South of Grafton, we almost zip past the town of Webster before we see it. We see Anna
Jarvis House on the left, but can’t find parking. On the right is what appears to be a
nursery with parking. This is actually Ocean Pearl Felton Historical Park, where General
McClellan’s men camped and where the train depot marked the end of the rail line when
Anna Jarvis’ parents moved here from Culpepper, Virginia. We park and pay here. It
was a "booming" settlement, our guide informs us, with 23 families, grist mill, saloon,
brothel, train depot, and church where Anna’s father preached.
Anna Jarvis, known as Founder of Mothers’ Day, was born here in 1864, near the end of
the Civil War. Her mother, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis, has more interest for Civil War
buffs. She had learned a bit about medicine and sanitation from her brother, Dr. James E.
Reeves, and so she assumed a position of instructing nurses and caring for soldiers. In
addition, she hosted General McClellan when he commandeered her
home.
The grounds are planted with rose bushes, black-eyed Susans, lilies, and other flowers.
We are attracted to the breezeway, where Olive suggests we begin. On this
90-degree afternoon in July, we feel cool enough on the wooden swing, and the cat sits
with us as we learn about the Jarvis family, Wheeling-Staunton Pike, and Webster.
This
breezeway between kitchen and root cellar was called the whistle way.
Servants were required to whistle when they brought food across it. That way, owners
knew that help weren’t eating food.
We see evidence of a benevolent family who probably would have fed their servants,
anyway. The home is full of items 100-150 years old: clothing of Anna and her mother,
including black wedding dresses and baby clothes; bed covers; Union military uniforms
and paraphernalia; the original kitchen sink. I’m especially impressed by the ladies’ hats
displayed on the wall, and our guide says, "Anna was a dresser." Friends with President
Woodrow Wilson, she met with him decked out to the hilt. Photos tell that story.
In travels around West Virginia’s Civil War sites, I have encountered several versions of
why Anna worked for years to honor her mother by establishing the national and
international holiday. One I like best cites Ann Marie’s work mothering soldiers and
reconciling her sons and others’, torn by loyalties to opposing sides. The woman kept
other mothers busy by rounding them up and putting them to work caring for injured so
that they wouldn’t dwell on their own losses. Read more here. Somehow, the war
connection got lost for a while, but now is reinstated. Now Anna Jarvis House is a Civil
War Heritage Site.
We tour nursery, bedrooms, kitchen, diningroom, and parlor.
All wallpapers have been faithfully reproduced except for this one. In General
McClellan’s office/diningroom, half the walls--a symbolic compromise!--feature
the same paper found in his office in Washington, D. C.
