InDepthNH.org’s Paula Tracy talks with people from around New Hampshire who come to the State House and Legislative Office Building in Concord about why they do so.
We call her video column In the Hallways of Power-NH, IHoP-NH.

Sophia Morrow, 11, of Brentwood, was at the State House on Monday preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving.

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – Dressed as her ancestors may have been aboard the English merchant ship Mayflower almost 400 years ago, Sophia Morrow, 11, of Brentwood came to the State House Monday to hear a proclamation timed to coincide with the nation’s celebration of Thanksgiving.

Morrow refers to the Mayflower Compact, which was signed by men aboard the Mayflower.

A member of the New Hampshire Society of Mayflower Descendants, Morrow was dressed in the linen outfit of a pilgrim girl and stood next to Gov. Chris Sununu and the Executive Council for a photograph along with fellow members of the society on Monday.

A proclamation was read by the governor, calling Thanksgiving Day a day “that symbolizes the many blessings of our lives… when we pause to consider our good fortunes.”  

The Mayflower, with 102 people aboard, left England for the new world and arrived in Plymouth, Mass., in 1620. The society has about 600 members who can trace their roots to the Mayflower.

They plan a monument at Odiorne State Park and a project to donate children’s books to libraries. Each of the participants at the event named their ancestors that included Gov. William Bradford and Miles Standish.

According to the NHSM website “exciting things are happening at the New Hampshire Mayflower Society in the next few years.  In the year 2020, we will be commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the ship Mayflower in New England.  New Hampshire, as well as other states and the town of Plymouth, (Mass.), will be celebrating this with special events for members and the general public.”

To learn more, visit nhmayflower.org