Berkeley Hundred over 60 documents relating to the settlement of Virginia between 1613 and 1634 which have survived to modern times. In 1619, the ship "Margaret" of Bristol, England sailed for Virginia under Captain John Woodliffe and brought thirty-eight settlers to the new Town and Hundred of Berkeley. The London Company proprietors instructed the settlers that "the day of our ships arrival . . . shall be yearly and perpetually kept as a day of Thanksgiving." The Margaret landed her passengers at Berkeley Hundred on December 4, 1619. The settlers did indeed celebrate a day of "Thanksgiving", establishing the tradition two years
Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony) was retold by historians Nathaniel Morton (in 1669) and Cotton Mather (in 1702), and both paraphrased Bradford's passage and used his word "pilgrims". At Plymouth's Forefathers' Day observance in 1793, Rev. Chandler Robbins recited this passage. The name "Pilgrims" was probably not in popular use before about 1798, even though Plymouth celebrated Forefathers' Day several times between 1769 and 1798 and used a variety of terms to honor Plymouth's founders. "Pilgrims" was not mentioned, other than in Robbins' 1793 recitation. The first documented use that was not simply quoting Bradford was at a December 22, 1798 celebration of Forefathers' Day