Saturday, October 25, 2014

Thanksgiving Proclamation of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, November 1, 1862

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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