The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 43

PERSONALITIES THE C0UR1EKJ0URNAL, LOUISVILLE, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 19, 1954. PASSING SHOTT SECTION 3 Kentucky May Qualify as 'Long-Life State '-It Has 16 Known Centenarians 1 5 I There may be others above the 100-year mark; but even so, 16 in that category is pretty high when you recall that 100 years ago it was exceptional for a person to live into the 80's. At any rate, here are the 16. By A I A S. HOUCHENS Courier-Journal Special Writer 1: 1 iff- I Jfi yj aMlWSMSWSMaaMSSMa I 1 A -x i I 11 I Hi Mil 1 iWmW Si 1 I Aunt Susan Garrett, who was 103 last April 13, still is active does her own washing, ironing, gardening.

Her home's at Tonieville, which is near Hodgenville. Mrs. Ethel Byrd of Fulton will be 100 years old today. Active for her age she still does some work around the house she recalls the CivikWar clearly. brilliant conversationalist, she delights visitors with her sage remarks.

Aunt Mandy Gatewood, 103, lias Long Memory AUNT MANDY GATEWOOD celebrated her 103d birthday on September 23, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Suter Lee "Bunnie" Perkinson, near Bedford, Ky. According to Gail M. Ransdell, Courier-Journal special writer, Aunt Mandy's eyesight has failed, and her legs, as she laments, "just won't hold me up any more." But in spite of her physical infirmities, her thinking powers are dear, and she has a remarkable memory of ex periences with slavery, the making and using of tallow candles, and. the power of herbs and home remedies.

"If I had my life to live over, I would do it much the same way," she insists. "I did a lot of hard work, raised my family, and always faithful to the Methodist Church. I believe that if you work hard and have faith in God, everything will turn out aU right." Henry Luman, Tollesboro, Will Be 103 on Jan. 31 HENRY LUMAN, of Tollesboro, Lewis County, was 102 last January 31. He has been a farmer all his life, and until this year his garden, for which he was solely responsible, was acknowl.

edged to be the cleanest and one of the best in the town. Mr. Luman's health is remarkably good; he eats well, sleeps well, and his vision is entirely adequate. His hearing, while leaving something to be desired, meets his real needs. He attributes his longevity to the fact that he has lived a clean, wholesome life, free of worries, and in later years has had the devoted attention of his daughter, Continued on Next Page IWiyMWHWIWWWIWIiwwt mJ.I Ij.wqy4j.itj-j.iy,.i..iwn.

J. "V- imm fr- i' 4 -ii' I i iff If mIIIIIBI mmm hi ii i I mmmm His Post Office address is Watts, Kentucky. He was 103 last May 12. Mr. Fugate is no longer active, and his hearing is only fair, but his eyesight and memory are good.

Four of his six children are living. Unlike Miss Sallie Bullock's Republican family, his family was on the Confederate side in the Civil War. He says, "I was big enough to carry food to my oldest brother and father where they were hiding from the two factions, as neither took part in the conflict. "I saw my father shot and killed by a band of roving terrorists after the war was over. They destroyed all our food and equipment and drove all our livestock off." Aunt Jeston Gevedon Will Be 103 on Dec.

23 AUNT JESTON GEVEDON, whose Post Office address is Grassy Creek, Morgan County, Kentucky, will be 103 on December 23. Helen Price Stacy, associate editor of The Licking Valley Courier at West Liberty, has recorded such interesting facts about the many-sided life of Aunt Jeston that she is well-known as one of Kentucky's centenarians. She was born in Flat Ridge, and says she remembers plenty about the Civil War. She once wrote, "I was 10 years old when Fort Sumter was fired upon, and lived in the hotbed of the war till it ended. I hesitate to recall the horrors the women and' children suffered during that war.

Their menfolks were in the Army and they had to make their living as best they could. Then, to cap the climax, they turned the Negroes loose in the dead of winter without food or clothing, or anywhere to live, and their owners were ordered under pen alty not to keep or harbor any slaves, so the poor things had to lay out In the mountains and cliffs, to prey upon their former neighbors, and it was almost impossible to hide the little the women and children had made from the hungry, former slaves. They killed the few cattle, hogs and sheep we had left, and stole our horses to carry the meat away." In 1869, Jeston Testerman married Raney G. Gevedon after her family came to Kentucky. She continued, "We built us a log house with a puncheon floor and stick chimney and went to work." Five children were born to them, two of whom still live J.

Monroe, with whom Aunt Jeston lives, and Mrs. Luetta F. Byrd. At 30, the young wife was stricken with a serious hemorrhage of the lungs, and was an invalid for years. This illness she finally was able to put behind her.

Even two years ago, she was able to help with the chores, but had the misfortune to break her hip, and is now confined to her bed. When Helen Price Stacy went to make her picture, Aunt Jeston said, "Yes, I'd like to have my picture made If you can pretty me up," propping her tiny body on one elbow and adjusting a patchwork quilt spread across her bed. Mrs. Stacy says prettying-up Aunt Jeston was not too difficult. She had just the right amount of sparkle in her blue eyes and just enough smile to make her every bit as pert, petite and pretty, nearing her 103d birthday as she was at the century mark.

Aunt Jeston's bedside is a shrine for history lovers, many of her visitors coming for many miles and from various states. Her mind is so alert that she can recall exact hours of happenings almost a hundred years ago. A Grnvlll Photo Believed Kentucky's oldest resident, Christopher C. Martin of Greenville was 107 years old last March. issssemswswsifsss SHI 1 IF YOU WANT to live to be 100, Kentucky appears to be i pretty good rate for you.

There are at least 16 centenarians in the commonwealth, and probably others who have had no publicity. Back In the middle of the last century, those who lived even into their 80's were the exception. The Kentucky State Historical Society has been publishing in its State Archives the recorded deaths of persons over 15 between the years of about 1851 to 1860. Picking at random from the statistics for counties which have been published, Graves County and Hardin County out of 853 recorded deaths had only 39 persons who died at the age of 80 or more, or approximately 4.7 per cent Death Came Early Of course, those were the days when consumption (tuberculosis) and typhoid fever snatched their victims in youth. Other causes of death were variously listed as "fever," cholera, congestive chills, brain trouble, flux, dropsy, pneumonia, convulsions, old age.

The death rate for children must have been extremely high at any rate, the Historical Society is not even publishing the deaths of those under 15 years of age. In contrast, a culling of the obituary columns in The Courier-Journal for several nonconsecu-tive weeks in the fall Just ended indicates that about 20 per cent of the recorded deaths now are of people 80 years old or older. U. S. News and World Report 8ays that 50 years ago, one out of 25 persons was 65 or over.

Now two out of 25 are 65 or over. The Census Bureau estimates that by 1960 there will be 26.8 per cent more old people than at the 1950 count, while an. increase of only 11.6 per cent is indicated for younger groups. But what about these 100-year-oldsters in Kentucky, some of whom have children in their 80's? What kind of people are they? How does it feel to be 100 or more? What is life like? -Well, it depends. C.

Martin, at 107, May Be StateY Oldest CHRISTOPHER. COLUMBUS MARTIN appears to be the oldest person in Kentucky. Born a slave in ,1847 in Muhlenberg County, he was 107 last March 25. He now lives with a cousin, Myttle Saulsberry, in Greenville. Rodney Ford, a reporter on -the news staff at WAVE, says descendants of both the Reynolds and Martin families who owned Martin in his youth can recall statements by their families that tend to substantiate the date of his birth.

"Uncle Lum," as he Is known, was in his younger days a show- man with such outfits as the original Barnum and Bailey Show. Later he fiddled for parties. He never married. Still Hale and Active, 'Judge Early Is 105 ROBERT A. EARLY celebrated his 105th birthday on October 8 at the home of his son, Police Chief William D.

Early at Corbin. Mr. Early is 6 feet tall, and still quite active, tinkering in his woodworking shop. He is called "Judge" because he spent 12 years on the Police Court bench in Corbin; and he has been a schoolteacher, carpenter, mailcarrier, stockkeeper and civic leader. He surveyed and laid out Corbin's present Main Street, and he has built churches and other buildings there.

He smokes a pipe once a day, "from the time I get up until I go to bed." Seven of his children are still living. Aunt Susan Garrett Scorns A Cane at 105 AUNT SUSAN GARRETT was 105 last April 15. She lives at Tonieville, between Elizabeth-town and Hodgenville. Her post-office address is R. 2, Box 44, Hodgenville, Ky.

Aunt Susan ays she is in pretty good health, except for her feet hurting at night a little. She does her own washing, ironing, working in the garden, quilting. She scorns a cane, and has never worn glasses. She was born a slave in Green County, but says she was never UNA. aT J.

GAY'S is Famous for I Hf5 0dl Mr tv iu. miTHffiaffisa; tm mrmrmrt as 'lmamri ii Mott gtntrout walch bfttt vt tnbdtl pt hi I 17 ft fA i 'famousbrand COimOlUOHMT Mm FRYPAN ss GAY'S FREE GIFT TO YOU! SSlJRUtM l-JtWtL CALENDAR "7 SKar PAY $1 WEEKIY llifflgfjll with any DIAMOND PURCHASE- mm' -CASH OR CREDIT! Robert A. "Judge'' Early celebrated his 105th birth day in October at the home of his son, Police Chief William D. Early of Corbin. Ife still smokes a pipe.

issmns stm cstt 3 I Mtlaatl tfvttM TiV SW altll 1 GAY'S JEWELRY yV, lsTreV. 1 aSS AJbwesm 1 I 1 Mumm ew Tiir lAni nrv niitiffAn inC LUrtl A LAUI VllNLOUrc I- fyem f. FREE EXPANSION BAND mm. Jm' look al FREE EXPANSION BAND all fheta features! n' 1 jf-T 1 Yovr Choke! ineoo 17 JEWELS lIFETIME MAINSPRING NEWEST styuns HIGH DOME CRYSTAt RAISED CUT DIAt THE PERFECT SIFT FOR "HER ANEt FOB "HI" THIS CHAISTUAS I 1 rout out WATCN rZJ 'EXPANSION BAND GUARANTEED S3 MONEY -4 DOWM AY 11.00 WIIKIV FOR YEARS-LAY IT AWAY SEE IT AND COMPARE IT I Miss Sallie Bullock, 103, and Henry Luman, 102, are neighbors. Miss Bullock lives at Maysville, and Mr.

Luman at Tollesboro, 12 miles away in Lewis County. mMB LjfiJCrjP5 ee Hnt Sk MOO IMilil ri 10 o'clock in the evening of that day, Miss Sallie fell and fractured her left hip. She was in the hospital for a number of weeks, but is now at her home. However, her injury, as would be expected, has been a greater drain on her than it might be for a younger woman, and she is very weak. institution of slavery.

Her father fought on the Union side, and never came back, falling a victim to "some kind of fever." Another centenarian, Henry Luman, discussed later on, lives only 12 miles away. Miss Sallie was a bridesmaid at his wedding many years ago. She has always said that she never married because the right man never came along. a houseworker that she always farmed. Onetime Watchmaker Ace McConathy Is 105 ACE McCONATHY, who lives at Cowan'a Home for the Aged at 1625 W.

Jefferson, was 105 in July. Although bedfast most of the time now, he still is able to enjoy smoking cigarettes under the watchful eye of an attendant illi FREE EXPANSION BAND 1 1 7. mdtl tirOAl SET $49 $4MS She was born in Mason Coun- 4-v'a Tiiimirni in mnA Via 01 3 l-XUMT OUAUTJ KAKOKDS I "'Iff. jsfski I i ij a a luuiTiug syY7vtva. mvu ti ah 1 i I Inula) f.iinM nnn a I 1 1 t.

ht i one die love 01 ner me nas uataic, xin, olasville, Ky He was a watch- "Iways been Maysville and Mason Liveg at Birthplace County. maker, and followed his trade I Til 1 Huth Moore Craig has written UNCLE GRAN FUGATE still for The Courier-Journal Maga- lives on the site where he was line some of Miss Sallie's vivid born and reared, in his own memories of the Civil War. home with his son, Ed, at the Although her family had slaves, head of Fugate's Branch, in the the Bullocks were opposed to the highlands of Breathitt County. CMHMIN't MASONIC I WAICHN INtl (WOI (3 5B taiGMa "133 l-v 0X1 Si 0 fllP (U; toNio lino nn until he was almost 100. His favorite dinner 1j rolled oats with milk.

Mrs- Cowan has newspaper picture of him when he was bap-tired in the Ohio River in June, 1950, shortly before his 101st birthday. 103d Birthday Unlucky For Mayiville Woman MISS SALLIE BULLOCK lives on Second" Street in Maysville with 1 niece, Mrs. Harold Wil-lett, and her family. She was 103 on October 15. Up until then she had been able to perform some household tasks, using a cane to get around, Oh the eventful day, many friends and relatives called to offer their congratulations.

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