Thanksgiving past - and future

"All business houses will close their doors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thanksgiving Day."

That Thanksgiving tidbit, provided courtesy of the late Shirley Karber who compiled the "Once Over Lightly" section of the 1980 History of Clinton County, comes from the 1888 issue of a forerunner of this publication.

Reading it made me curious about what other items were in the news years ago around Thanksgiving time. While the following bits and pieces from 1888 to 1918 certainly are not all inclusive, they do provide a glimpse back at what folks in Clinton County were doing in November at the turn of the last century.

1891: "The newly erected church of the Evangelical Association of Eureka circuit, located on County Line directly north of St. Johns, will be dedicated Nov. 27."

1892: "Two lives were lost Thanksgiving night when Hugh Boyd, 94, the oldest Knights Templar in the United States, and Mrs. John Johnson, 60, lost their lives to fire. Mr. Johnson survived with injuries.

"The fire occurred about midnight at the Johnson home on Higham Street, near Henderson's Mill. Mr. Boyd was a shoemaker. His brother Masons have paid for his board and care in his declining years."

1895: "An ancient document, the Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1788, is now in the possession of Mrs. J.T. Daniells of Essex. The original draft of the Articles of Faith of the Baptist Church in America is on the back. It is signed by John Hancock. The paper was found neatly folded and preserved in an old vest pocket belonging to Mrs. Daniells' grandfather, 25 years after his death."

1896: Come to the Thanksgiving dinner served by Edworth League of the M.E. Church, noon to 2 p.m.; cost is 25 cents. Menu: cream of celery soup, raw oysters, roast turkey and cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, squash, celery-chicken pie; mince pie, pumpkin pie, suet pudding; cheese, white and brown bread and butter; cabbage salad, pickles, radishes; tea, coffee."

1906: "Burglars entered the State Savings Bank at Fowler and got away with some loose money and $449 worth of postage stamps. They probably had a lot of Christmas cards to mail."

1911: The census bulletin says the value of land in Clinton County is $42.30 per acre."

1913: "John Gruber of Westphalia raised a winter radish which weighed 10 pounds. Who can beat that?"

1917: "From now on Tuesday will be meatless and Wednesday will be wheatless. The government asks the people to observe these days to help the war."

1918: "!!! THE WAR ENDS !!!"

Maybe 100 years from now, some local reporter will sift through news from 1998 to 2018 and wonder what it was like to have lived at this point in time - just as we marvel at a Thanksgiving dinner for 25 cents and all businesses being closed.

Hopefully, the last entry in 2018 doesn't match that of 1918.