The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-02-22

'--Oaneron. cant rec0llect him Did
he ever chop wood for liyin'?r
II think not, Mr. lie Barre, but he has
certainly done good deal of log-rolling, .
Here the old man reached up to the
mantelpiece for his pipe, and being fur
nished with some Lone Jack tobacco. he
assumed a happier expression Of face than
he had worn before, In the meantime his
interesting daughter furnished us with
many points in the family history, and
among other things told us that her fathers
diet for years consisted of soups, mush
and milk, hominy aand sich things that
he always went to bed early and was up
before daybreak. Sometimes he went
coon hunting in the woods as early as
three in the morning. He always worked
very hard and was man of great strength
and endurance. He was splendid shot
and made the Indians envy him.
With the Indians George spent much
OF his time. He was favorite among
them. When he went to Ohio in 1908,
the new tribes of Indians he met there
were always friendly toward him. Il met
one chap" said he, athat talked very sweet.
but he stole all my whiskey and drank
himselfto death"
He says Cincinnati then consisted of a
few houses down by the river. He failed
to agree with his father, who was a man of
wayward impulses and constantly getting
into trouble. George had fourteen chill.
dren, eight of whom are living--thee ldest
being young buck just turned ninety.
"He has the asthma" observed the
daughter, "nnd I don't think he'll live to
be an old man."
George said II built one house for my
son David and another for my son Hugh.
| lived with both of them for awhile, but
| could never agree with their wives, so I
left them. My son Hugh thought the
house | built for him not good enough, so
he has put up one himself grand house
with slate roof The old man looks
upon two story'dwelling with slate roof
as something akin to a palace.
"My children now," he uttered in a
plaintive manner, 'are nearly all far
away. One is in this State and another in
that, and | suppose some of them | may
never see again.
He has always been a Democrat and
voted for every Presidential candidate since
Washington, except at the last election.
Horace Greeley was too much for him and
he refrained from attending the polls.
In the summer of 1869 he felled trees
and peeled with his own hands three wagon
loads of bark, which one of his granchil-
dren--a lad Of sixty years, hauled to mar
ket. He has lived to see his great great.
grcat-grandchildren.
An interesting calculation has been made
by local statistician that he is responsible
for increasing the population of the United
States to the number Of ,27O. The local
statistician goes to work in this way -
"lf" he says, 1--WE take the family of Mr..
George La Barre spelling it corruptly La
Barr as a rule for the rest we find that he
has ten children who have raised families
and his grandchildren number about eighty.
Now, here is tenfold increase after we
throw away eight children as non-produc.
ing. He has son who has about the
same number Of grandchildren. Mr. La
Bar has had fourteen children in all. but
If we throw away three-sevenths Of deaths
and casualties we will have four seyenths
OF eight Of the fourteen left as producing
members. He had ten such, but we will
make eight the producing stock, and the
result will show an army of 1920. Fol
lowing up this calculation, this arithmetician
continues:-"Again, Georges eight pro-
ducing children increased by ratio Of
eight, and we have sixty-four grandchil-
dren; then throwing away the three-seyenths
we have four-sevenths or thirty-seyen left.
which, increased again by our ratio, we
have 296 great grandchildren. Dcducting
and multiplying as before we have 1850
great grandchildren.
Georges father, with French blood in
his veins, married German: George.
himself, an American, married the daughter
Of a Hollander, SO that the breed by this
lime is about as yariously crossed as need
be. Within the last couple of years the
bid man has grown nervous, though in his
younger days none had steadier pulse.
Nor does he sleep as soundly as was his
wont; but he treats death lightly, and says |
ne has only turned back to the small figures |
o 60 up the scale of boyhood again, and |
hat he viii soon be old enough to go to
'chool. He has never given up keeping |
MS own house, and his own table, and Is
90 independent character to be depend
mt even on his own chi!sfen. He married
'ut once. and then happily, and, though |
empted to marry sgain, he said he feared
ne might get devil, and declined to ven.
,ure.
Such is the story ofold George La Barre,
Who may yet live to see the celebration Of
ha Centennial Of Independence, and who
$ most likely the oldest man living at this
lay in America.
This is mistake. The reader win re-
member that we gave them, last week, an
'ccount of Ezekiel West, born in Hartford
county, Md. in 1866, and now living near
Oxford, in Chester county, Pa. aged 11s
raara thraa vn.rs oldo- 49,. C..-.