Ann Maria (Reeves) Jarvis (1832 - 1905)

Born 30 Sep 1832 in Culpeper,Va., USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 9 May 1905 at age 72 in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,USA

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Biography

Ann (Reeves) Jarvis is Notable.

Ann Reeves Jarvis was the daughter of the popular Methodist Episcopal minister, Reverend Josiah W. Reeves. She was the mother of eleven children, but only four lived to adulthood. In spite of the large family and the tragedies that occurred, she remained a woman defined by her faith and was very active within the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church community and with civic affairs.

Most remarkable was the work she did to combat poor health and sanitation conditions that existed in Webster which attributed to the high mortality rate of children. After eight years of marriage, at the age of twenty-six, the young housewife and mother sprang into action to combat these conditions and called on all women in Webster, Philippi, Pruntytown, Fetterman and Grafton to meet at local churches where she organized Mothers Day Work Clubs. She called on her brother, Dr. James Edmund Reeves and Dr. Amos Payne of Pruntytown to advise and lecture at the organizations.

These two eminent physicians charted the tasks for the clubs to undertake. Members were assigned certain duties to perform in a certain length of time, and their work was inspected by the two doctors and nurses from surrounding communities. The clubs furnished women to care for families with tubercular mothers, medicine was provided for the indigent, and milk for children was inspected.

During the Civil War, sentiment in western Virginia was sharply divided and the western part of the state broke away from Virginia and formed the new state of West Virginia, loyal to the Union. Ann Marie Jarvis urged her Mother's Day Work Clubs to declare neutrality and to provide aid to both Confederate and Union soldiers. The clubs fed and clothed soldiers from both sides stationed in the area. When typhoid fever and measles broke out in the military camps, Mrs. Jarvis and her club members provided nursing help to the suffering soldiers, both Blue and Gray. Her efforts made Ann a unifying force within her community during the American Civil War.

At the end of the war, public officials, seeking ways to eliminate postwar strife, called on Mrs. Jarvis to help. She and her club members planned a Mothers Friendship Day for soldiers and their families, whether Union or Confederate at the Taylor County Courthouse, with bands playing Dixie, the Star Spangled Banner, and Auld Lang Syne. This emotional event reduced many to tears and help them understand animosities were destructive and must end. The Mothers Friendship Day was an annual event for several years, until tensions had disappeared, and it was no longer needed.

Mrs. Jarvis taught Sunday School for a quarter century and was often invited to lecture on subjects like Literature as a Source of Culture and Refinement, Great Mothers of the Bible, The Importance of Supervised Recreational Centers for Boys and Girls. She often spoke of her dream to have a day in which Americans would honor mothers. It was during one of her Sunday school lessons in 1876 that Anna Jarvis (her daughter) allegedly found her inspiration for Mother’s Day, as her mother Ann, closed the lesson with a prayer, stating: "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it."

After her husband Granville Jarvis died, she moved to Philadelphia to live with her son and two daughters. She died there in 1905.

Sources

"West Virginia Births, 1853-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F1RT-5L5 : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann Mariah Jarvis in entry for Ann Elizabeth Jarvis, 24 Sep 1854; citing v 1 p 8, Philippi, Barbour County, West Virginia, United States; FHL microfilm 808374.

"West Virginia Births and Christenings, 1853-1928," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X551-WZ3 : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann M. in entry for Columbia Jarvis, 06 Dec 1856; citing Webster, West Virginia, reference n24; FHL microfilm 34491.

"West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NM55-N9L : accessed 12 May 2014), A. in entry for Ann A. Jarvis, Dec 1856; citing v 1 p 7, Webster, Taylor, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 818665.

"West Virginia Births, 1853-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F1BH-X91 : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann Mariah Jarvis in entry for Ralph Jarvis, 04 Mar 1860; citing P36, rn97, Taylor, West Virginia, United States; FHL microfilm 818659.

"United States Census, 1860," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M41Y-YYC : accessed 11 May 2014), Ann M Jarvis in household of G E Jarvis, [Blank], Taylor, Virginia, United States; citing "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," Fold3.com; p. 131, household ID 931, NARA microfilm publication M653; FHL microfilm 805381.

"West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NM5R-76R : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann M. in entry for C.M. Jarvis, 12 Feb 1862; citing v 1 p 20, Taylor, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 818665.

"West Virginia Births, 1853-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F1BC-9KS : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann Maria Jarvis in entry for Thomas Jarvis, 11 May 1866; citing p56.rn 128, Taylor, West Virginia, United States; FHL microfilm 818659.

"West Virginia Births, 1853-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F1BC-WQK : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann M. Jarvis in entry for Lillie Jarvis, 12 Oct 1867; citing p62.rn102, Taylor, West Virginia, United States; FHL microfilm 818659.

"United States Census, 1870," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MZHM-FZR : accessed 11 May 2014), Ann M Jarvis in household of G E Jarvis, West Virginia, United States; citing p. 3, family 14, NARA microfilm publication M593, FHL microfilm 000553198.

"West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NM58-FZW : accessed 12 May 2014), Annie M. in entry for Thomas R. Jarvis, 17 Aug 1873; citing v 1 p 38, Taylor, West Virginia; FHL microfilm 818665.

"United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M6T4-TM1 : accessed 12 May 2014), Ann M Jarvis in household of Granville E Jarvis, Grafton, Taylor, West Virginia, United States; citing sheet 322A, NARA microfilm publication T9.

"United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M9Z6-GV4 : accessed 12 May 2014), Anna M Jarvis in household of Grauoil Jarvis, Grafton city Ward 2, Taylor, West Virginia, United States; citing sheet 11A, family 229, NARA microfilm publication T623, FHL microfilm 1241773.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Jarvis

• Find a Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=36783246

• E-book: Genealogical and Personal History of the Upper Monongahela Valley, Volume 3 by James Morton Callahan Page 1158.

• http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jbh&id=I29781

Also see:

• 2014 article, The Houston Pilgrim, http://www.thehoustonpilgrim.com/conversations-management-ann-marie-jarvis/
• 2015 video, United Methodists, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dAhaLNkSNQ