Sarah Josepha Buell Hale
“Mother of the American Thanksgiving”
by Patricia Cummings
Sarah Josepha Hale, (1788-1879), who is called “the Mother of the American Thanksgiving,” is more well-known as the Newport, New Hampshire woman who became editor, or "editress," as she preferred to be called, of the popular nineteenth century publication known as Godey's Lady's Book. Hale was an influential leader who persuaded President Lincoln to declare an annual day of Thanksgiving in 1864. Initially, the date of August 6 had been set, by proclamation.
Sarah Josepha Hale
born October 24, 1788; died April 30, 1879
In 1842, Hale's first mentioned the idea of a national Thanksgiving, according to a book, To My Countrywomen: The Life of Sarah Josepha Hale by Muriel L. Dubois (Apprentice Shop Books, LLC, Bedford, NH, 2006). Thereafter, Hale and her assistant had labored intently to see that dream come true. She believed that the country should follow George Washington's lead. He had selected November 26, 1789, during the fourth week of the month, as a day for the country to engage in prayerful worship to acknowledge its blessings. Therefore, she was dismayed when the August date was declared.
First Thanksgiving One of Fasting
In the book, Sarah Josepha Hale: The Life and Times of a Nineteenth-Century Woman by Norma R. Fryatt (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1975), the author states that the Puritans, the first to set aside a day of Thanksgiving, fasted and gave thanks, rather than feasted. This was also true of George Washington's designated day of collective thanksgiving.
In Hale's first novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England, her abolitionist sentiments ring clear when she suggests that 40,000 churches accept donations on a day of Thanksgiving and use the funds to free the slaves so that all of America could truly be free. To accomplish her goal, she began a vigorous letter writing campaign, and helped by her assistant, they sent out thousands of handwritten letters to lobby politicians for a national holiday. As a direct result of her letters and especially her editorials, the campaign succeeded.
Sarah's Education and Family
Sarah was initially taught at home by her mother. However, Sarah's brother Horatio Buell, who attended Dartmouth College, is the person responsible
for her "higher" education. He tutored Sarah in many
subjects of study, as he learned about them himself. In spite of
having had only one formal year of education, Sarah learned enough from
her brother to start a "dame" school for boys and girls.
Reportedly, this school was the site where the actual incident occurred of a lamb following a child to school. The story is the basis of her poem, "Mary's Lamb," written in 1830, and later published as the beloved and well-known poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb." New Hampshire artist, Tomie dePaola illustrated the poem in a book for children in 1984.
Later, as editress, Hale customarily recommended specific textbooks on topics such as learning how to be a better writer, and other scholarly subjects, to her readers of Godey's Lady's Book.
Her father, Captain Gordon Buell, served in the American Revolutionary War. In 1811, he and his wife, Martha Whittlesay Buell, settled onto a farm in Newport, New Hampshire.
A Home of Her Own
Sarah fell in love with David Hale and married him in 1813. The ceremony took place at the Rising Star Tavern (which was also an inn), that her father owned after leaving his four hundred acre farm in Newport, New Hampshire that had been awarded to him via a land grant. The physical building where the business was located is now a private residence that still stands on Main Street in Newport, New Hampshire, one of those "sleepy" little New England towns, complete with white church abutting one corner of the Village Green. David Hale established a law practice in the town.
The couple enjoyed nine years of sitting by the fire and sharing their studies, on a variety of subjects, especially Botany, an area of study that was quite popular during Victorian times, as well as French, Mineralogy, and Geology, according to The Lady of Godey's by Ruth E. Finley (Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1931). Finley was an early twentieth century historian, (who also wrote about quilt history.) Two evening hours per night, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., were set aside for their intellectual pursuits.
As fate would have it, their relationship was short-lived. After having been caught in a sudden and unexpected September snow storm while returning from the adjoining town of Guild, in horse and carriage, David became seriously ill and died of pneumonia on September 25, 1822.
Five Children to Raise
Sarah's oldest son, David Emerson, born in 1815, was only seven years old, and she had three other children, too: Horatio (1817), Frances Ann (1819), and Sarah Josepha (1820). Her yet unborn child, named William George, arrived on October 9, 1822, just two weeks after his father's death. Sarah Josepha Hale's world suddenly had turned upside-down.
Hale Begins Lifetime Career As Editor
Now, she wondered how she could
make ends meet to support the children. She opened a millinery shop in town with her sister-in-law. The shop was backed by Masons who had been friends of David. She did not enjoy the work, and at every spare moment, engaged in reading or writing.
An avid writer, her works had begun to attract attention in literary circles. Her first book of poetry was called, The Genius of Oblivion; and Other Original Poems.
In 1827, after Sarah had just written her first novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England, that book caught the attention of Reverend John Blake of Boston. He had planned to launch Ladies Magazine that same year, and he invited Sarah to become the editor of the new publication. She gladly accepted the task and took her two youngest children with her to Boston.
Later, the magazine would become renamed the American Ladies Magazine. Ultimately, the journal would be sold to Louis Godey of Philadelphia and would become known as Godey's Lady's Book from 1830-1898. When we consider that Sarah did not retire from that position until the age of eighty-nine, in 1877, just two years before her death in 1879, Sarah Josepha Hale's dedication as editress of the publication is apparent.
Sarah's Contribution
Of Sarah, the following statement was made by Ruth Finley:
Her real contribution lies in the fact that, having the soul of a modern, she understood--and deliberately employed--Victorianism as a link, a transition, between the lethargic indifference of the eighteenth century, that regarded woman as a highly prized chattel, and the nineteenth century's dream of woman's destiny--economic and moral freedom.
“The Book” provided readers with much food for thought. They could follow the latest trends in fashion and they could enjoy essays, short stories, and poems written by writers of the day such as Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville, men who would gain national prominence.
Ironically, in spite of the fact that the colorplates of costumes featured in Godey's Lady's Book have become prized among collectors, at the time of their publication, the editress resented their inclusion, and ran them only at the insistence of Mr. Godey.
Hand-painted colorplates featured fashions of the day
Sarah Hale was very opinionated and stirred up readers with such notions as the one that women should be accepted into medical school. At the same time, she seemed to fully ascribe to prevalent Victorian thought including the idea that a woman's duty was to exemplify virtue by example, leading the family both morally and spiritually. This overall role of women in the home, during the late nineteenth century is often referred to as the “Cult of Domesticity,” and/or the “Cult of True Womanhood.”
Conflict of Interest?
For all of her wishes that women be educated, Sarah Josepha Hale did not believe in a woman's right to vote. Perhaps the militant attitude and the actions of the Suffragettes seemed too contrary to the idealized notion of women as demure, subservient, and pretty, sitting around embroidering Duster Bags in which to keep a dust rag handy, in case of drop-in company. An item of that type was presented as a pattern in one of the issues of Godey's Lady's Book. Hale was very much a progressive woman for the times in which she lived, and yet, to some degree, she appears to conform to Victorian conventions.
Dedication to Education
Legendary
Hale's dedication to education for women resulted in her advocacy for the start of Vassar College, a school just for women. She strongly suggested to her friend, Michael Vassar, that the teachers hired there should be women. When the school opened, there were twenty-two women instructors, and only eight men.
Hale gave the new school a terrific amount of advance publicity through her editorials of endorsement for it. Yet, it would not have been true to form had she not shared her opinions. She objected to the chosen name: Vassar's Female College. She stated that she did not want the name of the college to reflect the animal status of its participants (my paraphrase). Customarily, she had instructed her readers to cross out the word “female,” whenever they came across it, in print, and write in "girl," or "woman," etc. She simply hated the word “female.”
Impressive Body of Work
We cannot discuss Sarah Josepha Hale's life without mentioning her nearly fifty volumes of literary works that include prose, poetry, and children's literature.
In an 1868 Godey's Lady's Book, she shared the following poem:
“Our National Thanksgiving”
All the blessings of the
fields,
All the stores the garden
yields,
All the plenty summer pours,
Autumn's rich, o'erflowing
stores,
Peace, prosperity and
health,
Private bliss and public
wealth,
Knowledge with its
gladdening streams,
Pure religion's holier
beams:
Lord, for these our souls
shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn
praise.
A contemporary poet of Sarah Joseph Hale was Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) whose poem, “The New England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day,” is one that has resonated in my head, since childhood, because at my school, we had to memorize the first four stanzas of the lengthy poem. In case you are not familiar with this work, let me share the first stanza:
Over the river and through
the wood,
To grandfather's house we
go:
The horse knows the way,
To carry the sleigh,
Through the white and
drifted snow.
For a walk down memory lane, the full poem can be read online at http://www.potw.org/archive/potw64.html The poem has also been set to music.
Sarah Josepha Buell Hale
There is much more to Sarah Josepha Hale's life than is included in this short essay. It will behoove the reader to investigate her involvement in fundraising for the Bunker Hill Monument, her work with the Seaman's Aid Society of Boston, and her other points of influence.
Suffice it to say that the beautiful Sarah Josepha Hale, with her trademark long curls, was an inspiration in her time. Her thoughts, are timeless and live on in the hearts of those who still read and enjoy her work. In New Hampshire, we claim her as one of our own, made of sturdy New England stock, determined to succeed even when the odds were against it. Guided by the Hand of Providence, succeed she did.
The next time you sit down to a Thanksgiving meal, please think of Sarah Josepha Hale and all of her diligent work to make her dream of a universal American Thanksgiving celebration come true. She sought the good of all, even after experiencing the worst thing that can happen: the loss a loved one. A life of hard work, decency, and dedication to the Truth, will always shine, across the ages.
I hope that you will think of "The Mother of the American Thanksgiving," often, and certainly, every Thanksgiving Day!
Wild Turkeys article - Wild turkeys, once a staple of the New England table, and a customary food for Thanksgiving, were beginning to die out. They have been re-stocked, and have made quite a comeback.
©Copyright 2006. Patricia Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, New Hampshire. All rights reserved.
e-mail: pat@quiltersmuse.com