04 Nov 2025 Giving thanks

Posted at 10:22 AMh in Features by

By Vivian Lawson Hogue

It is November, the month we give thanks. It is also time to acknowledge 102 passengers on a ship called the Mayflower. Seventy-four brave males and 28 even braver females went forth to the New World. Some of each group were babies or teens. Oh, and chickens, pigs, goats and two dogs. Noah would have been proud. Many Native tribes were present, having emigrated from Asia eons before while following animal herds across the temporarily passable Bering Strait. And other human ethnicities came before them!

Young people on shipboard had odd names, but they primarily stood for traits parents hoped they would acquire. Some of these were Love, Wrestling, Resolved, Humility, Remember, Desire, Oceanus and Peregrine. Oceanus was born at sea, of course, and Peregrine was named for a sea bird.

Moms had sources for formula, but all others dined on very little and had no cellphones to replace conversation. There is no recorded data on what they did for diapers, deodorant or even an outhouse.

All discomforts aside, they sailed the Atlantic from Sept. 6 to Nov. 9 in 1620. They were all pilgrims, or travelers, but about half were called Puritans, and the rest, the Saints. In 1611, the King James Bible was published, the Church of England was formed, yet eventually, people realized that leaders in the Church of England were teaching the previous church’s doctrines and Bible interpretations, and the Puritans and Saints objected. Both groups were then persecuted in England and Holland for their Protestant beliefs. They made plans to go elsewhere in 1620, taking their Bibles with them for encouragement and for teaching children how to read. Imagine, there were only 102 people who made us what we are. We are now 347,695,334 people in a free country, coast-to-coast and beyond.

Soon after landing, the Pilgrims recognized there were community needs and decided to compose the Mayflower Compact. It actually contained the pattern for governing they deemed necessary for a peaceful co-existence.

Some in today’s society often struggle with the idea that America was founded by believers in the Christian God. After landing, a “greeting” was sent to King James. Some excerpts may finally answer the question for all. It begins, “In the name of God, Amen. Having undertaken for the glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith … a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern part of Virginia, [we] do in the presence of God and one another, covenant [agree] and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering [civility] and Preservation [of life] …” 

They wished to “enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices as shall be thought most meet [fair] and convenient for the General good of the colony.” These were the initial founding fathers, and it is generally agreed that the compact was the successful, equitable pattern for the Articles of Confederation and the 1789 Constitution of the United States.

Five passengers died at sea, and during the first winter after landing and settling, 53 died of disease, hunger and unbearably cold weather. Considering all of this, Abraham Lincoln was right to create the annual Thanksgiving commemoration in 1863. 

In retrospect, I believe I have much for which to be grateful. I am thankful I was born and raised in Conway when it was truly a small town with factories, dairies, farms and long-time small businesses where they knew your name, family and probably the house in which you lived. I am grateful my mother taught me to cook, iron, clean and to keep my hands away from the wringer washing machine. I am grateful that she and dad taught us manners and public behavior (Do NOT sass back. Don’t run or touch anything in stores. Don’t interrupt people in conversation.)

I am grateful that our parents made the long-term sacrifices to see all of us through higher education. I’m grateful for the times my dad and I sat in nearby chairs working crossword puzzles. What a mind for words he had — my own in-house dictionary/thesaurus and search engine! Taught me to do crosswords in ink. I’m also still grateful for his botanical, bird and animal knowledge. (Do you know that birds stop singing when a storm approaches and start up again when it is over? That’s how you know you can go to Walmart.) 

I hope this Thanksgiving will find you thinking of situations you didn’t consider beneficial. If you haven’t already, you will eventually realize their purposes. You are here, known by the God of the Pilgrims long before you showed up red-faced, crying and needing mom and a diaper. You arrived with a purpose, which you may or may not have served yet. Look for it and look for Him. Neither will involve sailing the Atlantic in a “wave-rocked cradle” with no outhouse, and for that alone, you’ll be thankful!

Vivian Lawson Hogue
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