First Official Thanksgiving Day Service In America at Jamestown, Virginia on December 4, 1619

Jamestown, Virginia lays claim to the First official Thanksgiving Day service in America. In the photograph of an artist’s rendering on the left is Captain John Woodliffe from Prestwood, England. Captain Woodliffe and 38 settlers in the ship “Margaret” landed in Jamestown, Virginia on December 4, 1619. The photo on the right above is a monument that honors the First official Thanksgiving DAY service in America held there by Captain Woodliffe and those settlers. The monument is located on the shore of the James River at Berkeley Plantation in Jamestown. The artist’s rendering is inside the monument along with a plaque depicting a PROCLAMATION as follows: IMPR WEE ORDIANE THAT THE DAY OF OUR SHIPS ARRIVAL AT THE PLACE ASSIGNED FOR PLANTATION IN THE LAND OF VIRGINIA SHALL BE YEARLY AND PERPETUALLY KEPT HOLY AS A DAY OF THANKSGIVING TO ALMIGHTY GOD. First Capitol News Photos by Tony Brockmeyer and Phyllis Schaltenbrand