Scholars will search in vain for any mention of Thanksgiving Day in the 18th century Virginia Gazette. Fourth Thursdays in November were no different from other days — runaway slaves, lost pocketbooks, ships deparing to London. Page after page, it is always business as usual. No festivities, no turkey, no stuffing, no sleigh ride to grandmother’s house, in short, no Thanksgiving Day.

There were, however, many days of thanksgiving. Bumper harvests, drought-breaking rains, safe voyages and military victories were made frequent occasions for public prayers and celebrations during the 17th and 18th centuries. The colonists who settled Berkeley Hundred in 1619 carried instructions to give thanks “yearly and perpetually” on the anniversary of their arrival. There were comparable observances in 18th century Williamsburg. Days of thanksgiving were proclaimed to commemorate, for instance, Queen Anne’s health and the “happy agreement” between her Majesty and the Houses of Parliament.

These were all solemn religious occasions. They have only an indirect relationship to the present Thanksgiving holiday, which we should give ungrudgingly to New Englanders. Or better yet, to Old Englanders, for the Plymoth Colony Pilgrims were only celebrating a fold custom that they remembered from England. The Harvest Home, a time of feasting, dancing and gaming after the crops wre safely gathered, was an ancient peasant festival. Bought to all of the American colonies, it thrived best in the small farming communities of New England. Only in 1863 did President Lincoln make Thanksgiving Day a national holiday as a reminder of “peace, harmony, tranquillity, and Union” in a time of civil war. So it turns out that your Thanksgiving dinner in Williamsburg is one of history’s tastier ironies.

Reprinted from King’s Arms Tavern Thanksgiving Day Menu, November 24, 2005.

So writes the true history of the day of thanksgiving — a day to gather among your families to give thanks for a year filled with highs and lows, successes and failures, hopes and dreams.

While my family doesn’t recognize the Thanksgiving Day, we recognize the day to give thanks for having a year filled of positive hope and to hope for a safer future.

As one of the colonial entertainers who entered our dining room during Thanksgiving dinner said at the end of his speech …

“Let’s toast to life, liberty, and family.”