Ann Jarvis

Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (September 30, 1832 in Culpeper, Virginia – May 9, 1905 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a social activist and community organizer during the American Civil War era. She is recognized as the mother who inspired Mother’s Day and as a founder Mother's Day movements, and her daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis (1864–1948), is recognized as the founder of the Mother's Day holiday in the United States.

Biography

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.