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| Fathers Day |
| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 |
With Fathers Day this weekened and our fathers taking it easy, we'll still be available in the event your wishing to look at any homes, in the mean time read alittle history about fathers day
The United States will hold its national observance of Father's Day on Sunday, June 15, 2008, marking the Centennial of it's creation. Most will likely have no knowledge of the origin of this special day or how it came to be observed. Some may remember that President Richard M. Nixon signed a congressional resolution in 1972 that established a national Father's Day to be observed annually on the third Sunday in June. And there may be those who assume that Father's Day was put on the calendar to supplement Mother's Day, which is established annually as the second Sunday in May. The majority will have no knowledge of the fact that the first Father's Day observance was held on July 5, 1908, at Fairmont, West Virginia through the efforts of Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton.The seeds of a Father’s Day Service were planted a half year before, on December 6, 1907, when a horrible mine explosion at Monongah, West Virginia, killed more than 360 men, 210 of whom were fathers. 250 widows and more than 1,000 children were left grieving.Thoughts of these lonely persons touched Grace Clayton deeply. The Fairmont Times of September 23, 1979 shares this quote by her from Glenn Lough, Marion County Historian. “It was partly the explosion that got me to thinking how important and loved most fathers are. All those lonely children and those heart-broken wives and mothers, made orphans and widows in a matter of a few minutes. Oh, how sad and frightening to have no father, no husband, to turn to at such an awful time.’ ” She suggested to her pastor, Reverend Robert Thomas Webb at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, that it would be wonderful if fathers were given a special day to be honored and remembered.So, she suggested the Sunday closest to her father’s birthday, which would be July 5, 1908. Her father had been Reverend Fletcher Golden, a Methodist minister, who had died in 1890, and she still missed his fatherly guidance. Additional reasons may have been that, like Dr. Webb, she had lost two children in early childhood and could feel the loss those families felt in Monongah. Additionally, she may have been in the Sunday School where Hood Smith was the teacher. Hood Smith had worked with all the families of the victims in providing immediate settlement of claims. Mother's Day may have had a small influence, which had originated some twenty miles away at Webster, West Virginia (near Grafton). The event was set for July 5, 1908. One would have thought that it would be a very dynamic program and forever remembered in the annals of Fairmont history. But, such was not the case. That was for two reasons: First, the largest gathering in Fairmont history occurred on July 4, 1908 when over 12,000 people attended a parade and festivities in the city. Highlights included a tightrope walker who rolled on a ten foot ball from the Court House to the top of what is now WestBanco. The first appearance of a hot air balloon drew much favorable comments and the newspaper story on Monday highlighted this event. The second major reason was the death of Miss Lucy Ethel Billingslea, the 21 year old adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan Billingslea of Locust Avenue. “whose critical illness was mentioned from time to time passed away Saturday night, July 4 at 10:40 o’clock.” (Fairmont Times, Monday, July 6, 1908) When people arrived at the church on Sunday July 5th, there must have been a great blend of joy over the 4th and then sadness over the death of this special lady, whose family was deeply committed to the church, just ten hours earlier. see FirstFathersDay.US for full article |
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