Special Thanksgiving Facts

I wanted to publish this post on Thanksgiving day, but after enjoying a large, Thanksgiving meal with my family, I was too tired and full to write a post. 

Since it is still the month of November, hopefully readers won't mind a Thanksgiving post a few days late. 

This Thanksgiving reminded me of some special Thanksgiving facts that I couldn't resist sharing in a blog post. 

First of all, meet “Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim”.  

Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim.

This was a craft project that I made years ago at the age of 11 with a homeschool group we were part of when we lived in California. The wood pieces were pre-cut, and if I remember correctly, we stained them, and then glued all of the pieces together. The gluing is the part I remember the most as a girl.

My mom displayed them for many years. Recently, she gave them back to me as a keepsake. I love pulling them out around Thanksgiving. They are a reminder to me of my American history, the pilgrims who came here, and of the first Thanksgiving.  

This Thanksgiving, the year of 2020, marked exactly 400 years since the sailing of the Mayflower from England in the year of 1620.  

I thought that was very special and historical. 

According to Wikipedia, the Pilgrims set sail from England in September of 1620 and landed in America in November of 1620. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving the following year of 1621. 

As a girl, I loved the story of the pilgrims who came here on the Mayflower from England. I used to think it would be so special if I had ancestors who could have been on that ship, especially since my heritage is predominantly English. My ancestors came from England, through both my Dad and my Mom. As far as I knew, none of my ancestors were on the Mayflower. 

This summer, I got an email one evening from Ancestry, a website where I have my family tree saved. I got a notification stating that one of my ancestors had relatives that came over on the Mayflower. I could hardly believe it! I was so excited to find that out and on the 400th year anniversary, no less. 

Stephen Hopkins and his family are my relatives that came here on the Mayflower. The connection? 

My 7th Great Grandparents were named Daniel and Elizabeth Cross. Elizabeth's maiden name was Abbe. She was Elizabeth Abbe before becoming Elizabeth Cross. Her father's name was Ebenezer Abbe. The connection comes through them. It's a very distant connection, but nonetheless, it is there. 

And last, but not least, is another special fact surrounding Thanksgiving.

The Hebrew word in the Bible that is used for “give thanks” is the word “hodu”. 

The Hebrew word “hodu” also means “turkey”. 

Amazing, isn't it?! 

I recently did a Google search asking: 

“Why do Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving?”

I was not able to get a clear answer. Some sites said that the pilgrims and first settlers may have eaten turkey, but we are not certain that they did. 

The tradition of Americans eating turkey on Thanksgiving did not begin until later years in American history.   

Where did we get this tradition from? 

I believe it came from the Hebrew Bible inside the simple word “hodu” which means “give thanks”

and “turkey”. 

I really believe this is exactly why Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving. 

Remember that next year when we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the very first Thanksgiving here in 1621 - in our wonderful and abundantly blessed land!