The first known observance of Mother’s Day occurred on May 13, 1877, and was held in Albion, Michigan over a dispute related to the temperance movement.
According to local legend, Albion pioneer Juliet Calhoun Blakeley stepped up to complete the sermon of the Rev. Myron Daughterty who was distraught because an anti-temperance group had forced his son and two other temperance advocates at gunpoint to spend the night in a saloon and become publicly drunk.
From the pulpit, Blakeley called on other mothers to join her. Blakeley’s two sons, both traveling salesmen, were so moved that they vowed to return each year to pay tribute to her and embarked on a campaign to urge their business contacts to do likewise.
At their urging, in the early 1880s, the Methodist Episcopal Church in Albion set aside the second Sunday in May to recognize the special contributions of mothers.
See articles about Juliet Calhoun Blakeley by Frank Passic on AlbionMich.COM.
Juliet was also active in the Underground Railroad. Other Posts about Mother’s Day in Albion
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