Proclamation – Thanksgiving – 1887, Massachusetts

Oliver Ames (1831-1895) was governor of Massachusetts from 1887-1890. This proclamation was issued on October 26, 1887 for a day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer to be held on November 24, 1887. (See also the Massachusetts 1887 Fasting Proclamation here.)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
By His Excellency
Oliver Ames, Governor
A Proclamation of Thanksgiving and Praise

In accordance with a good and honored custom established by our fathers, which has added to the happiness of all who have dwelt within our boundaries.

I hereby appoint, with the advice and consent of the Council, Thursday, the twenty-fourth day of November next, to be a day of Public Thanksgiving and Praise to Almighty God for his rich and constant blessings to the people of our beloved Commonwealth.

Let us, on that day, assemble in our places of public worship, and meet our loved ones in the privacy of our homes, not forgetting the unfortunate, the needy, and the sorrowing, but letting our hearts go out to them with the charity of our sympathy and of our abundance.

Let us remember with gratitude that we live under political institutions which guarantee freedom of conscience to all, and which open every avenue of education and virtue to all who desire to walk therein.

Let us humbly acknowledge our dependence upon Him from whom all blessings flow, and heartily thank Him for the prosperity which prevails throughout the Commonwealth.

Given at the Council Chamber, in Boston, this twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and twelfth.

Oliver Ames,

By His Excellency, the Governor, with the Advice of the Council.
Henry Peirce, Secretary.

God Save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.