A Joyous Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving Long Ago

Thanksgiving Day didn't become an official federal holiday until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

Both my great-grandparents, Grant and Hettie Frost, were born after the civil war; Grant in 1867 and Hettie in 1870. They were married on this day (November 23rd), four days before Thanksgiving Day in 1890.

That year, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed November 27th as the date to be observed as a day of prayer and thanksgiving, inviting the people to "cease from their labors on that day, to meet in their accustomed houses of worship, and to join in rendering gratitude and praise to our beneficent Creator for the rich blessings He has granted to us as a nation and in invoking the continuance of His protection and grace for the future."

That protection and grace was extended to Grant ans Hettie as they were married 65 years. God blessed them with eleven children.

Ulysses Simpson "Grant" Frost was the son of Corydon and Almira Owens Frost. Hettie Huffaker Frost was the daughter of Henry and Margaret Shearer Huffaker. They are buried in the Gap Creek Church Cemetery.