This week is Thanksgiving week and a time to remember all the things that we are thankful for this year.

We all have many blessings whether they are physical or spiritual. We should be thankful for them and make sure that we share them with others.

As Thanksgiving approaches I think back to the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth and think of what my ancestor George Soule went through the previous year.

See: Mayflower Ancestry

The previous year had started with Soule in England and ended with him in Plymouth. A long voyage on the Mayflower was in between those two events.

George Soule was listed as a servant of Edward Winslow, but was still allowed to sign The Mayflower Compact.

The compact was signed while the Mayflower was anchored in Provincetown Harbor.

In December 1620 the Mayflower sailed across Cape Cod Bay to Plymouth where the settlement was founded.

The first winter in Plymouth was very hard for the passengers of the Mayflower.

There were 102 on the Mayflower and by the end of the winter 45 of them had died including 13 of the 18 adult women.

By the time of the Thanksgiving feast in November only 53 remained of the original 102. Not long after the feast they were joined by additional settlers who were passengers on the Fortune.

As we partake of our Thanksgiving dinners this year we need to remember the hardships that the first settlers of Plymouth underwent as they helped build our country.

Steven