New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-30
THE OLDEST INHABITANT.
"Reminiscences of Man One Hundred
and Thirty-Four Years Old.

| "Reminiscences of a Man One Hundred
and Thirty-Feur Years Old.
From the Kansas City Journal
| On Saturday evening last the Oldest man
| in the State, if not the Oldest man any
where, died in Kansas City. His name was
Jacob Journals but known to every body
who knew him at all as "Old Peno" Tor Pr
| maui Nobody knew his exact age, not
| even himself, but he was known as an old
man when men now fOurscOre were chill
dren He was Canadian Frenchman by
birth, but for more than half century was
hunter and trapper in the employ OF the
fur company, one of the French voyageurs,
as they were cailed-mOst of that time with
Major Andrew Dripps, the father of Mr..
Charles A. Dripps and father-in-l law of Mr.
William Mulkey, at whose house he died,
and where he has been kindly and atfec-
tionately cared for during the last thirty
years He was never sick, and only few
minutes before he died was walking about
the room.
He said to the family in the morning that
he would "never see the sun go down
again. and Just before sunset the machine
stopped, and the old man was dead. He
was buried yesterday in the Catholic bury
ing ground, the funeral services being COZ
Quoted by the venerable clergyman Father
Donnelly, who had known him for more
than quarter of a century. His age was
entered on the census roll last year as one
hundred and thirty-four years, which is as
near, from the best evidence, it could be
fixed. Sixteen years ago, when the writer
of this first knew him, his health was vigor-
GUS and his faculties strong and unimpared,
and we took great interest in talking with
him, and in various conversations running
through many years, we were satisfied as to
the fact of his age being over one hundred
and thirty years. His own memory is borne
out by the testimony OF others. His recoI--
lection of important events was very good,
and, as he was an illiterate man, his mem
ory held to isolated occurrences, not OF his
tory as obtained from reading books.
This, while it made the information frag-
mentary and unsatisfactory as to the his
tory of that early period of his life, yet
afforded the best evidence as to his great
age. He said he was working in the woods
on piece of land he had bought for him
self near Quebec, when Wolfe was killed
on the heights of Abraham. This was Sep
TENDER IA, 1859, and from what he told OF
his life previous to that, must then have
been over twenty-one years of age. Think
ing he might have COMPOUNDED Wolfe with
MontgOmery-l775-we questioned him
fully, but his recollection of names and in
cidents was too distinct to leave any doubt,
and the same account had been given to
others long before we saw him. Another
event which he remembered well, and which
he seemed always to look upon as a good
joke, was that during the occupation of New
Orleans by General Jackson-lSl4-I5he
had been refused enlistment because he
was too old The old man often told this
with great glee. He must then have been
about eighty years old.
Thus taking everything into considera--
ton, and we have been careful ever since
we knew him to get all the facts about him
we could-from Major Dripps, the Chouteau
family, Jim Bridger, Tim Goodale, Bent,
Jim Beckworth, and other old mountain
eers-we put his age at one hundred and
thirty-four years. He went from Canada
to where Pittsburg now is thence down the
Ohio in keel-bOats, and was in New Or
leans, it seems, In 1914. Before this, how
ever, he accompanied the expedition of
Lewis and Clark in their explorations of the
Missouri, and the discovery of Columbia
river, in lS04-7. His experienceduring that
trip making him valuable man to the fur
company, he was afterward employed, as
we have stated, until thirty years ago.
Being then worn out and too old
for active service, he came here TO
spend the evening of his life with the
family of the man he had so faith
fully served for so many years-a long eve
ming it proved to be. For the past seven or
eight years the old mans recollection of
faces was often at fault, but his memory OF
events and incidents seems as strong as
ever-like pictures in his mind-and this
retention of occurrences was the great help
in determining his age. The last thirty
years of his life were passed in quiet and
comfort. He preferred living by himself,
and always had his. own house, where he
kept his pipe and tobacco pouch, and such
things as were articles of comfort 10 him,
mostly such as he had from his residence
with the Indians-not forgetting his rosary
and few religious pictures which hung
above his bed. He was very neat in
his person, clothes and housekeeping, and
up to the day of his death attended in sum
mer to his tobacco plants and cabbages.
One of his great desires was to see rail
road, and when the first locomotive came
screaming into the bottom, which was in
full view of his home, he was nervous as q
child until he visited it. The wife of Mr..
Mulkey, who has been his constant attend
ant from childhood, took him down one
day to the depot, where he had an Opportu-
nifty to examine it, and saw it move away
with a heavy train attached. He expressed
himself as satisfied, said he 'could tell God
he had seen railroad" and has never
since expressed any curiosity on the subject.
We can truly say that Kansas City has lost
her oldest and most noted citizen.