_
       PREFACE
       Shall the glorious festival of Thanksgiving, now yearly celebrated all over the American Union, (said the author to himself one day,) be ushered in with no other trumpet than the proclamations of State-Governors? May we not have a little holiday-book of our own, in harmony with that cherished Anniversary, which, while it pleases your fellow-countrymen, should it have that good fortune, may acquaint distant strangers with the observance of that happy custom of our country? With the hope that it may be so received, and as a kindly word spoken to all classes and sections of his fellow citizens, awakening a feeling of union and fraternal friendship at this genial season, the writer presents this little volume of home characters and incidents.
       November, 1850. _

PREFACE
CHAPTER 1. THE LANDSCAPE OF THE STORY
CHAPTER 2. ARRIVAL OF THE MERCHANT AND HIS PEOPLE
CHAPTER 3. THE FARMER-FOLKS FROM THE WEST
CHAPTER 4. THE FORTUNES OF THE FAMILY CONSIDERED
CHAPTER 5. THE CHILDREN
CHAPTER 6. THE FASHIONABLE LADY AND HER SON
CHAPTER 7. THE THANKSGIVING SERMON
CHAPTER 8. THE DINNER
CHAPTER 9. THE NEW-COMERS
CHAPTER 10. THE CONCLUSION