THANKSGIVING
PROCLAMATION.
To the People of Iowa:
In token of our dependence upon the Supreme Ruler of the
universe, the more especially in this the hour of peril to the nation, in
fervent thanksgiving to him, that no pestilence has prevailed in our midst,
that the labors of the husbandman have been measurably rewarded, and for the
many blessings vouchsafed us as individuals and citizens, in devout
acknowledgment of His sovereignty and over-ruling Providence, and in heartfelt
gratitude that our armies in the field have won such renown in the great cause
of the Union, that our citizens at home have been inspired with such devoted
loyalty, and munificence in relieving our brave soldiers, and that we have been
permitted to follow in a peaceful manner our usual pursuits, while war is
desolating our land, I, Samuel J. Kirkwood, do hereby appoint Thursday, the
27th day of November inst., as a day of thanksgiving, prayer and praise, and do
hereby entreat the people, abstaining from their usual pursuits, to assemble
together on that day in their chosen places of worship and offer up their
prayers to Almighty God, humbly acknowledging their short comings and their
dependence upon Him, thanking Him for the manifold blessings conferred upon
them by His hand, beseeching Him to crown our arms and cause with signal
triumph, to confer strength upon our gallant soldiers, to mitigate the
sufferings of the sick, wounded and imprisoned, and to succor and heal the
anguish of the bereaved, and imploring the speedy extinction of rebellion, a
return of peace in His own good time to our distracted land, and that we may
prove ourselves worthy of the institutions bequeathed us by the fathers of the
republic by becoming once more a united, fraternal and happy people.
In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand and caused the
great seal of the State to be affixed this 1st day of November, 1862.
SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD.
By the Governor,
ELIJAH SELLS,
Sec'y of Stale.
SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of
Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 232-3
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