped them lant
and harvest. Much o the
story of the first thanks-
CHRONICLE
giving is tradition. Much of
it has been enhanced, from
the ‘original journals that
were kept. But we know the
Pilgrims landed, and 45 of
the original 102 passengers
died during a harsh winter
from lack of shelter, scurvy
and conditions on the ship.
So here is, a quick over-
view looking ,back to 1620.
We know the Pilgrims
left England to establish
their religion freely away
from the rule of the mon—
archy. They met a native
named Samoset who spoke
some English words he had
picked up from explorers.
He introduced them to Tis-
quantum, who spoke En-
glish, and they were aston—
ished. They were able to
communicate and learn the
survival skills they needed.
When I read about these
people, there is no doubt
that Providence was over
all, long, long before their
Mayflower journey was
planned. When ou con-
sider Tisquantum s kidnap-
. ships to bring
ing, the learning of the
anguage, the trip back to
his village, the meeting of
the Pil rims and the sur-
vival o the Pilgrims, you
conclude that their char-
ter had to have been more
than Chance. All helped
lead us to our countr , our
freedoms and our 1i erty.
Now, here we are in 2020
with the modern conve—
niences more plentiful than
we could have even imag—
ined in our lifetime. Yet, we
sometimes get a bit wobbly
thinking about how diffi—
cult this year has been.
Looking back through
history gives us perspec-
tive. What a perfect time at
the end of this year to take
a deep breath, give thanks
to those who came before
and endured the real hard—
us tothis
point. What will be said
about us when our poster-
ity looks back? How did we
weather 2020?
Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a wonderful feast.
FILE PHOTO
Saughn
DeFuentes, William DeFuentes, Hannah Cruz, Jenci Jasso, Derek Phelps and
Jaxson Jasso. See more in excerpt
from 10 years ago.
From our files
First live nativity scene held 10 years ago
100 years ago,
Nov. 26, 1920
The Cowley Progress
Pre—war prices for live
hogs became general yes—
terday throughout the
United States. In Chicago
the market closed at the
bottom figures of the day
the lowest since Decem-
ber 16, 1916.
75 years ago,
Nov. 29, 1945
The Lovell Chronicle
Mrs. Rose Fink has
opened a beauty shop in
her home on West Main
Street and will be ready
for appointments on
Monday, Dec. 3. She re-
cently completed a beau—
ty course in a Billings
beauty school. I
50 years ago,
Nov. 26, 1970
The Lovell Chronicle
Pic: Shelley Tippetts
(left) and Jewel Harrison
of Lovell received tro—
phies for the best dairy
foods demonstration at
the 4—H Achievement pro—
gram at Burlington Nov. 7.
Trophies were presented
to the team by the Sho—
shone Milk Producers.
25 years ago,
Nov. 22, 1995
The Lovell Chronicle
Federal employees
returned to work Mon—
FILE PHOTO
Shelle Tippetts (left) and Jewel Harrison of Lovell received trophies for
the best
dairy oods demonstration at the 4-H Achievement program in 1970. See more
in
excerpt from 50 years ago.
day after the US. Con—
gress and the Clinton Ad—
ministration reached an
agreement Sunday that
will keep the govern—
ment running for at least
another month, ending
a budget impasse that
forced hundreds of thou—
sands of workers to be
furloughed for six days
last week.
10 years ago,
Nov. 25, 2010
The Lovell Chronicle
Pic: The Bible ChUrch
held a live nativity scene
during the Holiday Min—
gle on Main Street Satur-
day evening. Shepherds
and wise men pictured
here braving the bit—
ter cold weather are (l-r)
Saughn DeFuentes, Wil—
liam DeFuentes, Hannah
Cruz, Jenci Jasso, Derek
Phelps and Jaxson Jasso.
November 26, 2020 The Lovell Chronicle I 13
Byron News Reflecting on Providence of Thanksgiving Lincoln’s
proclamation
made Thanksgiving official
BY TOM EMERY
The first Thanksgiving
is often associated with the
Pilgrims. Over two centu-
ries later, President Lin—
coln was the first to make
it official.
The official designa—
tion of 1863 is the most
lasting of the nine procla-
mations for a day of thanks
issued by Lincoln during
his presidency.
The idea of a thanks-
giving was nothing new.
On Oct. 3, 1789, George
Washington had issued
a proclamation for a day
of thanksgiving, sched-
uled for November 26 of
that year. It had been cel-
ebrated on various days
throughout the nation, as
many states had their own
designations. .
‘ Thanksgiving had
much of its actual origins
in religious proclamations
by bishops,” said Dr. James
Cornelius, the former cu-
rator of the Lincoln Collec-
tion at the Abraham Lin-
coln Presidential Librar
and Museum in Springfiel .
“Forms of thanksgiving had
been celebrated through-
out much of New England,
and continued through co—
lonial times.”
The impetus for an
official national day of
Thanksgiving came from
Sarah Josepha Hale, the
74—year—old editor of God-
ey’s Lady’s Book, a popular
women’s magazine. Hale
had written to several pre—
vious presidents asking for
such a holiday, to no avail.
On Sept. 28, 1863, 'she
wrote Lincoln, urging him
to declare “a day of our an-
nual Thanks .iving made a
National an fixed UniOn
festival.” Noting “an in—
creasing interest felt in our
land to have Thanksgiving
held on the same day, in all
the _states...it now needs
national recognition and
authoritative fixation, only,
to become permanently
an American custom and
institution.”
Lincoln had actually
made several Thanksgiv-
ing proclamations during
his administration. On Nov.
28, 1861, he had ordered all
government departments
to shut down for a local day
of thanksgiving, and he re-
quested national days of
“humiliation, prayer and
fasting” on multiple oc—
casions. Lincoln also pro-
claimed thanksgiving for
“signal victories” in the
Union war effort in April
1862 and another remem—
brance on Aug. 6, 1863.
On Oct. 3, 1863, Lin—
coln heeded Hale’s call.
He issued his own procla—
mation, declaring the last
Thursday in November “as
a day of Thanksgiving and
Praise.” In 1863, that date
would have also been Nov.
26.
“It was not only the
anniversary of Washing-
ton’s proclamation, but it
also fell on the same day of
the week,” said Cornelius.
“There’s a sense of history
in Lincoln’s effort.”
The words were actu—
ally penned by" Secretary
of State William Seward,
and the original draft was
later sold to benefit Union
soldiers. To be sure, the
reclamation was certain—
y heavy with military ref—
erence. Passages such as
“in the midst of a civil war
of unequaled magnitude
and severity” and “the ad-
vancing armies and navies
of the Union” called to light
the national tragedy of the
war.
Still, 1863 had been
productive for the North,
with key victories at Get-
tysburg, Vicksburg and
elsewhere. “There 'was
reason to celebrate the
progress of the war,” said
Cornelius. “Those were
important victories, and
Lincoln wanted to remem—
ber them.”
Scholars have long de-
bated the extent of Lin-
coln’s Christianity, but the
1863 proclamation makes
repeated religious refer-
ences. Phrases such as the
“watchful providence of
Almighty God,” “the gra-
cious gifts of the, Most
High God,” “our beneficent
Father” and “the Almi hty
Hand” are sprin led
throughout the document.
“Lincoln saw the day
as an appropriate time to
give national gratitude for
God’s plan and goodness,”
said Dr. Cullom Davis, a
nationally recognized Lin—
coln scholar from Spring—
field. “It was yet another
reason to be thankful.”
“To top it off, the year of
1863 brought a pretty good
harvest,” remarked Cor—
nelius. “Lincoln saw plen—
ty of reasons to celebrate,
and they are all summa—
rized in the Thanksgiving
proclamation. Referenc—
es to historical tribute, the
military, religion and agri-
culture are all found in the
document.”
The first official
Thanksgiving Day in 1863
would bring even more
reason for the North to
celebrate. On Nov. 25, the
day before, Union troops
earned an important vic—
tory at Chattanooga. The
holiday was exactly a week
after Lincoln delivered his
Gettysburg Address.
Many also credit Lin—
coln as the first president
to ceremoniously pardon
a turkey, now an annu—
al White House tradition.
Lincoln pardoned the bird
at the behest of his young
son Tad in 1864.
In 1941, Congress au—.
thorized a resolution that
switched Thanksgiv—
ing from the last Thurs-
day in November to the
fourth Thursday of the
month.
(Tom Emery is a free—
lance writer and research—
er from Carlinville, Ill.
He may be reached at 217—
710—8392 or ilcivilwar@ya—
hoo.com.)
NWC to deliver in—person and
online classes for spring 2021
. Similar to the fall
2020 semester, North—
west College will deliver
both in-person and online
courses during the spring
2021 semester.
All employees and stu-
dents who are on campus
will still be required to wear
face coverings, maintain
social distancing practices
and limit in-person gather-
ings. Members of the pub-
lic who visit campus are re-
quired to do the same.
The goal is to continue
transitioning areas of cam—
pus between operation—
al conditions throughout
the semester, which will
allow the college to move
to more restrictive or re-
laxed guidelines, as possi-
ble, based on the current
conditions. The plan allows
NWC to pivot quickly and
to the best of the co lege’s
ability as conditions change
throughout the semester.
Students can expect to
continue receiving import-
ant updates via their stu—
dent email accounts as de-
tails continue to emerge.
Those who are inter-
ested in taking classes this
spring can still register.
Courses begin Wednesday,
Jan. 13, and the last day to
sign up for full-term class-
es is Jan. 20. To see upcom—
ing course offerings, visit
h ' nw —
icslschedulehtml.
For more information
about NWC’s response to
COVID—19 , visit https;4[
nwc.edu[covid.
