On October 12, 1847, Arkansas Gov. Thomas Drew issued the state’s very first Thanksgiving proclamation.
Gov. Drew’s proclamation is significant because it came at a time when Thanksgiving was not formally recognized by Congress or the President. Each state had to decide whether or not to set aside a day for giving thanks.
In his proclamation, Gov. Drew highlighted the many blessings Arkansas had enjoyed—including Arkansas’ great people, abundant crops, prosperity, and good health.
He concluded by calling on Arkansans to thank God for these blessings.
Below is a copy of Gov. Drew’s proclamation:
Whereas, an all wise and merciful Providence has dispensed blessings of the most bountiful and diversified character among the people of this state, in the abundance of the various agricultural crops, the universal prosperity of our people and their unexampled good health, it is deemed worthy of a greatful people to make public manifestation of their sense of the renewed obligations under which we have been placed, by the appointment of a day of general THANKSGIVING throughout the state.
Be it known, therefore, that I, Thomas S. Drew, Governor of the State of Arkansas, have appointed Thursday, the 9th day of December next as a day of THANKSGIVING, which is hereby proclaimed and recommended to the good of people in every county and town in the state as a fit day and proper time to acquit ourselves, each and every one, of a high and praiseworthy duty to the Bountiful and Merciful Providence.
Given under my hand at Little Rock and to which is affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas, this 12th day of October, 1847, and the Independence of the United States the seventy-second year.
By the Governor,
Thomas S. Drew
Of course, the question everyone always asks when we talk about that first Thanksgiving is, “What did Arkansans eat at that first Thanksgiving?“
The Department of Arkansas Heritage has said that families likely ate bacon, beef, mutton, pork, veal, and geese.
Butter, eggs, cheese, honey, potatoes, onions, beets, apples, and turnips would have been plentiful as well.
Because states like Arkansas recognized Thanksgiving, the federal government eventually made it an official holiday for the entire nation. Without proclamations like Gov. Drew’s, Thanksgiving as we know it might not exist.
As we take time to give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, it’s good to know Arkansas played a part in the history of one of the most important holidays that our country observes.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
