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We Gather Together

A Nation Divided, a President in Turmoil, and a Historic Campaign to Embrace Gratitude and Grace

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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes a new way to look at American history through the story of giving thanks.

From Ancient Rome through 21st-century America, bestselling author Denise Kiernan brings us a biography of an idea: gratitude, as a compelling human instinct and a global concept, more than just a mere holiday. Spanning centuries, We Gather Together is anchored amid the strife of the Civil War, and driven by the fascinating story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a widowed mother with no formal schooling who became one of the 19th century’s most influential tastemakers and who campaigned for decades to make real an annual day of thanks.

Populated by an enthralling supporting cast of characters including Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Walt Whitman, Norman Rockwell, and others, We Gather Together is ultimately a story of tenacity and dedication, an inspiring tale of how imperfect people in challenging times can create powerful legacies. 
 
Working at the helm of one of the most widely read magazines in the nation, Hale published Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others, while introducing American readers to such newfangled concepts as “domestic science,” white wedding gowns, and the Christmas tree. A prolific writer, Hale penned novels, recipe books, essays and more, including the ubiquitous children’s poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” And Hale herself never stopped pushing the leaders of her time, in pursuit of her goal. 
 
The man who finally granted her wish about a national “thanksgiving” was Lincoln, the president of the war-torn nation in which Hale would never have the right to vote. 

Illuminating, wildly discussable, part myth-busting, part call to action, We Gather Together is full of unexpected delights and uneasy truths. The stories of indigenous peoples, immigrant communities, women’s rights activists, abolitionists, and more, will inspire readers to rethink and reclaim what it means to give thanks in this day and age. The book’s message of gratitude—especially when embraced during the hardest of times—makes it one to read and share, over and over, at any time of year.

Chapter 1

 

And Thus Commenced . . .

 

Summer began to slowly yield to autumn with an earlier dip of the sun over the New Hampshire horizon and a dip of the mercury on the thermometer. It was a time for harvest, good or bad, one that might meet or fall short of expectations, needs, and wants. No matter that season's yield, this woman would, along with all the others in her place and time, take a moment, or even a day to stop and give thanks.

 

She expected that the state's governor would, as was custom by this point in time, proclaim when this somewhat annual, yet always changeable, celebration and day of reflection would take place. Despite a life that had brought her so much upheaval of late, and no matter her precarious financial situation, and with all of her recent and still deeply resonating loss, she welcomed the opportunity to find something, anything, for which to be grateful.

 

With her options severely limited and five young mouths to feed, the woman would do what she had always done. The one thing that brought her some measure of joy.

 

She was tired.

 

It was late.

 

There was a hungry baby at her breast.

 

Because of her gender she had little standing, but always a foundation on which she was willing to bravely stand. Her options were few. But she had a pen and a purpose and something to say.

 

And so as she had so many times before, Sarah Josepha Hale sat down to write.

 

 

Writing was never a vocation that a young Sarah had actively sought, despite her love of the written word and her rabid consumption of books-one of the few indulgences women were allowed. Even if writing had long been her goal, it was not the kind of calling encouraged in the young women of her time. No, she needed work and she needed money. Life thus far may not have provided her much in the way of opportunity, but it had prepared her well to make do and get by.

 

Sarah Josepha Buell had spent her childhood in the late 1700s on a farm just outside of Newport, New Hampshire, which sat near the Sugar River. The year she was born, 1788, the recently liberated colonies had yet to elect their first president. Farm life instilled in young Sarah, as it did in many rural folk, a work ethic necessary for survival, especially in the harsh climate of the states' northern reaches. For Sarah, this drive also likely stemmed from witnessing as a child the struggles endured by her father, Gordon Buell, a Revolutionary War veteran who had fought under General Horatio Gates. Although her father survived those battles, he had returned to his family injured, with the use of his legs badly compromised. This in turn badly compromised his ability to run a farm. So he had long relied on his sons, Sarah's brothers, Horatio and Charles, to help him.

 

Sarah also had a younger sister, Martha, named for their mother, and the young women helped their mother run the house. As for her two older brothers, Charles soon set out to sea and Horatio, whom they called "Race," was left on his own to help Gordon Buell with the manual labor the family's farm required.

 

Given that Martha Buell had fed her children's minds in the best way she knew how-with ample helpings of books-it wouldn't be a surprise that Race's aspirations were to pursue college and law, not farming and agriculture. For young women not attending school, reading strongly shaped Sarah's early years as well.

 

"Next to the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress," she later wrote, "my earliest reading was Milton, Johnson, Pope, Cowper, and a part of Shakespeare." But the book that made the biggest impression on her, at a mere seven years of age, was The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe. "Of all the books I saw," Sarah added, "few were written by Americans and none by women. But here was a work, the most fascinating I had ever read, always excepting Pilgrim's Progress, written by a woman. How happy it made me!"

 

And so Sarah was educated, primarily in the only way a young woman could be at that time-through books and conversation, yes, but also by intellectually piggybacking on the educations of the males in her life, like her brother Race. Race thought it unfair his sister was denied a college education, and what he learned at school, he generously shared with Sarah, including philosophy and Latin. Between her mother's example and her brother's encouragement, Sarah's teeming mind and growing passion for reading and writing had well prepared her for some sort of work outside the home. That is, if she could get it.

 

Race-with the benefit of traditional schooling-had been preparing to attend Dartmouth, with the intention of becoming a lawyer. Though his attendance there took him away from the Buell household and therefore placed added pressure on Sarah and her younger sister, Race's visits home to see his family offered Sarah even more advanced opportunities to continue her hand-me-down education.

 

Race's visits home didn't give him enough time to provide the assistance Gordon Buell needed in order to keep the farm running, and so it became clear to Sarah's father that things had to change. He decided he had to seek other, less physically taxing options for work. With his energies waning and his resources drying up, he moved his wife and two daughters into town, where he decided to try his hand as an innkeeper. Gordon Buell opened the doors of the Rising Sun Inn on Newport's main thoroughfare in 1810. Sarah was twenty-two years old.

 

Now living in the town of Newport, Sarah with her mind full of books and a thorough if secondhand education at her disposal, sought work as a teacher. This occupation was still considered primarily a job for men who had had the benefit of formal schooling, but exceptions were sometimes made if the need in the community was there. The nearby town of Guild had just such a need, and Sarah began teaching there to earn money for her family. There she was able to share what she had learned and observe the lives of the youngsters in her care. As she did-as she would continue to do-she made note of what she saw in her tiny schoolhouse day to day, and those experiences would inform her writing for years to come.

 

Race was away at school, Gordon Buell had his inn, and Sarah had her job. Things in Newport were seeming settled, if challenging. The family had not heard from Sarah's older brother, Charles, for some time, long enough that he was presumed lost at sea. They all felt Race's absence. And now, not long after the Rising Sun Inn opened, on November 25, 1811, the Buell family encountered yet another loss. On that day, Sarah's sister, Martha, died of consumption, or tuberculosis. Adding to the family's grief, Sarah's mother passed away shortly thereafter. Now only Sarah and her father remained at home. Without his wife's efforts and support, and with Sarah now occupied with her teaching responsibilities, Gordon Buell was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the inn.

 

Living in town also meant that Sarah was interacting with more people and passers-through. And though 1811 had brought loss and turmoil to the household, it also brought something new and exciting to Sarah's life, in the form of a lawyer named David Hale. Taverns were indispensable locales in a small town: a place to meet; get food, drink, or lodging; find out the latest news. David had come to Newport to open his own law office and shortly after his arrival, the newcomer stopped into the Rising Sun Inn. And there he met Sarah.

 

David was older than she, but the pair were impeccably well suited to each other. And though Sarah's father eventually sold the inn, it was there that the pair married on October 23, 1813. Sarah was a day shy of her twenty-fifth birthday. The two moved into a lovely two-story white-painted wooden house on the town's main street. It had plenty of windows and ample light, and sat across from several small streams that ran through the center of town and created small islets that residents would hop and traverse to get from one side to the other. The pair filled their house with those very objects they both cherished most: books.

 

Sarah delighted in the evenings she and David spent sitting together to read and discuss the books that filled their shelves. They even devised a nightly program of study, lending goals and purpose to their favorite pastime. From eight in the evening until ten, the couple studied topics like French and botany. In some ways, David had taken up where Race had left off, sharing the benefits of his formal education with Sarah. "In all our mental pursuits," she later wrote, "it seemed the aim of Mr. Hale to enlighten my reason, strengthen my judgement, and give me confidence in my own powers of mind, which he estimated much higher than I did." And with David's encouragement, Sarah had also begun to dedicate more time to her writing. Her observations and notes evolved into poems and short stories. She did not, she would later say, want her personal life in the pages of her works. Yet her personal beliefs, her views, and her passions often infused her characters.

 

The couple quickly grew their family. While pregnant with her third child, Sarah came down with tuberculosis, and it was feared she and the unborn child would die, victims of a disease that had already struck Sarah's own family. David refused to accept this. Against doctor's orders, he took his wife on a tour of New Hampshire. It was late autumn and brisk. David had heard that fresh air was healing and that "frost grapes"-wild grapes exposed to the first frost while still on the vine-were curative. The pair returned home and, somewhat miraculously, Sarah regained her strength and gave birth to a healthy baby. A fourth followed soon after. And since they had seemed to work, Sarah would continue to eat grapes for the rest of her days.

 

Sarah was now busy taking care of the home and, as her mother had for her, educating her children. David was occupied with his practice and active in the Newport community, and had been elected Worshipful Master of the Corinthian Lodge of the Masons. Sarah's father, Gordon, had died just five years after his daughter married, so this was Sarah's family now, save for visits from her brother Race, who, like her husband, was now a lawyer. Growing in experience if not in confidence, Sarah began to take on larger and larger writing projects, with David encouraging her to submit those pieces to the local newspapers or other outlets that might publish them. Sarah's experiences as a teacher, the settings and rhythms of life in New England, as well as her cherished role as a mother-which she considered her first vocation-informed and inspired some of her earliest writing. And her children comprised her earliest audience. When it was time to put her four youngsters to sleep, Sarah would share her own poetry with them.

 

"Good night," she'd say.

 

Good night-and peace be with you-

 

Peace, that gentlest parting strain;

 

Soft it falls like dew on blossoms,

 

Cherishing within our bosoms,

 

Kind desires to meet again:

 

Good night-Good night.

 

Good night-Good night-but not forever,

 

Hope can see the morning rise,

 

Many a pleasant scene before us,

 

As though angels hovered o'er us,

 

Bearing blessings from the skies:

 

Good night-Good night.

 

Good night-Good night-oh, softly breathe it!

 

'Tis a prayer for those we love;

 

Peace to-night and joy to-morrow,

 

For our God, who shields the sparrow,

 

Hears us in his courts above:

 

Good night-Good night.

 

In 1822, at the age of thirty-three, Sarah was expecting her fifth child. What she was not expecting, not so early into their marriage, not with a child weeks away from being born, was that David would take ill. It was late September, the air was turning cold, and David was returning home from visiting a client. Wintry weather was unexpected on this, an early fall day, but it arrived nonetheless and David found himself caught in it. At first, he was struck by a cold, but then his symptoms advanced. David soon succumbed to pneumonia, an illness Sir William Osler, the father of modern medicine, would later dub "the most fatal of all acute diseases." And so it was. David did not recover.

 

Sarah had not yet been married ten years. The couple's fifth child, William, entered the world just two weeks after his father's departure from it. Sarah had donned her mourning black for David's burial at Pine Hill Cemetery in Newport, and she would wear it the rest of her days.

 

Sarah Josepha Hale was now a thirty-four-year-old widowed mother of five. She had never earned enough of a living from her writing to support a family. "Till my husband's death . . . I had never seriously contemplated being an authoress," Sarah later wrote. With a lawyer for a husband, she had not needed to. But as with most paths taken in life, Sarah's was partially forged by necessity. Now, she needed money.

 

"My husband's business had been large for the country," Sarah wrote later, describing the relative success of a lawyer working outside of a major city such as Boston or New York, "but he had hardly reached the age when men of his profession begin to lay up property and he had spared no indulgence to his family. We had lived in comfort, but I was left poor," she wrote, adding, "for my children I was deeply distressed. I care not that they should inherit wealth, but to be deprived of the advantages of education was to make them 'poor indeed.' "

 

Sarah's first attempt to rebuild her family's finances was to go into business with David's sister Hannah and open a millinery in town. The local Masons, in the wake of David's sudden death, offered to help set up the pair in a shop of their own. The two women placed an ad in the local newspaper, Spectator, to announce their new business and offerings to the residents of Newport: figured gauze, hats for daily wear, silk mourning bonnets, brown cambrics, headdresses, and more. They assured potential customers they offered "the latest and most assured patterns." As for payment, they would happily take currency or even feathers. But there was plenty of competition as well. And Sarah simply did not want to make mourning bonnets. She wanted to write.

 

Nights proved the most opportune time to get writing done. Her days were packed with work at the shop, as well as caring for her four children and newborn William. But she made the most of the time she could spare, and Sarah's steady commitment to her writing netted her an accumulation of poems that she thought might make a nice collection. Within a year after David's death, in 1823, and again with the fortunate backing of the Masons, Sarah published The Genius of Oblivion; and Other Original Poems. The title page described the author simply as "A Lady of New Hampshire." Despite its mediocrity, its publication was a major accomplishment for Sarah. Nevertheless, the book garnered little attention or critical praise. Undeterred, she decided to submit her work to more widely read publications, and almost immediately the United States Literary Gazette, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Boston Spectator and Ladies' Album snapped up her work. In fact, the latter published seventeen of Sarah's poems, two short stories, and a review-in one year alone. She was beginning to get noticed. Several of her poems were also included in a popular gift book, The Memorial. Momentum was hers, and she was eventually able to wish her sister-in-law well and leave the millinery behind.

Praise for We Gather Together:  
 
We Gather Together reminds us of the importance of gratitude in our own lives, especially during our darkest hours. It uncovers the profound ways in which a seemingly simple holiday has helped shape American history and how it has brought solace during times of upheaval and loss. Kiernan reminds us of the healing power of gratitude."—Kate Andersen Brower, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Residence and Team of Five

“As a researcher, Denise Kiernan is skilled at finding the lost moments of our national conscience; as a writer, she is brilliant at explaining why these moments matter. Only a writer of Kiernan's ability can cut through great swaths of history to locate the germinating seed of a national movement that is still moving us.”Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Ballad and A Land More Kind Than Home

We Gather Together is a surprising and enlightening gem of a book that reexamines the history of one of America’s most beloved traditions. With her trademark wit, verve, and impeccable research, Denise Kiernan brings to full and vibrant life the characters and conflicts surrounding America’s day of gratitude, and shows us how we might all reclaim its stirring power.”—Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

"It might seem hard to imagine it now: a U.S. president and a newspaper editor conspiring to create a day of national unity. Kiernan brings to vivid life this forgotten tale of a ground-breaking female journalist finding her voice and her cause, despite heartache and hardship. This is the story of how our secular American holiday came to be - maybe the only day we can all agree on. It’s also a hopeful meditation on the history and power of gratitude itself - and a reminder that giving thanks can heal us in times of strife and division. We should all give thanks to Kiernan for rescuing this slice of Americana.”—Neal Thompson, author of A Curious Man and Driving With the Devil

“Denise Kiernan is such a gifted writer, and her storytelling prowess is on full display in We Gather Together—an unputdownable American tale that could not be more timely.”—Gilbert King, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove

"This compelling read about one woman’s heartfelt campaign to create a holiday includes history —  flattering and not —  of America, the women’s movement, and more. Give this as a gift to any host or curl up over the weekend and read it yourself."—Zibby Owens on KatieCouric.com

“Doubtless, though, she’d [Sarah Josepha Hale] have been thrilled by Ms. Kiernan’s tribute to her and thanksgivings, great and small, religious and secular, civic and personal. For she would understand that whether this year’s Thanksgiving takes place in person with family or in front of a computer, gratitude can surely bring grace, even in troubled times.”—Wall Street Journal

"Packed with vivid character sketches, intriguing historical tidbits, and lucid meditations on the psychology of giving thanks, this unique chronicle casts [Thanksgiving] in a new light."Publishers Weekly

“With engaging writing and fresh research, everything comes together in a thoroughly enjoyable package.  Readers will find humor (Kiernan's take on turducken: "a poultry nesting doll with gravy"), pathos (public events were canceled during the 1918 flu pandemic), and surprises (Pilgrims weren't connected to the holiday until 1939, when FDR attempted to change the date). Lots to consider, especially with Thanksgiving just around the corner.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Kiernan traces the history of the formalization of Thanksgiving Day while reframing the holiday’s sense of gratitude… [and] engagingly explores the economic, political, and cultural roots and consequences of holiday practice… a bright tribute to Thanksgiving’s expression of gratitude and grace.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This is the book you've been wanting since summer — one that calms your soul, invigorates your mind, and helps to heal this year's bruises. Get We Gather Together and see if your hands and heart aren't full.”—The Bookworm Sez

"In We Gather Together, Denise Kiernan (The Girls of Atomic City) presents both the story of Thanksgiving, chock-full of historic tidbits, and well-documented support for the benefits of gratitude….. Kiernan hopes Hale's vision—to 'exhibit the best of ourselves'—will thrive, through 'appreciation. Inclusion. Compassion. Celebration. Charity.'"—Shelf Awareness

We Gather Together
continues Kiernan’s hot streak of keen-eyed, deeply researched, and engagingly written books that crack open little-known but intriguing chapters of history… Kiernan uses [Sarah Josepha Hale’s] extraordinary woman’s life and legacy to explore and celebrate concepts of gratitude as they evolved in both US and world history.”—WNC Magazine

© Lisa Dumont
Denise Kiernan is an author, journalist and producer who has worked as a writer for more than 20 years. Her last two books—The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City—were both instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover and paperback. The Last Castle was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, a finalist for the 2018 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. The Girls of Atomic City was a Los Angeles Times and NPR bestseller, named one of Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Books of 2013,” and has been published in multiple languages. Kiernan has been a featured guest on many radio and television shows, including NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” PBS NewsHour, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. View titles by Denise Kiernan

About

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City comes a new way to look at American history through the story of giving thanks.

From Ancient Rome through 21st-century America, bestselling author Denise Kiernan brings us a biography of an idea: gratitude, as a compelling human instinct and a global concept, more than just a mere holiday. Spanning centuries, We Gather Together is anchored amid the strife of the Civil War, and driven by the fascinating story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a widowed mother with no formal schooling who became one of the 19th century’s most influential tastemakers and who campaigned for decades to make real an annual day of thanks.

Populated by an enthralling supporting cast of characters including Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Walt Whitman, Norman Rockwell, and others, We Gather Together is ultimately a story of tenacity and dedication, an inspiring tale of how imperfect people in challenging times can create powerful legacies. 
 
Working at the helm of one of the most widely read magazines in the nation, Hale published Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others, while introducing American readers to such newfangled concepts as “domestic science,” white wedding gowns, and the Christmas tree. A prolific writer, Hale penned novels, recipe books, essays and more, including the ubiquitous children’s poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” And Hale herself never stopped pushing the leaders of her time, in pursuit of her goal. 
 
The man who finally granted her wish about a national “thanksgiving” was Lincoln, the president of the war-torn nation in which Hale would never have the right to vote. 

Illuminating, wildly discussable, part myth-busting, part call to action, We Gather Together is full of unexpected delights and uneasy truths. The stories of indigenous peoples, immigrant communities, women’s rights activists, abolitionists, and more, will inspire readers to rethink and reclaim what it means to give thanks in this day and age. The book’s message of gratitude—especially when embraced during the hardest of times—makes it one to read and share, over and over, at any time of year.

Excerpt

Chapter 1

 

And Thus Commenced . . .

 

Summer began to slowly yield to autumn with an earlier dip of the sun over the New Hampshire horizon and a dip of the mercury on the thermometer. It was a time for harvest, good or bad, one that might meet or fall short of expectations, needs, and wants. No matter that season's yield, this woman would, along with all the others in her place and time, take a moment, or even a day to stop and give thanks.

 

She expected that the state's governor would, as was custom by this point in time, proclaim when this somewhat annual, yet always changeable, celebration and day of reflection would take place. Despite a life that had brought her so much upheaval of late, and no matter her precarious financial situation, and with all of her recent and still deeply resonating loss, she welcomed the opportunity to find something, anything, for which to be grateful.

 

With her options severely limited and five young mouths to feed, the woman would do what she had always done. The one thing that brought her some measure of joy.

 

She was tired.

 

It was late.

 

There was a hungry baby at her breast.

 

Because of her gender she had little standing, but always a foundation on which she was willing to bravely stand. Her options were few. But she had a pen and a purpose and something to say.

 

And so as she had so many times before, Sarah Josepha Hale sat down to write.

 

 

Writing was never a vocation that a young Sarah had actively sought, despite her love of the written word and her rabid consumption of books-one of the few indulgences women were allowed. Even if writing had long been her goal, it was not the kind of calling encouraged in the young women of her time. No, she needed work and she needed money. Life thus far may not have provided her much in the way of opportunity, but it had prepared her well to make do and get by.

 

Sarah Josepha Buell had spent her childhood in the late 1700s on a farm just outside of Newport, New Hampshire, which sat near the Sugar River. The year she was born, 1788, the recently liberated colonies had yet to elect their first president. Farm life instilled in young Sarah, as it did in many rural folk, a work ethic necessary for survival, especially in the harsh climate of the states' northern reaches. For Sarah, this drive also likely stemmed from witnessing as a child the struggles endured by her father, Gordon Buell, a Revolutionary War veteran who had fought under General Horatio Gates. Although her father survived those battles, he had returned to his family injured, with the use of his legs badly compromised. This in turn badly compromised his ability to run a farm. So he had long relied on his sons, Sarah's brothers, Horatio and Charles, to help him.

 

Sarah also had a younger sister, Martha, named for their mother, and the young women helped their mother run the house. As for her two older brothers, Charles soon set out to sea and Horatio, whom they called "Race," was left on his own to help Gordon Buell with the manual labor the family's farm required.

 

Given that Martha Buell had fed her children's minds in the best way she knew how-with ample helpings of books-it wouldn't be a surprise that Race's aspirations were to pursue college and law, not farming and agriculture. For young women not attending school, reading strongly shaped Sarah's early years as well.

 

"Next to the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress," she later wrote, "my earliest reading was Milton, Johnson, Pope, Cowper, and a part of Shakespeare." But the book that made the biggest impression on her, at a mere seven years of age, was The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe. "Of all the books I saw," Sarah added, "few were written by Americans and none by women. But here was a work, the most fascinating I had ever read, always excepting Pilgrim's Progress, written by a woman. How happy it made me!"

 

And so Sarah was educated, primarily in the only way a young woman could be at that time-through books and conversation, yes, but also by intellectually piggybacking on the educations of the males in her life, like her brother Race. Race thought it unfair his sister was denied a college education, and what he learned at school, he generously shared with Sarah, including philosophy and Latin. Between her mother's example and her brother's encouragement, Sarah's teeming mind and growing passion for reading and writing had well prepared her for some sort of work outside the home. That is, if she could get it.

 

Race-with the benefit of traditional schooling-had been preparing to attend Dartmouth, with the intention of becoming a lawyer. Though his attendance there took him away from the Buell household and therefore placed added pressure on Sarah and her younger sister, Race's visits home to see his family offered Sarah even more advanced opportunities to continue her hand-me-down education.

 

Race's visits home didn't give him enough time to provide the assistance Gordon Buell needed in order to keep the farm running, and so it became clear to Sarah's father that things had to change. He decided he had to seek other, less physically taxing options for work. With his energies waning and his resources drying up, he moved his wife and two daughters into town, where he decided to try his hand as an innkeeper. Gordon Buell opened the doors of the Rising Sun Inn on Newport's main thoroughfare in 1810. Sarah was twenty-two years old.

 

Now living in the town of Newport, Sarah with her mind full of books and a thorough if secondhand education at her disposal, sought work as a teacher. This occupation was still considered primarily a job for men who had had the benefit of formal schooling, but exceptions were sometimes made if the need in the community was there. The nearby town of Guild had just such a need, and Sarah began teaching there to earn money for her family. There she was able to share what she had learned and observe the lives of the youngsters in her care. As she did-as she would continue to do-she made note of what she saw in her tiny schoolhouse day to day, and those experiences would inform her writing for years to come.

 

Race was away at school, Gordon Buell had his inn, and Sarah had her job. Things in Newport were seeming settled, if challenging. The family had not heard from Sarah's older brother, Charles, for some time, long enough that he was presumed lost at sea. They all felt Race's absence. And now, not long after the Rising Sun Inn opened, on November 25, 1811, the Buell family encountered yet another loss. On that day, Sarah's sister, Martha, died of consumption, or tuberculosis. Adding to the family's grief, Sarah's mother passed away shortly thereafter. Now only Sarah and her father remained at home. Without his wife's efforts and support, and with Sarah now occupied with her teaching responsibilities, Gordon Buell was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the inn.

 

Living in town also meant that Sarah was interacting with more people and passers-through. And though 1811 had brought loss and turmoil to the household, it also brought something new and exciting to Sarah's life, in the form of a lawyer named David Hale. Taverns were indispensable locales in a small town: a place to meet; get food, drink, or lodging; find out the latest news. David had come to Newport to open his own law office and shortly after his arrival, the newcomer stopped into the Rising Sun Inn. And there he met Sarah.

 

David was older than she, but the pair were impeccably well suited to each other. And though Sarah's father eventually sold the inn, it was there that the pair married on October 23, 1813. Sarah was a day shy of her twenty-fifth birthday. The two moved into a lovely two-story white-painted wooden house on the town's main street. It had plenty of windows and ample light, and sat across from several small streams that ran through the center of town and created small islets that residents would hop and traverse to get from one side to the other. The pair filled their house with those very objects they both cherished most: books.

 

Sarah delighted in the evenings she and David spent sitting together to read and discuss the books that filled their shelves. They even devised a nightly program of study, lending goals and purpose to their favorite pastime. From eight in the evening until ten, the couple studied topics like French and botany. In some ways, David had taken up where Race had left off, sharing the benefits of his formal education with Sarah. "In all our mental pursuits," she later wrote, "it seemed the aim of Mr. Hale to enlighten my reason, strengthen my judgement, and give me confidence in my own powers of mind, which he estimated much higher than I did." And with David's encouragement, Sarah had also begun to dedicate more time to her writing. Her observations and notes evolved into poems and short stories. She did not, she would later say, want her personal life in the pages of her works. Yet her personal beliefs, her views, and her passions often infused her characters.

 

The couple quickly grew their family. While pregnant with her third child, Sarah came down with tuberculosis, and it was feared she and the unborn child would die, victims of a disease that had already struck Sarah's own family. David refused to accept this. Against doctor's orders, he took his wife on a tour of New Hampshire. It was late autumn and brisk. David had heard that fresh air was healing and that "frost grapes"-wild grapes exposed to the first frost while still on the vine-were curative. The pair returned home and, somewhat miraculously, Sarah regained her strength and gave birth to a healthy baby. A fourth followed soon after. And since they had seemed to work, Sarah would continue to eat grapes for the rest of her days.

 

Sarah was now busy taking care of the home and, as her mother had for her, educating her children. David was occupied with his practice and active in the Newport community, and had been elected Worshipful Master of the Corinthian Lodge of the Masons. Sarah's father, Gordon, had died just five years after his daughter married, so this was Sarah's family now, save for visits from her brother Race, who, like her husband, was now a lawyer. Growing in experience if not in confidence, Sarah began to take on larger and larger writing projects, with David encouraging her to submit those pieces to the local newspapers or other outlets that might publish them. Sarah's experiences as a teacher, the settings and rhythms of life in New England, as well as her cherished role as a mother-which she considered her first vocation-informed and inspired some of her earliest writing. And her children comprised her earliest audience. When it was time to put her four youngsters to sleep, Sarah would share her own poetry with them.

 

"Good night," she'd say.

 

Good night-and peace be with you-

 

Peace, that gentlest parting strain;

 

Soft it falls like dew on blossoms,

 

Cherishing within our bosoms,

 

Kind desires to meet again:

 

Good night-Good night.

 

Good night-Good night-but not forever,

 

Hope can see the morning rise,

 

Many a pleasant scene before us,

 

As though angels hovered o'er us,

 

Bearing blessings from the skies:

 

Good night-Good night.

 

Good night-Good night-oh, softly breathe it!

 

'Tis a prayer for those we love;

 

Peace to-night and joy to-morrow,

 

For our God, who shields the sparrow,

 

Hears us in his courts above:

 

Good night-Good night.

 

In 1822, at the age of thirty-three, Sarah was expecting her fifth child. What she was not expecting, not so early into their marriage, not with a child weeks away from being born, was that David would take ill. It was late September, the air was turning cold, and David was returning home from visiting a client. Wintry weather was unexpected on this, an early fall day, but it arrived nonetheless and David found himself caught in it. At first, he was struck by a cold, but then his symptoms advanced. David soon succumbed to pneumonia, an illness Sir William Osler, the father of modern medicine, would later dub "the most fatal of all acute diseases." And so it was. David did not recover.

 

Sarah had not yet been married ten years. The couple's fifth child, William, entered the world just two weeks after his father's departure from it. Sarah had donned her mourning black for David's burial at Pine Hill Cemetery in Newport, and she would wear it the rest of her days.

 

Sarah Josepha Hale was now a thirty-four-year-old widowed mother of five. She had never earned enough of a living from her writing to support a family. "Till my husband's death . . . I had never seriously contemplated being an authoress," Sarah later wrote. With a lawyer for a husband, she had not needed to. But as with most paths taken in life, Sarah's was partially forged by necessity. Now, she needed money.

 

"My husband's business had been large for the country," Sarah wrote later, describing the relative success of a lawyer working outside of a major city such as Boston or New York, "but he had hardly reached the age when men of his profession begin to lay up property and he had spared no indulgence to his family. We had lived in comfort, but I was left poor," she wrote, adding, "for my children I was deeply distressed. I care not that they should inherit wealth, but to be deprived of the advantages of education was to make them 'poor indeed.' "

 

Sarah's first attempt to rebuild her family's finances was to go into business with David's sister Hannah and open a millinery in town. The local Masons, in the wake of David's sudden death, offered to help set up the pair in a shop of their own. The two women placed an ad in the local newspaper, Spectator, to announce their new business and offerings to the residents of Newport: figured gauze, hats for daily wear, silk mourning bonnets, brown cambrics, headdresses, and more. They assured potential customers they offered "the latest and most assured patterns." As for payment, they would happily take currency or even feathers. But there was plenty of competition as well. And Sarah simply did not want to make mourning bonnets. She wanted to write.

 

Nights proved the most opportune time to get writing done. Her days were packed with work at the shop, as well as caring for her four children and newborn William. But she made the most of the time she could spare, and Sarah's steady commitment to her writing netted her an accumulation of poems that she thought might make a nice collection. Within a year after David's death, in 1823, and again with the fortunate backing of the Masons, Sarah published The Genius of Oblivion; and Other Original Poems. The title page described the author simply as "A Lady of New Hampshire." Despite its mediocrity, its publication was a major accomplishment for Sarah. Nevertheless, the book garnered little attention or critical praise. Undeterred, she decided to submit her work to more widely read publications, and almost immediately the United States Literary Gazette, the Atlantic Monthly, and the Boston Spectator and Ladies' Album snapped up her work. In fact, the latter published seventeen of Sarah's poems, two short stories, and a review-in one year alone. She was beginning to get noticed. Several of her poems were also included in a popular gift book, The Memorial. Momentum was hers, and she was eventually able to wish her sister-in-law well and leave the millinery behind.

Reviews

Praise for We Gather Together:  
 
We Gather Together reminds us of the importance of gratitude in our own lives, especially during our darkest hours. It uncovers the profound ways in which a seemingly simple holiday has helped shape American history and how it has brought solace during times of upheaval and loss. Kiernan reminds us of the healing power of gratitude."—Kate Andersen Brower, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Residence and Team of Five

“As a researcher, Denise Kiernan is skilled at finding the lost moments of our national conscience; as a writer, she is brilliant at explaining why these moments matter. Only a writer of Kiernan's ability can cut through great swaths of history to locate the germinating seed of a national movement that is still moving us.”Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Ballad and A Land More Kind Than Home

We Gather Together is a surprising and enlightening gem of a book that reexamines the history of one of America’s most beloved traditions. With her trademark wit, verve, and impeccable research, Denise Kiernan brings to full and vibrant life the characters and conflicts surrounding America’s day of gratitude, and shows us how we might all reclaim its stirring power.”—Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Ghosts of Eden Park and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

"It might seem hard to imagine it now: a U.S. president and a newspaper editor conspiring to create a day of national unity. Kiernan brings to vivid life this forgotten tale of a ground-breaking female journalist finding her voice and her cause, despite heartache and hardship. This is the story of how our secular American holiday came to be - maybe the only day we can all agree on. It’s also a hopeful meditation on the history and power of gratitude itself - and a reminder that giving thanks can heal us in times of strife and division. We should all give thanks to Kiernan for rescuing this slice of Americana.”—Neal Thompson, author of A Curious Man and Driving With the Devil

“Denise Kiernan is such a gifted writer, and her storytelling prowess is on full display in We Gather Together—an unputdownable American tale that could not be more timely.”—Gilbert King, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove

"This compelling read about one woman’s heartfelt campaign to create a holiday includes history —  flattering and not —  of America, the women’s movement, and more. Give this as a gift to any host or curl up over the weekend and read it yourself."—Zibby Owens on KatieCouric.com

“Doubtless, though, she’d [Sarah Josepha Hale] have been thrilled by Ms. Kiernan’s tribute to her and thanksgivings, great and small, religious and secular, civic and personal. For she would understand that whether this year’s Thanksgiving takes place in person with family or in front of a computer, gratitude can surely bring grace, even in troubled times.”—Wall Street Journal

"Packed with vivid character sketches, intriguing historical tidbits, and lucid meditations on the psychology of giving thanks, this unique chronicle casts [Thanksgiving] in a new light."Publishers Weekly

“With engaging writing and fresh research, everything comes together in a thoroughly enjoyable package.  Readers will find humor (Kiernan's take on turducken: "a poultry nesting doll with gravy"), pathos (public events were canceled during the 1918 flu pandemic), and surprises (Pilgrims weren't connected to the holiday until 1939, when FDR attempted to change the date). Lots to consider, especially with Thanksgiving just around the corner.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Kiernan traces the history of the formalization of Thanksgiving Day while reframing the holiday’s sense of gratitude… [and] engagingly explores the economic, political, and cultural roots and consequences of holiday practice… a bright tribute to Thanksgiving’s expression of gratitude and grace.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This is the book you've been wanting since summer — one that calms your soul, invigorates your mind, and helps to heal this year's bruises. Get We Gather Together and see if your hands and heart aren't full.”—The Bookworm Sez

"In We Gather Together, Denise Kiernan (The Girls of Atomic City) presents both the story of Thanksgiving, chock-full of historic tidbits, and well-documented support for the benefits of gratitude….. Kiernan hopes Hale's vision—to 'exhibit the best of ourselves'—will thrive, through 'appreciation. Inclusion. Compassion. Celebration. Charity.'"—Shelf Awareness

We Gather Together
continues Kiernan’s hot streak of keen-eyed, deeply researched, and engagingly written books that crack open little-known but intriguing chapters of history… Kiernan uses [Sarah Josepha Hale’s] extraordinary woman’s life and legacy to explore and celebrate concepts of gratitude as they evolved in both US and world history.”—WNC Magazine

Author

© Lisa Dumont
Denise Kiernan is an author, journalist and producer who has worked as a writer for more than 20 years. Her last two books—The Last Castle and The Girls of Atomic City—were both instant New York Times bestsellers in both hardcover and paperback. The Last Castle was a Wall Street Journal bestseller, a finalist for the 2018 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award, and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. The Girls of Atomic City was a Los Angeles Times and NPR bestseller, named one of Amazon’s “Top 100 Best Books of 2013,” and has been published in multiple languages. Kiernan has been a featured guest on many radio and television shows, including NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” PBS NewsHour, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. View titles by Denise Kiernan