Thanksgiving didn’t drift into New Jersey — it arrived early and grew deep.Only one human lifetime after the 1621 New England thanksgiving, Puritans from the New Haven Colony crossed into New Jersey and founded Newark. They didn’t bring the holiday with them — they brought the discipline of gratitude that shaped early New England life. From there, thanksgiving took root in New Jersey and blossomed through every community that found refuge, freedom, or opportunity here.
In this episode, we follow thanksgiving as it moves from Newark into the lives of free Black communities like Timbuctoo, Gouldtown, and Lawnside; into Harriet Tubman’s work in Cape May; into the gratitude of Giovanni Battista Sartori, New Jersey’s first Italian immigrant; into the Irish families of Spring Lake; the Jewish scholars of Lakewood; the Hispanic neighborhoods of our cities; the South Asian communities of Iselin and Edison; and even an exiled king living in Bordentown.
This is the story of how thanksgiving grew on New Jersey soil long before it became an American holiday.
Part 3 of Crossroads of Thanksgiving: Two Peoples, One Prayer, in partnership with RevolutionNJ.
#newjerseyhistory#thanksgivinghistory#newark#revolutionnj#harriettubman#timbuctoo#gouldtown#lawnside#italianamerican#irishamerican#lakewood#littleindia#bordentown#historypodcast#gratitude
Email me: njhistorypodcast@gmail.com
Socials: https://linktr.ee/njhistorypodcast
Puritan Migration & Early Newark:– Atkinson, Joseph. The History of Newark, New Jersey. Newark: William B. Guild, 1878.– New Haven Colony Records (Yale University Library).– Connecticut State Library. Town and Church Records of New Haven Colony.– Massachusetts Historical Society: Puritan Fast Day & Thanksgiving Day Records.
Harriet Tubman & Cape May:– Cape May Historical Society Archives: “Employment Records of Harriet Tubman, 1850–1852.”– Larson, Kate Clifford. Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.– National Park Service: Harriet Tubman Documentation Project.
Timbuctoo, Gouldtown, and Lawnside:– McGowan, James. Timbuctoo: A Free Black Community in New Jersey. Burlington County Historical Society.– Dunn, Sharon. Gouldtown, New Jersey. Gouldtown Historical Committee.– Price, Clement A. Freedom Not Far Distant: A Documentary History of Afro-Americans in New Jersey. NJ Historical Commission, 1980.– New Jersey State Archives: Timbuctoo Land Deeds; Gouldtown Genealogical Collections; Lawnside Incorporation Records.
Giovanni Battista Sartori & Early Italian NJ:– Archdiocese of Trenton Archives: “Foundations of St. John the Baptist, Trenton (1814).”– McCormack, Michael. Catholic New Jersey: A History. Diocese of Trenton Publications.– Trenton Historical Society: Sartori Papers.
Italian, Irish, and Immigrant Communities:– Kimball, Leighton. Vineland, New Jersey: Birth of an Agricultural Colony. Vineland Historical Press.– Hammonton Historical Society: Italian Immigrant Farm Records.– Spring Lake Historical Society: “The Irish Riviera” Collections.– Vecoli, Rudolph. Italian Immigrants in America. Historical Publications.
Hispanic & Latino New Jersey:– Rutgers Center for Latino Arts & Culture: “Latinos in New Jersey: A Historical Overview.”– Perth Amboy Historical Records: Puerto Rican & Dominican Immigration Waves.– NJ Institute for Social Justice: Latinos in New Jersey.
South Asian Communities / Little India:– Middlesex County Office of Culture & Heritage: Oak Tree Road Cultural Corridor Study.– New Jersey Monthly. “The Rise of Little India in Central Jersey.”
Joseph Bonaparte & Point Breeze:– Miller, Patricia Tyson. Point Breeze: Joseph Bonaparte’s American Exile. Bordentown Historical Press.– Bordentown Historical Society: “The Bonaparte Papers.”– New Jersey Historical Society: Visitor Accounts of Point Breeze.