13th Great Grandmother Mary Brewster Cooked the First Thanksgiving Dinner

Mary (c. 1569 – April 17, 1627) was a Pilgrim and one of the women on the Mayflower. She was the wife of Elder William Brester.  She was one of only five adult women from the Mayflower to survive the first winter in the New World, and one of only four such to survive to the "first Thanksgiving" in 1621, which she helped cook.  As such, she is included in Plimoth Plantation's reenactment of that Thanksgiving. (Wikipedia)

NOTE: How many Pilgrims survived the first winter (1620–1621)? Out of 102 passengers, 51 survived, only four of the married women, Elizabeth Hopkins, Eleanor Billington, Susanna White Winslow, and Mary Brewster.

A page from the "Brewster Book," containing some of the family birth and death records for William and Mary Brewster and their children.

Mrs. Mary Brewster

BIRTH:  About 1569, probably in Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire.
MARRIAGE:  William Brewster, by about 1592, probably in the vicinity of Scrooby, co. Nottingham.
CHILDREN:  Jonathan, Patience, Fear, an unnamed child who died young, Love, and Wrestling.
DEATH:  17 April 1627 at Plymouth.

The English origins of Mrs. Mary Brewster are not known. A number of theories have been proposed over the years, including maiden names such as Wentworth, Love, Wyrall, and others. However, no proof to support any of these hypotheses has been found.

We know that Mary was born about 1569 because she stated she was 40 years old in an affidavit filed in Leiden, Holland on 25 June 1609. She was presumably from the vicinity of Doncaster, Yorkshire or Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, as she married William Brewster in that area about 1592 and had their first son Jonathan in Scrooby a year later. She next had a daughter Patience, born about 1600 or somewhat earlier. About 1606, the church congregation began more formally meeting at the Scrooby manor, where she and husband William resided. About this time, pressure from the English authorities was mounting, and the meetings became more and more secretive. She gave birth to another daughter at this time, which they named Fear. The couple fled just over a year later for Holland with the other members of the congregation, and in Leiden they buried an unnamed child: presumably one that had died in infancy. In 1611, she gave birth to a son they named Love, and two or three years later gave birth to their last son, whom they named Wrestling.

Mary came to Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620 with husband William, and her two youngest children Love and Wrestling. Mary was one of only five adult women to survive the first winter, and one of only four women to survive to the so-called "First Thanksgiving" in 1621. Son Jonathan Brewster joined the family in November 1621, arriving at Plymouth on the ship Fortune. Daughters Patience and Fear came on the ship Anne in 1623. Mary died in 1627 at Plymouth, having reached about the age of 60. Husband William survived her, and would live another 17 years before he died. (MayflowerHistory.com)

Ancestry Chain:

Mary (Mayflower) * maiden names of Wentworth, Love, Wyrall, and others have been suggested. 1570-1627
13th great-grandmother
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Patience Brewster 1607-1634
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Rebecca PRINCE 1627-1704
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Priscilla PUTNAM 1657-1704
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Lydia BAILEY 1695-1750
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John (2nd) Jeffords 1724-1760
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John (3rd) Jeffords 1746-
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Lucretia Jeffords 1766-1843
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Amariah Rawson 1787-1843
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Adaline RAWSON 1811-1841
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Mary DUNN 1833-1920
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Harriet Camilla ENSIGN 1859-1930
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George Ensign SMITH 1898-1967
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Camilla SMITH 1926-1999
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Lark
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JR

Happy Thanksgiving

1971 Our first Thanksgiving without grandparents.
Dad as usual was behind the camera.

Your 7 Mayflower grandparents - 5 lived to attend the first thanksgiving.  

1-William Brewster - 13th great grandfather.

2-Mrs. Mary Brewster wife of William - 13th great grandmother. [possible maiden name - Wentworth]

3-Edward Fuller - 13th great grandfather . He died the first year. 

4-Mrs [Ann] Fuller - 13th great grandmother. She died the first year. [some people are not sure her name was Ann]

5-Samuel Fuller - 12th great grandfather  son of Edward [On the Mayflower at age 12. He should not be confused with his uncle Doctor Samuel Fuller who was also on the Mayflower.] 

Two disputed grandfathers: 

6-Peter Brown - 10th great grandfather. [Some people may disagree about Peter Brown Jr. as Peter Brown's son]

7-Stephen Hopkins - 12th great grandfather. [Some people may disagree about Berthia HOPKINS as Stephen Hopins daughter.] 

NOTE: for information on these grandparents follow the Mayflower label. 

I am Thankful for my family then and now.

Amy Ella HAWKES SMITH (1897-1971),
Laura Elizabeth PARKER WOOD (1889-1970),
with JBW the youngest grandchild of both.

Holidays 1968

My teenage holidays included both my grandmothers. Through out the 1960's every Thanksgiving and Christmas we would host our grandparents for the Holiday meal. Grandma Laura had been widowed in 1932. Grandma Ella spend several years caring for Grandpa Ensign (1898-1967) before he could not attend anymore. He was in the hospital for the last two years of his life. Almost all of my parents siblings had moved from Salt Lake, that gave us the opportunity to be very close to our grandparents, we rarely had to share them. Several times aunt Leona and her daughters would travel, joining us for the Holiday. And a couple time uncle Lex and his wife Marge would attend. Grandma Ella was always in her apron she did as much cooking as mother did. I loved her candied yams and her bread stuffing. My dad wanted the stuffing a little more moist or dry I can't remember which.

Thanks to my sister for inviting my children to her Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving Day

Kirt DeMar WOOD (12 Dec 1923 - 26 Nov 1987).
I remember the goodness, the greatness and the faithfulness to Gospel truth.

Thanksgiving a day to rest, to give thanks and remember. Religious in origin, Thanksgiving is a part of our family history since 1621 in the Plymouth colony. In my life time it brings back memories of Mother and Grandmas in aprons, of Grandpa with a large cloth napkin tucked in his collar and of cousins. Loretta did not like sweet potatoes. I thought every family had grandmothers from both side at their table, I'm thankful for that memory.

I remember the first Thanksgiving away when I met the family of the man I would marry. Grandma Wanda made stuffing to please, stove top for Heather, oyster for everyone else but no sage. That may be why I remember the stuffing. My grandmother Ella used sage so when she no longer made the stuffing my mother also used sage. The first year my husband had Thanksgiving in with my family he remembers so much sage it burned this throat.

Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for my Dad who died at 6:30 a.m. Thanksgiving day 1987. I have not begun a Thanksgiving day in the last 22 years without remember my wonderful Dad, his goodness, his greatness and his faithfulness to Gospel truth.

The memories of Thanksgiving with my husband and children are the greatest. We lived too far to join our greater families. My husband is the pie maker. Thanksgiving is one of our pie holidays with lots of different kinds of pie. One year when grandma Cami joined us she told me "you could not make pecan pie at home." Even the year he left the sugar out, proved her wrong. My girls have learned by example and they are all pie makers. Now we have this pie holiday to give thanks and remember together from New York to Minnesota to Utah and back. We remember and give thanks. We will all report what kinds of pies are shared.

I am thankful for all of my loved ones, their goodness and their greatness and their faithfulness to Gospel truth.

10th great grandfather Edward RAWSON and America's offical Thanksgiving Day

THE ORIGINS OF THANKSGIVING IN AMERICA

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~homespun/tg.html

The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating.

At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives....

This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623, during a severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day, Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends.

It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed. On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established.

By unanimous vote they instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving. It is notable that this thanksgiving celebration probably did not include the Indians, as the celebration was meant partly to be in recognition of the colonists' recent victory over the "heathen natives"

October of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair. George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although some were opposed to it.

There was discord among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few Pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later, President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving. It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving.

Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season.

Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.