The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November that year as a national day of Thanksgiving and Praise. Prior to that time, many American states celebrated Thanksgiving at different times of the year, though usually in autumn, after harvest.

According to historical sources (yes, they're online, but they're trustworthy), most Americans consider the first Thanksgiving to have been held by settlers at Plymouth Plantation in 1621, after the Pilgrims' successful harvest. But it was Lincoln who made Thanksgiving a national holiday. (I...