Featured Who Am I?

[JPK Huson 1863]

This week might have given it away again. It'll take some time learning to write these finding a balance between TMI and just enough to be challenging. Of course with this week's could just be me because I adore her.

Shrouded in mystery, this week's guest slowly takes shape though Time's mists.........

Who Am I?

I was born in Virginia many years before our terrible war was thought of. My father was a minister and my firm faith was built through my years of going to church, sometimes moving the family as he accepted calls from other churches. No one was surprised when my choice of husband was the son of minister!

My husband did not feel called to the ministry although our faith was very strong all our lives. It saw us through our tragedies. Only 4 of our children saw adulthood. We had eleven but the good Lord took them. Disease was a terrible scourge. These losses did not break my spirit however. I resolved to not allow one, more parent, mother or father to suffer the pangs of loss my husband and I endured.

Unsanitary conditions, poverty and ignorance were responsible for so many childhood deaths. With help, I knew women could be educated and save themselves and their families from unneeded losses, their children from unnecessary suffering. My club grew into another club and another and another. We provided education and medicine, visited homes and with the advice of my brother, a doctor, we were able to make a difference for countless families. It seemed to make my energy grow as my organizations grew. Such a thrill, being able to impact lives through our fund raising, education and donations to households.

The terrible war came and we again met a need. Suffering was suffering no matter the color of the uniform. My state was in such turmoil it literally tore itself apart but with my guidance our women all stood firm. We refused to take sides, nursing and nurturing Union and Rebel alike. This was not always popular, tempers and loyalty made us fear for our lives sometimes but we remained unmoved. A human in need was a human in need. Disease killed all soldiers and we did what we could for both sides to alleviate typhoid and other outbreaks in camps, took care of soldiers, fed, nursed and sometimes took them home with us. It was finally recognized we would not take a side and were allowed to continue our work unimpeded.

Because I was steadfastly determined to remain friendly to both sides, officials asked me to help quell hostility after the war. I happily agreed. There were the usual threats but nothing good is achieved if one is frightened. We created a wonderful day, bands playing ' Dixie' and ' The Star Spangled Banner ', ex soldiers and their families came together. When they joined in singing ' Auld Lang Syne ' I knew we had won.

After my husband died in 1902 I moved to Philadelphia to be near my children. I'd had a prayer and an idea I'd been faithful to since 1876 and it came to fruition because of my clubs and what I'd named them. My daughter honored me and my work very much when she continued my wishes, becoming successful beyond what anyone would believe. Her symbol for honoring what became of my idea was a white carnation, although I'd better be writing this from Heaven since I passed on before being able to see this success.

 

[donna]

This is such an appropriate Who Am I? with Sunday being Mother's Day.

She is Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832-1905). She is the mother who inspired Mother's Day. Her daughter, Anna Jarvis created Mother's Day in 1908. Woodrow Wilson signed Proclamation for making Mother's Day a National Day a few years later.

 

[MRB1863]

Knowing who she is escapes me.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Knowing who she is escapes me.

AH Hhahahahahaha! Awesome, MRB!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

This is such an appropriate Who Am I? with Sunday being Mother's Day.

She is Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832-1905). She is the mother who inspired Mother's Day. Her daughter, Anna Jarvis created Mother's Day in 1908. Woodrow Wilson signed Proclamation for making Mother's Day a National Day a few years later.

We Caught A Winner!

Thanks very much Donna!!

I saw your much bumped post from 2011 and knew I was in trouble! Yes, it is indeed Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis, despite her daughter's work the ' real ' author of Mothers Day if she but knew! Her daughter would have wanted it that way too!

" Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis was born in Culpeper, Virginia on September 30, 1832, the daughter of Josiah Washington Reeves and his wife, Nancy Kemper Reeves. Ann Reeves Jarvis moved to Philippi, Barbour County, (West) Virginia with her family when her father, a Methodist minister, was transferred to a church in that town In 1850, Ann Reeves married Granville Jarvis, the son of a Baptist minister, who became a successful merchant in nearby Taylor County Two years later, in 1852, the couple moved to Webster, where Granville Jarvis established a mercantile business.
The Jarvis family, like many families during the mid-1800s, experienced frequent tragedy and loss. Jarvis bore between eleven and thirteen children over the course of seventeen years. Of these children, only four survived to adulthood. The others died of diseases such as the measles, typhoid fever, and diphtheria epidemics common in Appalachian communities in Taylor County. These losses inspired Jarvis to take action to help her community combat childhood diseases and unsanitary conditions. "

" Jarvis began Mothers' Day Work Clubs in the towns of Grafton, Pruntytown, Philippi, Fetterman, and Webster to improve health and sanitary conditions. She and other area women joined a growing public health movement in the United States. Jarvis' clubs sought to provide assistance and education to families in order to reduce disease and infant mortality. These clubs raised money to buy medicine and to hire women to work in families where the mother suffered from tuberculosis or other health problems. They developed programs to inspect milk long before there were state requirements. Club members visited households to educate mothers and their families about improving sanitation and overall health. The clubs benefited from the advice of Jarvis' brother, Dr. James Reeves, who was known for his work in the typhoid fever epidemics in northwestern Virginia. "

"During the American Civil War (1861-1865), sentiment in western Virginia was sharply divided between north and south. In 1863, this culminated when the western part of the state broke away from Virginia and formed the new state of West Virginia, which was loyal to the Union. Western Virginia became the location of some of the first conflicts of the Civil War. Jarvis' Mothers' Day Work Clubs altered their mission to meet the changing demands brought about by war. Ann Jarvis urged the clubs to declare neutrality and to provide aid to both Confederate and Union soldiers. Jarvis illustrated her resolve to remain neutral and aid both sides by refusing to support a proposed division of the Methodist Church into a northern and southern branch. Additionally, she reportedly offered a lone prayer for Thornsbury Bailey Brown, the first Union soldier killed by a Confederate in the area, when others refusedUnder her guidance, the clubs fed and clothed soldiers from both sides who were stationed in the area. When typhoid fever and measles broke out in the military camps, Jarvis and her club members nursed the suffering soldiers from both sides at the request of a commander. "

"Throughout her life, Jarvis strived to honor and help mothers. Her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis, recalled her praying for someone to start a day to memorialize and honor mothers during a Sunday school lesson in 1876. On the first anniversary of Ann Jarvis' death, Anna Jarvis met with friends and announced plans for a memorial service remembering her mother for the next year. In May 1907, a private service was held in honor of Ann Jarvis. The following year, in 1908, Anna Jarvis organized the first official observance of Mother's Day, coming near the anniversary of her mother's death. Andrews Methodist Church, where Ann Reeves Jarvis taught Sunday School for 25 years, held the first public service on the morning of May 10, 1908. Anna Jarvis did not attend the service, but sent a donation of 500 white carnations for all of those in attendance. In the afternoon, 15,000 people attended another service that Anna Jarvis organized in Philadelphia, held at the Wanamaker Store Auditorium. "

various paragraphs from
A lot of sites include information such as ' Ann Marie died bitter and broken htrough disappointment her Mother's Day had grown too large, too unwieldy and commercialized. These bios tend to end on a sour not like some do, turning a perfectly lovely subject into something dreary and disapointing. It's silly plus am not seeing that. She may not ave liked it, this jump to selling SO much in he name of Mother's Das but heck, she was around for Chrismas, knew what our society tends to do. To say she died bitter and broken is to put a spin on this otherwise lovely success story which does not seem to be there.

 

[donna]

Thanks. I enjoy your "Who Am I?" so much.

 

[Northern Light]

I knew her daughter's part of the story, did not know Anna Jarvis's part in the Mother's Day tale. Thanks for enlightening us with this great quiz, JPK!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I knew her daughter's part of the story, did not know Anna Jarvis's part in the Mother's Day tale. Thanks for enlightening us with this great quiz, JPK!

SO funny, at first I was opposite NL! Clueless her daughter had carried on and assumed the Mother's Day Work Parties had somehow morphed into Mothers Day! See? Even blonds learn a great deal here on the forum- even if the blond bits are now covering mostly gray roots. ( To be fair the box says ' Natural Light Blond ', so is it lying? )