Tables of Thanks: Thanksgiving in the National Homes

For many Americans, including Veterans, Thanksgiving has long served as a time of gratitude. At the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS), the holiday was often celebrated with a grand meal, musical performances, and other activities for the Veterans to enjoy.

Thanksgiving became a major institutional event shortly after the first branch of the National Home opened in 1866. Newspaper reports and other contemporary records describe expansive dining halls filled with long tables set for hundreds of residents. One such account noted that “a bountiful turkey dinner will be spread for the Veterans [on] Thanksgiving Day. Everything good is announced on the bill of fare.”[1] Meals often featured roasted meats, seasonal vegetables, pies, and coffee, prepared under the supervision of commissary officers and kitchen staff, many of whom were Veterans themselves.[2]

Behind the scenes, preparing Thanksgiving at the National Homes was likely an enormous undertaking. Commissary officers procured turkeys and other meats, local farms supplied fresh produce, and teams of cooks and helpers transformed these goods into holiday banquets.

As NHDVS expanded, so did the scale of their celebrations. Annual reports and inspections reveal how federal appropriations, commissary oversight, and the Homes’ own productive capacity made these feasts possible. Between 1866 and 1906, the number of Veterans staying at NHDVS branches grew from roughly 1,000 to over 21,000. Meeting the needs of so many residents required remarkable coordination, including financially. Records from the Pacific Branch in 1916, for instance, list special Thanksgiving purchases of $962 (equivalent to $28,583 in 2025). A similar expense was noted in 1911 by the Northwestern Branch.  

Holiday celebrations, however, provided more than sustenance. Chaplains and local bands often signaled the day’s beginning with music and prayers, and many residents seized the opportunity for fellowship with their military comrades. The holiday was also a time when many were visited by their families. Mrs. Abe Waites’s visit to her brother at the Marion Branch, for example, was even worthy of mention in the Society Gossip section of the Indiana Recorder newspaper.

From their founding in 1865, the National Homes were designed to be more than shelters; the Board of Managers emphasized respect and the creation of a true “home.”[3] Annual reports noted that men were “well sheltered, clothed, and fed” and enjoyed privileges reflecting their honorable service.[4] This spirit of care and dignity was evident in the observances and daily life of Veterans in the Homes.

In 1915, resident John Casey shared his experience in the Evening Republican, the local newspaper of Rensselaer, Indiana. It reads, “John says that his birthday will be Nov. 25th, which is Thanksgiving day and that turkey, cranberry sauce and many other good things are to be served [at the Home].”[5] He called attention to the serene scene around him, where “some of the old soldiers are pitching horseshoes and others walking through the beautiful grounds.”[6] Casey further detailed that “there is a mistaken idea with some people who seem to believe that a soldier’s home is a military prison… We have every convenience and the very best sanitary conditions, with rules for health and cleanliness.”[7] Casey’s words echo sentiments published five years earlier by Edward L. Cobb, who found Veterans to “have been so lavishly provided for and supplied every comfort to make [their] last days happy and peaceful.”[8]

Whether through a grand holiday meal, family visits, or musical performances, Thanksgiving at the National Homes represented a time of celebration and gratitude, and these sentiments continue in Thanksgiving observances today.

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[1] Los Angeles Herald, November 22, 1909, 2 (col. 80, art. 5), California Digital Newspaper Collection, UC Riverside, accessed October 8, 2025, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19091122.2.80.5.

[2] Board of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Annual Report for the Year 1876 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1877), 42–43.

[3] Board of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, First Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, for the Year 1867 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1868), 3–4.

[4] Ibid.

[5] “John Casey has Taken Up Quarters in Soldiers Home,” The Evening Republican (Rensselaer, IN), November 11, 1915, 2:8, Indiana State Library, accessed October 8, 2025, https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=EVRP19151111.2.8&srpos=7&e.

[6] Ibid.

[7]The Evening Republican, November 11, 1915.

[8] Edward L. Cobb, Optic Views and Impressions of the National Soldiers’ Home, South Branch, N.H.D.V.S. (Hampton, VA: South Branch, 1910), n.p., accessed via Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/OpticViewsAndImpressionsOfTheNationalSoldiersHomeSouthBranchN.H/page/n233/, 137.