Iowa
Old Press
OTTUMWA DAILY COURIER
Wednesday, December 14, 1910
MRS. NANCY MILLER SURBER OTTUMWA'S
CENTENARIAN, CELEBRATES UNUSUAL EVENT
Aged Woman of South Ottumwa center of attraction in happy
gathering yesterday at home of granddaughter.
"Says she will walk a mile in the spring."
Venerable pioneer's faculties are as keen as many much her
junior; youthfulness shown in speech.
As the center of attraction in a group of
relatives and friends making up a party that represented several
generations, Mrs. Nancy Miller Surber sat and talked yesterday
afternoon with her friends at a reception given in her honor at
the home of her granddaughter, Mrs. W. E. Hammersley, 232 South
Moore Street. The occasion was the observance of the passing of
the hundredth milestone in the life of the venerable woman, whose
most startling characteristic is her ability to talk and laugh as
easily and enjoyably as one forty years her junior.
"I reckon I've talked on now for a hundred years and my
tongue is no shorter nor is it showing signs of wearing out, and
I reckon if the Lord is willing I will just keep on a-talking for
another hundred years." Thus does this youthful centenarian
tell of her powers.
"She walked a block and a half this morning," said one
of her grandsons.
"That is not all I'm going to walk, sonny," was the
quick response from Mrs. Surber in the rocking char which swayed
to and fro in the corner of the room. "You just wait until
spring comes and the first warm day is
here, and I'm going to walk a mile. I reckon I'll easily be able
to walk down to the meeting house, though I don't suppose that's
quite a mile." Mrs. Surber had in mind the Moore Street
Brethren church, a few blocks distant from the house. "Just
don't you think that I can't walk a mile, for I'm going to do it
the first warm day in spring if I'm here and I don't think of
dying as long as the good Lord is a-minded to let me live —
no indeed not. I am willing and anxious to live another hundred
years. I reckon I've seen a heap of happy days and a heap that
were not so happy, but I never did let my troubles worry others
nor myself either in the past, and I want all to be happy.
Her handclasp, although that of a centenarian, was not that of an
invalid. True, it was somewhat less aggressive than one might
expect in a buxom lass of eighteen but nonetheless hearty and the
tremor of such an advanced age was not apparent in the clasp or
shaking of the hand. Not a gray hair is perceptible on that head
that has bowed to the will of its maker for a hundred years, nor
is there a gray hair in the head of her seventy-four year old
daughter, Mrs. Sally Young, who was with her mother at the
reception. The eyes have dimmed but little in the many years that
she has looked out upon life and her hearing is keener than many
half her age. Her faculties are practically undiminished by the
weight of years she has lived and her very nature radiated
happiness and good cheer to those about her. Her fund of
reminiscence and tales of customs and practices of the days when
even this country was young are numerous and highly entertaining.
NOT ALWAYS ROBUST
Mrs. Surber was not always a healthy, robust woman, although her great age would lead one to so think. In fact, quite the contrary is the case. For many years, when she was considerably younger than she is, she suffered a great deal from illness and more than once has been given up for dead. She recalled yesterday to her friends how many years ago she was taken ill, and for years had been almost an invalid, and one occasion her life was despaired of no less than five times during one night. Her doctor remarked that it would be the last time that Grandma would ever take a dose of medicine, when she spoke up and asked him how he knew. She rallied and as she says, "I'm still here and not thinking of dying ‘till the good Lord is willing to take me, and I'm not in any hurry to go."
MOTHER LIVED 115 YEARS.
Nancy Miller Surber says she comes of a stock that needs someone to shoot them in order to have a funeralin the family. Her father lived seventy-six years, and died seventy-four years ago. Her mother was not inclined to give up the struggle at so young an age as seventy-six and continued living until she reached the 115th milestone when she died. Mrs. Surber has lost track of the numbers of her grand and great-grandchildren, saying, "Two years ago I counted 160 in all, and the Lord only knows but there may be a dozen or two more born since.
IN IOWA SINCE ‘56
Born in Clinton County, Ohio, December 13, 1810,
Nancy Miller arrived in the days that the United States was in
its swaddling clothes and her mind goes back to a dim and distant
past with a clearness that is remarkable. She moved with her
family early in life to Indiana, when they thought they were
penetrating a western wilderness far from any civilization. They
settled in Marian County, not a great distance from Indianapolis.
Here she celebrated her eighteenth birthday and two and a half
weeks later, . . . she married
Andrew Surber. In 1856, she removed to Iowa with her family and
they settled in Keokuk County, four miles from the town of
Lancaster, not far from Sigourney. She has lived in different
parts of Keokuk County and came to Wapello County to live with
her daughter, Mrs. Ben Young, 507 East Williams Street, four
years ago and has made her home here ever since. She said in the
course of her conversation yesterday that she was never a person
whose diet ran to knick knacks. She wanted plenty of meat, corn
bread, cabbage, and other substantials rather than fancy foods to
sustain her, and she still partakes of that kind of food. In all
her life, she has never worn a hat. She has, however, worn the
leghorn and shaker bonnets at different periods of her life and
for several years past has worn a little lace hood befitting her
age.
SCORES OF FRIENDS AT RECEPTION
The Hammersley home, 232 South Moore Street, was
the scene of a very happy party during the afternoon, and
countless friends, aside from her numerous relatives came and
went throughout the afternoon, saying something pleasant and
hearing the same in return from the venerable centenarian. She
made
the party happy by her unquenchable fund of joy and good humor as
she rocked to and fro in a rocker near the heater and carried on
her end of the conversation without a slip, although with an
occasional humorous
remark that lent to the happiness of the occasions. Mrs. Surber
was kindly remembered by her friends who called to visit and
congratulate her upon her hundredth birthday anniversary by
bringing her gifts and presents of various kinds to the number of
seventy-two. Among those present during the afternoon were:
Mrs. J. Dale, Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Fiedler, Mrs. Otis Lang, Mrs. J.
Taylor, Mrs. George Burgin and daughter Miss Hazel, Mrs. Mary
Lemon, Mrs. Ella Baughman, Capt. And Mrs. McColl of the Salvation
Army, Mrs. Mary
Glandon, Mrs. Minnie Kinseler, Miss Eva Luallen, Miss Gladys
Haines, George
Surber, Mr. and Mrs. B. G. Young, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Young.
To the union of Nancy Miller with Andrew Surber, twelve children
were born, of whom five are now living. These are Mrs. Ben Young,
507 East Williams Street, with whom Grandma Surber is now living,
and Mrs. Lovina Jaquinot of this city, Mrs. Martha Ritchie of
Council Bluffs, and two sons, George and William, who reside in
Keokuk County. Mr. Surber died thirty-two years ago and Grandma
has always remained a widow. She is a devout Christian and has
been a member of the Brethren church for sixty years.
[submitters note: The newspaper made some mistakes on names and
dates in this article. The article included a small photograph
(head shot) of Mrs. Miller].
---
ELDON VETERAN DIES
A. Roberts, Father of Mrs. W. S. Russell of Ottumwa, Passes
Eldon, Dec. 14 - Eighty years of useful life came to a close at 6
a.m. today when A. Roberts, a veteran of the Thirty-sixth Iowa
volunteers, answered the final summons. He leaves a wife and
three daughters, one of whom is Mrs. W. S. Russell of South
Ottumwa. He has lived in Eldon for the past twenty-eight
years, following his vocation of a carpenter and fruit raiser. He
was a member of Vorhis post, No. 73, G.A.R. The funeral will
probably be held Friday and interment will be made in the Agency
cemetery.
BOHEMIANS AID FUND
Forty Thousand Pennies Sent from Cedar Rapids for Purpose of
Education.
Cedar Rapids, Dec. 14 -- Forty thousand pennies were sent from
here to Chicago by the local Bohemians to the $1,000,000 fund
which is an organization of American Bohemians who send the money
to their native
land to be used for educational purposes.
Judge ill; Adjourns Court
Boone Jurist Compelled to Leave Bench Temporarily on Account of
Eyes.
Boone, Dec. 14 -- Judge C. G. Lee of Ames, presiding over the
district court here, has discharged the jury for the term,
adjorned (sic) court and gone home on account of eye trouble. He
is suffering intense pain and cannot get relief.
--
[Submitters note: In the following article, the price of oats
doesn't seem to jibe with the figures given. Use it if you like
but it doesn't "compute." I've studied it with a
magnifying glass and this is what it appears to say.]
RECORD Corn Yield for Iowa According to Figures Given Out
by Iowa Crop Service
Des Moines, Dec. 14 -- Dr. Chappell made public his annual report
of the weather and crop service today. It shows an estimated
acreage of corn of 8,940,300 acres, and despite the fact that
rainfall was 8.72 inches
below normal, the average yield is 39.7 per acre, a total of
354,506,500 bushels, and the largest yield on record. at an
average of 36 cents a bushel this yield is worth $127,622,340.
The oat crop averages 33.9 bushel per acre, a total crop of
168,228,970 bushels at 87 cents a bushell this brings
$45,421,822. The total value of all crops recorded is
$362,470,791.
Cuts Throat with Pen Knife
Despondent Nebraskan Attempts Suicide at Sioux City; Recovery
Very Doubtful.
Sioux City, Dec. 14 -- The body of Anthony Dougherty, aged 38 of
North Bend, Neb., was found lying in a vacant lot covered with
blood this morning. He was in a dying condition and may not live.
Unable to find work he became despondent and going to the vacant
lot he took a jack knife from his pocket and cut his throat from
ear to ear.
[Submitted by J. S., August 2003]