For many years, they thought they were the proprietors of the first Thanksgiving celebration.  Nope.  Fast forward to Virginia while bypassing Massachusetts.

It’s comparable to the recent personal introduction of Leaf Erickson, who was the first explorer to discover America long before Christopher Columbus.  I don’t want to bust your historical bubble with these intensely investigated and explored research!  To paraphrase, Columbus did “sail the ocean blue in 1492.”  Problem was – he didn’t find anything.
 
 The questionable date was September 16, 1619 when the good passenger ship Margaret, which was only 35 feet long and weighing 47 tons, set sail from Bristol, England.  The on-board accommodations were dependent on the lowly passenger ship measuring only 35 feet and weighing only 47 tons.   It carried 35 settlers, who were commissioned to 8,000 appointed acres of land to call their home.  The location was 30 miles west of Jamestown, Virginia on the James River.  This land was given to the Virginia Company by England’s King James.  Today, it is the site of Berkeley Plantation.

The first recorded Thanksgiving was held two years earlier than the Massachusetts location.  It was held in Virginia – not in Massachusetts and the small gathering occurred 600 miles south of Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts.   The first celebration was held in the fall (September) of 1621- two years and two months preceding the current celebratory date.

The passenger ship’s crew was comprised of settlers, many of whom were craftsmen, who were offered *indentured status to settle at the site and carve out a working enterprise from the wilderness.  *(The definition of indentured is “contract labor for an estimated period of time.”)

The Margaret ship arrived at Berkeley Hundred on December 4, 1619.  The 35 hearty souls who had traveled the North Atlantic on a 35-foot ship for two and one-half months, came ashore with what baggage they had.  The instructions from the Virginia Company required Captain John Woodlief to immediately conduct a religious ceremony of Thanksgiving, which he did then, and which continues today.

This was not a feast, but was simply designed to thank God for the group’s safe passage.  The religious service was continued on the anniversary of the landing until 1622.  This was not revealed until Dr. John Tyler, the grandson of President Tyler, discovered the *Nibley Papers, which were 38 papers relating to the settlement of Virginia from 1609 to 1622.  They were from the collection of John Smyth.  

During the 1800’s, the Thanksgiving celebration focused on going to church and devouring a big meal, writes Shannon Selin.  This celebration also is similar to today’s event.

In 1858, a clever statistician estimated the following 23 state-wide holiday devastation:
• One million turkeys
• 30,000,000 pounds of pork
• 30,000,000 pounds of beef
• 12,000,000 pounds of chickens
• 6,000,000 pounds of raisins
• 30,000,000 pounds of flour
• 30,000,000 pounds of sugar

The turkeys placed three feet apart in a straight line would reach from Massachusetts to Indiana.

The chickens, placed one foot apart, would reach from New York to California.

The pies, placed side by side, would reach across the Atlantic Ocean.


In 1958, a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving in Virginia was held and has been conducted each year since that time.

Other events occurring at the Berkeley Plantation were:
• In 1619, settlers celebrated the first annual “Thanksgiving” celebration after landing at Berkeley Hundred.
• In 1862, the Army bugle call “Taps” was first played by Oliver Norton, who, along with General Daniel Butterfield, wrote the song’s lyrics.

In conclusion, the “Virginia Thanksgiving Festival at Berkeley Plantation” is held yearly and is defined as “Celebrating the first English Thanksgiving in the New World.  Persons are requested to join others for a day of history, food, and fun with a living history program, tribal dancers, Thanksgiving foods, and a re-enactment of the Landing of Captain Woolier and his men.  Activities and entertainment occur from
11 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily.  For more information, visit www.virginiathanksgiving.net.”

According to www.news.vt.edu the foods served at the first Thanksgiving likely were wild turkey, other fowl, venison, cod, bass, corn and hard biscuits.

Today’s average Thanksgiving meal would cost $63.89 per person.  For 10 people, the cost would be $638.90.  The items served include roasted turkey, dressing (stuffing in the north), green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce or salad and pumpkin pie.

During the 1950’s, many families also included seafood in their Thanksgiving feasts, such as shrimp cocktail loaf and clam dip.