11/26/2025
🦌🦌🦌During Thanksgiving week I thought I’d share an older newspaper article that ran in the Spectator about the First Thanksgiving being near Swansea, MA - home Martin House Farm. Happy Thanksgiving to our Martin House Friends 💛🤎
A look back at the First Thanksgiving on the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower Landing with Martin House Farm,
The year of 2020 is the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing. 40 miles west of Plymouth stands Martin House Farm, which is located in Swansea, a place rich in Native American history. Before “King Philip’s War” sparked in Swansea, King Philip’s father, Massasoit, the grand sachem or ruler of the Wampanoag people, brought about the first ever Thanksgiving.
After their arrival, the Pilgrims from Mayflower stumbled here and there, eventually settling in an abandoned Native American village. Only half of the Pilgrims survived the harsh winter. Come the next spring, Samoset, a sachem from Maine, passed by the starving Pilgrims when he was hunting. Samoset knew some English from earlier contact with English fishermen, so he made the Pilgrims jump at his greeting, “Hello Englishmen.” Later, Samoset returned with Squanto, a former occupant of the abandoned village.
Squanto served as an important intermediary between the Pilgrims and Massasoit. Under Squanto’s guidance, the Pilgrims learned the tools to survive. Later, Massasoit signed a treaty of friendship with the Pilgrims, giving them permission to use the land that would be today’s Plymouth plantation. That fall, the grateful pilgrims invited Massasoit to celebrate their first harvest with them. The Pilgrims and ninety of Massasoit’s people celebrated the first ever Thanksgiving for three days, feasting and enjoying Massasoit’s gift of five deers.
From two contemporary sources, the History Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford and a letter by Edward Winslow, we know a little bit of what the first Thanksgiving in 1621 looked like. The turkey tradition came about when people read these primary sources and discovered that a large number of turkeys were on the “menu”. Of course, items also on the menu were the Pilgrims’ first harvest: wheat, corn, barley, and peas. Other food native to the area that the Pilgrims ate were probably also feasted on that day, such as squashes, chestnuts, and lobsters. It might be hard to believe, but there was no cattle until 1623; therefore, no beef or milk were on the early tables!
There’s a myth that the Native Americans introduced popcorn to the Pilgrims, but the corn that the Natives grew was not good for “popping”. In fact, the main corn that the Pilgrims grew was called Narragansett Flint Corn. George Whitley from Gray's Grist Mill — where they have been grinding Flint corn for over 360 years — visited Martin House Farm as part of the NSCDA MA colonial education program. He brought his quern — a type of grinder — and demonstrated the process of shelling and grinding, which produces the yummy Johnnycakes we have come to love (as did our visitors). There are only about 25 acres of land that still grows this corn.
To this day, some Wampanoag members still live in Swansea, a place they have called home forever. Every year, Martin House Farm invites a Wampanoag representative to share their culture and family history with visitors, usually bringing along native artifacts, offering visitors a unique cultural learning experience that also includes music and dancing. Please check our website, nscdama.org, or our page in the spring for updated dates of all events. Be sure to visit next year and see our beautifully restored interior made possible by a generous grant from the Town of Swansea and their Community Preservation Act funding. We are so grateful for their support.
Martin House Farm is owned, operated and preserved by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Happy Thanksgiving 🪵🌱🦃
Written by Christina Yin
NSCDA MA publicity rep
The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts promotes awareness of the people, places, and events that formed our nation.
