Grace Golden Clayton

Grace Golden Clayton (October 4, 1875 - March 29, 1958) has been credited as the first person to suggest a one-time memorial for fathers; which is believed to be the first recorded occasion celebrating Father's Day.

Father's day service When the 1907 Monongah, West Virginia coal mining disaster occurred on December 6, 1907, killing 361 men, 250 of them fathers,

"It was partly the explosion that set me to think how important and loved most fathers are," Clayton said in an interview with The Fairmont Times on September 23, 1979.

A memorial service was held on July 5, 1908; a date which Clayton herself chose since it was the Sunday closest to her own father's birthday. Although the remembrance recognized Clayton's father and the 1,000 children's fathers, the event was local and did not gain national attention. Reasons for this have been cited on claims that two other large gatherings had happened around the same time: a July 4 celebration the day before, which gathered some 12,000 people to the city, and the death of a well known daughter of parishioners to the church. The combination of extreme jubilation and intense sadness may have directed attention away from the planned Father's day remembrance service.

Clayton married Charles Little "Charley" Clayton (September 8, 1897 - October 10, 1934). Today, a commemoration plaque hangs outside the Central United Methodist Church in Fairmont, West Virginia (former site of the Williams Methodist Episcopal Church South) that reads: "First Father's Day Service."