President Lincoln was not only the founder of the modern Thanksgiving; he was also the first to pardon a turkey, as this (inset) clip printed in the Hartford Courant in 1865 attests:

“Mr Gay, of the Old Market, sent two enormous Narragansett turkeys to the President last winter. When notified of the gift, Mr. Lincoln said he hoped they were not sent alive, or he never would get a dinner from either one of them; for at Thanksgiving someone sent him a live turkey for the occasion, and Tad entered such a vehement protest against wringing his neck, that the idea of eating him was abandoned. The little fellow declared that the turkey had as good a right to live as any body, and the pampered gobbler remained in the President’s grounds.”

The Smithsonian also credits Tad Lincoln (seen at left, with his father) as the savior of the Jack, the Thanksgiving turkey.