Bad-assed Pilgrims in the 21st Century

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches I think about spending time with family and about the traditions that have endured for over four hundred years.  My family always celebrated the holiday in typical fashion with the Macy’s parade, turkey feast and football games. I enjoyed seeing extended family and consuming the Thanksgiving feast. We would share fond memories and give thanks for being together and for the abundance of great foods. It wasn’t until I married my husband and spent Thanksgiving at his house that I experienced a whole new level of Pilgrim pride. Let me explain. My husband is Michael Alden and his family is descended from John Alden of the Mayflower.  If this isn’t cool enough, my husband’s mother’s name is Priscilla, as in John and Priscilla! It’s no wonder they take this holiday so seriously. It’s not just about eating turkey and pies and watching parades and football; it is about honoring their ancestors and appreciating the challenges and sacrifices of the first settlers to America. But they do it in a fun way.

 What was it like at the first Thanksgiving meal? Who were these early Pilgrims? My in-laws have researched their family’s history and I have been fortunate to experience a much more “literal” version of the Thanksgiving holiday. I remember my first Thanksgiving with the Alden family. I was shown their family tree, I viewed the Alden Crest and leafed through many books in their vast collection. It didn’t stop there. Our meal was unique and much more in keeping with the traditional Pilgrim/Indian feast.  Of course, there was turkey, mashed potatoes and pie, but Priscilla also included lobster, chestnuts, cranberry sauce and corn. All of these were foods the first Pilgrims ate at their feast. One year I tried to add an authentic dish to the Alden Thanksgiving.  Since the Wampanoags didn’t have butter or wheat flour or even a closed oven to make a pumpkin pie, I tried making pumpkin custard. It was terrible. I scraped the insides of the pumpkin until it was hollow, added some honey, cinnamon and nutmeg and tried to roast it over an open fire. Well, unfortunately it caught fire, shriveled into itself like the Wicked Witch of the West, and disintegrated right before my eyes. What a failure. After that, I decided I would stick to my double chocolate chip pumpkin bread. 

Aside from the meal at the Alden’s house, I’ve always enjoyed sitting around the table and listening to their family stories. I’ve learned that John Alden was not a prominent or wealthy Pilgrim; he was in fact hired to work on the Mayflower as a cooper.  He made barrels! Once he landed in Plymouth he chose to stay in America and use his skills to help build houses in the new colony. Poor Priscilla Mullins lost her parents and her brother during the first hash winter. Luckily John was there to sweep her off her feet and they were the third marriage in the new colony. John and Priscilla had 11 children and lived in Duxbury Massachusetts until they died. These are the facts I learned in the beginning of the evening. 

But, once the wine has begun to flow, the tales of their ancestors become even more theatrical. My Mother and Father in-Law could actually “act out” the entire the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Courtship of Miles Standish. It was incredible. My Father-in-Law would play both John and Miles- and of course my Mother-in-Law (Cilla) would play Priscilla Mullins. In case you’ve forgotten this story (which may or may not have been true) it began with Miles having a crush on Priscilla. He wanted to comfort her (and bed her) after her family died; she was only around 18 years old. But Miles was shy and didn’t have the words to approach the beautiful Priscilla, so he asked his friend John to go and ask if she returned his affections. John was a loyal comrade so he approached Priscilla and told her how fond Miles was of her and if she’d consider being courted by Miles. Well, he never expected a young Pilgrim from 1621 to turn around and say, “Speak up for yourself, John!” But she did! He then had to acknowledge that he, too, was smitten by Priscilla and he was inadvertently one side of a love triangle. It is much more entertaining to watch my animated In-Laws act this poem out, my Mother-in Law was so good at raising her chin high in the air and looking straight into John’s (well, Dic Alden’s) eyes.  She was very convincing as a strong-minded Pilgrim gal.

  I think you get can see that my Thanksgivings with the Alden Family have been memorable and informative over the years. Most of all they have been fun. I have had the unique opportunity to spend the holiday with people who hold the Thanksgiving traditions to the highest standards and who truly embrace and honor their past. While no one is giving up the turkey trot, football games and gravy, my husband’s family has made this a holiday where history is relived, traditions are preserved and thanks are given to those who deserve it most– the forefather’s of Plymouth Colony.