Formal celebrations of Thanksgiving in Wilcox County, Alabama date all the way back to the 1800s

President Grover Cleveland

Today – Nov. 24 – is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has been celebrated on and off in America ever since 1789 when President George Washington issued a national proclamation declaring it a holiday. Thanksgiving became an official federal holiday in 1870 when Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Holidays Act, and Congress in 1942 passed a law saying that the holiday would be permanently observed on the fourth Thursday of November.

Of course, Thanksgiving has been observed in Wilcox County for a long, long time. Going back through old editions of The Wilcox Progressive Era, the earliest reference to Thanksgiving that I could find was in the Nov. 9, 1887 edition of the newspaper. In that week’s paper, the editors published an extract from President Grover Cleveland’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, which read as follows:

“I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 24^th day of November next, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by all the people of the land. On that day let all secular work and employment be suspended and let all people assemble in their accustomed places of worship and with prayer and song of praise give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all that He has done for us, while we humbly implore forgiveness of our sins, and a continuance of His mercy.”

In the Nov. 23, 1887 edition of the paper, which hit the streets the day before the holiday, it was announced that the following business firms had agreed not to open until 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Those firms included J.J. Moore & Co., W.F. Spurlin, O.B. Savage, R.E. McWilliams, Dr. J.P. Jones, John C. Andrews, L. Simon, A.S. Katzenberg, J.R. Liddell, D.M. Gordon, G.F. Spurlin, Sol. D. Bloch, D.B. & J.C. Jones, W.J. Bonner, A.V. McMillan, Leon Ratcliff, F.B. McCaskey, E.P. Boltz, Turner & Rentz, and Mrs. M.N. McCaskey.

Readers also learned that the Rev. J.C. Duncan would hold a Thanksgiving service in the Presbyterian church and that the Rev. H.D. Hill would hold similar services at the Methodist church. The public was cordially invited to attend both services.

In the Nov. 30, 1887 edition of the newspaper, the edition immediately after Thanksgiving, it was reported that “Thanksgiving was very generally observed Thursday. The two churches, Methodist and Presbyterian, in which services were held, were crowded with large and attentive audiences. The sermons were appropriate to the occasion and were listened to be everyone present.”

There have been over 130 Thanksgivings observed between that 1887 Thanksgiving in Wilcox County and today. Some of those Thanksgivings fell during times of war, disease and economic hard times, and others fell during times of peace, health and prosperity. No matter the circumstances, we all have much to be thankful for. The Lord is always good to us. In the end, I hope everyone reading this has a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.