Our family took part in the first Thanksgiving?
The "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in 1621. This feast lasted three days, and it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. Of those 53 pilgrims at the first thanks giving were two families that are our direct ancestors, the Hopkins Family and the Billington Family.
The Truth People Don’t Know about the First Thanksgiving
The Plymouth colonists were likely outnumbered more than two-to-one at the event by their Native American guests.
Colonists at the first Thanksgiving were mostly men because women had perished - https://www.history.com/news/first-thanksgiving-colonists-native-americans-men
The historic event didn’t happen on the fourth Thursday in November, as it does today—and it wasn’t known as Thanksgiving. It took place over three days sometime between late September and mid-November in 1621, and was considered a harvest celebration.
It was a feast for a young crowd.
Just over 50 colonists are believed to have attended, including 22 men, four married women and more than 25 children and teenagers. These were the lucky ones who had made it through a rough entry into the New World, including a harsh winter during which an epidemic of disease swept through the colony, felling nearly half the original group. Some 78 percent of the women who had arrived on the Mayflower had died during the first winter, a far higher percentage than for men or children. Two families with strong women that survived are the Billington and Hopkins families.
Family Members in Attendance:
HOPKINS FAMILY: Stephen & Elizabeth with Giles, Constance, Damaris, Oceanus and their servants Edward Doty and Edward Leister.
BILLINGTON Family: John & Eleanor with sons Francis, John Jr