Galesburg Will Feast on Turkeys and Cranberries By Barbara Schock The people of Galesburg, many
of whom were originally from the New England
states, celebrated Thanksgiving in the traditional
manner. An abundance of food and relatives being
the primary ingredients. The Pilgrims of 1620 had
days of thanksgiving when droughts ended, or other
times when they felt God had treated them
favorably. After the harvest was in, the
townspeople of New England would celebrate the
bounty with a festival of food, games and sporting
events. President George Washington
set the last Thursday of November, 1789, as a day
of thanksgiving for the adoption of the
Constitution. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln reaffirmed
the idea of a day of thanksgiving to remind
citizens of the blessings they enjoyed in spite of
the Civil War. Prayers for peace and restoration
of the Union would be appropriate as well. The Galesburg Daily Mail
reported on November 28, 1893, the day before
Thanksgiving, that turkeys were plentiful in the
shops. Dressed turkeys were 12 cents a pound.
Those with “feathers and in possession of all
their faculties” were 7 to 8 cents a pound. Of
course, the businessmen were prepared to also sell
duck, goose and chicken. Cranberries and oysters
were selling at reasonable prices. Some business
houses closed for the afternoon of Thanksgiving
Day and others gave their employees the entire day
off. On Wednesday, students in the
city schools were let out for Thanksgiving Day.
They didn’t have to return to school until the
following Monday. As was the custom, the students
presented musical selections and recitations in
their classrooms before being dismissed for the
holiday. Many of the children brought
apples, canned vegetables, potatoes and clothing
which were to be given to the poor. The City
Poormaster and the Dorcas Society would see to the
distribution of the goods. Miss Rilla C. Meeker’s grammar school class gave readings and recitations in their classroom beginning and ending with singing. The last person on the program was Martin Sanburg, who gave a presentation on conundrums. Carl Sandburg’s younger brother was just about the right age to be in the class even though the newspaper may have misspelled the surname. Central Primary School had an
extensive program of recitations, short skits and
songs about Thanksgiving. Hitchcock, Weston,
Bateman and Lincoln Schools had similar programs
under the direction of classroom teachers. August and Clara Sandburg
doubtless made plans for Thanksgiving. August’s
cousin Magnus Holmes lived on North Seminary
Street in Galesburg. Clara’s cousin, Lena Kranz
and her family lived on a farm north of Galesburg.
The families often got together for meals and
visits. We hope every family in the
city had an enjoyable holiday. Soon the effects of
the Panic of 1893 would begin to be felt by many
families in the city. For example, the railroad
would cut workers hours to less than half of what
they had been the year before. Such a large
reduction would diminish the living standard of
many families through much of the rest of the
decade.
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