Era or Event: 1780s-1850s: Early Republic

State of New Hampshire.

By the Governor,

A Proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving.

Gratitude to God, whose power upholds, and whose bounty surrounds us with innumerable sources of enjoyment and of happiness, is our obvious duty as intelligent and dependent beings.

That opportunity may be afforded us publicly and united to cultivate dispositions of heart correspondent to our obligations to the Divine Goodness; to render to our Supreme Benefactor an affectionate tribute of thanks and praise; to acknowledge our past ingratitude, humbly implore the pardon of our sins and the continuance of His parental kindness; it has been thought fit to appoint, and with the advice of the Council, I do hereby appoint, Thursday the twenty-eighth day of November next, to be observed as a day of prayer and thanksgiving throughout this State.

I recommend to the ministers and people of every religious persuasion to assemble on that day in their respective places of public worship and unite in devout and humble acknowledgments to Almighty God for the many favors, personal, civil, and religious, which we enjoy from His Goodness; That the past year has been peculiarly distinguished by His Mercy and Beneficence; That health has diffused its blessing generally throughout the State; That the earth has repaid the labors of husbandry with an abundant increase; That all the pursuits of our industry have been favored with success; and that Providence has bountifully bestowed and continued to us all that variety of good, which is adapted to sustain and extend our individual and social happiness; That a free and enlightened Government continues to afford the most perfect security to our civil and religious rights; and that with the enjoyment of liberty we possess the means of knowledge and the inestimable instructions of divine Revelation, which clearly communicate our duty to God and man, and disclose to us the path to temporal felicity and future happiness.

Whilst we render thanks to our Heavenly Father for his mercies, let us penitently confess our sins, seek his compassion and forgiveness, and humbly pray, that He would direct us in the performance of our duties; That He would guide all men to the knowledge of the truth, and cause the religion of the Gospel to be every where known and obeyed; That its benign and holy doctrines may so influence the hearts of men as to restrain every vicious inclination, and unfold and strengthen every virtuous and pious affection; That ignorance and vice, tyranny and superstition may ever where give place to knowledge and virtue, to liberty and pure religion; That he would prosper our seminaries of learning, and all our means of education; give success to our laudable pursuits, and continue to us the enjoyment of health and prosperity; That He would beneficently regard the Government of our State and Nation, and direct them to such measures, as may preserve the purity of our institutions, and continue to our remotest posterity the blessings which flow from liberty connected with knowledge, virtue and piety.

The people of this State are requested to abstain from all unnecessary labor, and from recreation unbecoming the occasion.

Given at the Council Chamber at Concord, this twenty-eighth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the forty-seventh.

Samuel Bell.
By His Excellency’s Command, with Advice of Council.

[signed] Richard Bartlett
Deputy Secretary

This is the written text of a proclamation for a day of public thanksgiving and prayer given by Caleb Strong (Delegate to the Constitutional Convention), Governor of Massachusetts. The proclamation was issued on October 8, 1813 and was declaring November 25, 1813 a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer.

THE revolving year has again brought us to the season, in which we have been accustomed to unite, in offering our public tribute of Thanksgiving and Praise to the Supreme Being, for the gifts of Providence conferred upon us. And though, in His just displeasure, He permits our country to be still involved in the calamities of war, yet He has not left Himself without witness, in doing us good, and giving us rain from Heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. It is our duty, then, renewably to present our public and grateful acknowledgments to Him, from whose bounty all our blessing are derived; to implore that He would support us under the adversities we meet with, by His Almighty Power, and guide us in the way we should go, by His unerring wisdom.

I do, therefore, with the advice and consent of the Council, appoint THURSDAY, the Twenty-Fifth Day of November next, to be observed by the People of this State as a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer. And the Ministers and People of each religious denomination are requested to meet together on that day, that we may unite in paying our humble adoration and praise to the Great Parent of the World, for the display of His goodness in the works of Creation and the ways of Providence, for the protection afforded to the People of this State, from its first settlement, for the numerous favors which He has vouchsafed to them, in the course of the last year, for His blessing on the labors of the husbandman, and the provision that it made for the supply of our wants, for the measure of health which the people have enjoyed in the course of the year; and that they have been exempt in so great a degree from the terrors and devastations of War, For the delights of friendly intercourse, and the preservation of so many of those with whom we have been intimately connected by the ties of friendship or relation, For His kindness to us, as individuals, and the support He has afforded us, from our infancy, in the various stages through which we have been passed, For the numerous deliverances from dangers and distress, which He has wrought for us; and all the temporal blessings conferred upon us, which are more than can be numbered, and especially for the Gospel of Christ, which is designed to purify and exalt our nature, which inspires and inculcates the love and practice of righteousness, and opens to our view the prospect of a glorious immortality.

And while we thank the Author of our mercies for all the benefits we have received, let us confide in Him for all that we want; and entreat Him, that He would still be merciful to the people of this state, and cause His anger towards us to cease, that by His former kindness to our forefathers and to us, we may be encouraged to trust in His mercy, and honor Him by our sincere and faithful obedience; and that a deep conviction of His constant and universal agency may afford us consolation amid the fearful and perplexing changes which are taking place in the world. That we may be grateful in prosperity, and resigned in adversity, and acknowledge the wisdom and goodness of God in whatever He bestows, withholds or inflicts, that He would save us from the power of the sword, and from the ravages and alarms of war, and give us quietness and safety in our borders; and that the People may be at peace among themselves, and, if it be possible, live peaceably with all men.

That He would preserve the Union of these States, and that our rulers may be governed by a spirit of wisdom, moderation and justice, and be guided by the mild influences of that religion which breathes only benevolence and peace, that He would guard us against us any fatal injury from foreign connections or partialities, that the War in which we are involved may be speedily terminated, and the hearts of all who are engaged in it be disposed to peace and justice, and that He would give us true repentance for all our sins, and especially for those which have occasioned the calamities we suffer; and convince us of our errors by the mischiefs they bring upon us, so that neither interest, prejudice nor passion may hinder us from discerning the truth.

That He would put an end to the sanguinary war which has overspread the whole Christian world, and that every contending nation may impartially inquire upon whom the stain of blood guiltiness lies, that He would change the hearts of oppressors by His grace, or restrain their malignity by His power; and reclaim from the error of their ways all those who are engaged in unrighteous war, that He would be gracious to those countries which are made desolate by the sword of an invading enemy, and cause the influence of Gospel of Peace to be extended to every nation, that He would enlarge the borders of the Redeemer’s Kingdom. That exalted honors may everywhere be paid Him, and all the ends of the earth look unto Him and be saved.

And the people are requested to abstain from such labor and recreation as shall be inconsistent with the religious services above recommended.

Given at the Council Chamber, in Boston, this Eighth Day of October, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirteen, and in the Thirty-Eighth Year of the Independence of the United States of America.

CALEB STRONG.

By His Excellency the Governor,
With the advice and consent of the Council

ALDEN BRADFORD, Secretary of the Commonwealth
God Save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!

This proclamation was issued by New Jersey governor, Aaron Ogden, for a day of Thanksgiving on January 1, 1813. It was printed in the National Intelligencer on December 15, 1812.

I do, therefore, with and by the unanimous advice of the privy council of this state, recommend and appoint Friday the first day of January next, to be observed by all religious societies of people within this state as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to the most High Ruler of nations; and I do invite my fellow citizens of all denominations, to abstain from unsuitable amusements and worldly occupations, and devoutly to assemble in their several places of religious worship, on that day, to offer Him their homage for His multiplied blessings, through the past year, particularly recalling with thankfulness, in His presence, the general healthfulness and fertility of the season, which have crowned the hopes of the husbandmen with plenty, rendering praise to Him for the continued preservation of our inestimable privilege, civil and religious; for that general and peaceful submission to the wholesome laws of the state, which has not been disturbed among us by the violent impulses of party zeal; for that charitable and harmonious union, which prevails among all sects in their salutary endeavors to advance the interest of morality and piety; for tranquility in all our borders, so that while we behold, at distance, the fail of so many ruined dynasties and oppressed republics, we have been enabled to preserve our freedom and independence unimpaired; for our happy exemption from invasion and insurrection, and all those heavy calamities with which divine providence often chastises the iniquities of offending nations, above all we are called upon now, and at all times, to renew the sentiments of our most profound gratitude to the God of all mercy and grace for the precious gift of divine truth and for the consoling hope of life and immortality, as brought to light by the blessed Redeemer, Christ Jesus our Lord.

And I do earnestly recommend that along with the devout acknowledgment of the mercies of Almighty God we add our humble and fervent supplications for the aid of His Holy Spirit, to sanctify all these blessings, to their proper end, the amendment of our lives and strengthening in our hearts the purposes of new obedience – that He would mercifully please to bestow His effectual benediction on all the public interests of the state and of the nation, and on the private and lawful enterprises of our citizens – that He would prosper and extend the means of useful, liberal and religious instruction, and that the youth of the republic imbued with sound principles of virtue, piety and patriotism, may strenuously defend the fair inheritance which God hath given us, and to transmit it to the following age – that it would please Him who holds in His hands the hearts of all men, so to direct the councils of the general government, as most effectually to subserve the best interests of this great people, uninfluenced by private views, unperverted by party attachments, and neither seduced or awed by the intrigues or menaces of foreign powers – that foreign injustice may be repressed – that the measures of our own government may be always actuated by a spirit of justice, impartiality and temperate firmness towards all nations – that our armies and navies may be under the guidance and protection of a kind Providence – that peace may be restored to our afflicted country on just and honorable terms – that we may be speedily reinstated in the free enjoyment of our commercial industry – that the happy union of these states may not be dissolved – that we may be preserved from that most pernicious abuse of liberty, which refusing subjection to the peaceful laws of the land, would accomplish the purposes of its own passions by unlawful and tumultuous violence, tending to bloodshed and murder – that we may be preserved from the dangers of an unequal and treacherous alliances – that we may be ever able to rest the defence of our beloved country on our own virtues, and our own energies – and finally that God, the Almighty Ruler and Father of the universe, would graciously put an end to the wars and calamities which have so long disturbed and desolated the earth, and hasten the establishment of the empire of righteousness and peace.

AARON OGDEN.

By command,
JAMES LINN, Secretary.

This is the text of a proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving, Praise and Prayer, issued by Elbridge Gerry (Signer of the Declaration of Independence; Framer of the Bill of Rights), while he was serving as governor of Massachusetts. The proclamation was issued on October 22, 1811 and was declaring November 21, 1811 to be the day of Thanksgiving.

“The Lord reigneth, let the earth,” let all creation, “rejoice.” The innumerable blessings conferred by our divine benefactor, during the present and in every preceding year, on the inhabitants of this Commonwealth, proclaim their duty, to offer to Him, at all times, with unbounded gratitude, their cheerful acknowledgments of His perpetual favors. To implore, with the deepest humility, His pardon of their multiplied and aggravated offenses, to resolve, with unfeigned sincerity, on an implicit obedience to His sovereign will, and to supplicate, with true devotion, His indispensable aid, in every religious, moral, and lawful pursuit.

Impressed by these considerations, and by the usage of our venerable Ancestors, at the close of harvest, I have thought fit, by the advice of the council, to appoint, and I do hereby appoint THURSDAY, the TWENTY-FIRST of NOVEMBER next, to be a day of Public THANKSGIVING, PRAISE, and PRAYER, throughout this Commonwealth; calling on and requesting the ministers and people of every religious denomination, to meet on that day in their respective sanctuaries, that with unanimity and fervor, we may present our unfeigned praises for all the mercies we have received of our Bountiful Creator, who has continued to us the inestimable blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, blessings not confined to time, but extended to eternity, who has confirmed to us our federal and State constitutions, which secure the enjoyment of our lives, liberties and property, who continues to bless us with a National Government and Administration, whose wisdom, virtue, and firmness have not been circumvented, corrupted or appalled by the arts, seductions, or threats of foreign or domestic foes, but whose patriotic efforts have uniformly and manifestly resulted from an ardent desire to promote the public welfare and happiness, who has not punished our ungrateful murmurs, discontents and other crimes, as He has those of distant nations, by war and its dire effects; but has preserved to us peace, the greatest of national blessings, who has favored us with a Clergy, (with few exceptions,) whose conduct, is influenced by the mild, benign and benevolent principles of the Gospel; and whose example is a constant admonition to such pastors and professors of Christianity, as are too much under the guidance of passion, prejudice, and worldly delusion, Who has enabled us from unavoidable spoliations to derive permanent benefits, by gradually diminishing our dependence on foreign markets, for necessary supplies; by rapidly increasing our manufactures thereof; and by thus preventing in future the plunder of such property by avaricious nations, who has not visited us, as He has other countries, with plague, pestilence or famine; but has kindly preserved to us a great degree of health, and crowned with plenty the labors of our industrious husbandmen, Who has increased the martial ardor and discipline of our militia, and enables us to smile at the menaces of mighty potentates, Who continues to us the due administration of justice, the full and free exercise of our civil religious rights, and the numerous blessing which have resulted from them, Who has prospered in a remarkable degree our Schools, Academies and Colleges; those inestimable sources of public information and happiness, who has protected so great a portion of the property of our merchants, when exposed to the depredations of perfidious governments, Who has granted success to our enterprising fishermen, prospered our ingenious mechanics, and loaded us with His boundless munificence.

And whilst with circumscribed views, we contemplate that Incomprehensible Being whose infinite wisdom and power are displayed in the creation, formation, combination and government of all material substances, animate or inanimate, minute or massive, and in the order and offices prescribed for and performed by the various parts of the Universe, Whose omnipresence is excluded, by neither spirit or matter; but fills all creation and space, let us acknowledge our dependence on His infinite goodness and mercy, for every moment of our existence; consider that all our thoughts, words and actions are open to His view; be convinced that in His presence we are mere nullities; and approach Him with solemn awe and reverence, whilst we humbly solicit, that He will freely pardon our numberless sins and iniquities, that He will be pleased to continue to us the unmerited favors, spiritual and temporal, which we now enjoy, that He will extend throughout the globe, the celestial blessing of the gospel of Christ, that He will place our National and State governments under His wise and holy protection; and direct them always to pursue the true interest and happiness of the people, that He will revive, increase, and protect our commerce, and continue His smiles on our husbandmen, manufacturers, mechanics, fishermen, and every description and individual of the inhabitants of this State and Nation, that He will preserve in health, and long continue the valuable life of the President of United States, that He will restore to the citizens of this commonwealth those indispensable sources of enjoyment and happiness, their wonted benevolence and affection for each other, long interrupted by political, casual, and uncontrollable events, that He will promote the progress of useful arts and sciences, that He will declare to the mighty warriors and destroyers of human felicity, “thus far has thou gone, but thou shalt go no farther,” and, that health, peace, and happiness may pervade all nations of the earth.

And I do earnestly recommend to the Citizens of the Commonwealth to enjoy this festival rationally, and to abstain from unnecessary labor, and from recreations inconsistent with their duty on that day.

Given at the council chamber in Boston this twenty-second day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven, and in the thirty-sixth year of the Independence of the United States.

E. GERRY.

By His Excellency the Governor, with the
advice and consent of the Council.

BENJAMIN HOMANS, Secretary.

God Save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.