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Mrs. John B. Dodd of  Washington first proposed the idea of a "Father's Day" in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife, Mrs. Dodd's mother, died in child's birth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult, that she realized the strength and selflessness of her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.