Benjamin Harrison 1891 Document Signed as President - "A Day of Thanksgiving"

President Harrison proclaims November 26, 1891, as "a day of Thanksgiving"

23rd President.

Partly-printed document signed “Benj. Harrison” AS PRESIDENT, one page, 8 x 10, November 13, 1891. President Harrison directs the Secretary of State to “cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to my Proclamation setting apart the 26th day of November, 1891 as a day of Thanksgiving”.

Signed neatly at the conclusion by Benjamin Harrison.

In fine condition.

Beginning with Abraham Lincoln in 1863, American presidents have carried on the custom of proclaiming a day of national Thanksgiving for 160 years. Although Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Thanksgiving as an official federal holiday in 1941, the annual tradition of the President proclaiming the holiday remains today.