Omaha daily bee., 1885-07-14
Curious Facts About Centenarians.
New York Timea

Curious Facts about Csntenarians.
New York Times.
SYRACUSE, June 27.-For more than
thirty-fve years Joseph E. Perkins, of
this city, has been collecting statistics In
regard to people who have lived 100 years
or more.
"I have more than 10000 instances"
said the antiquarian to Times corres-
pondent, "of people who have lived 100
years and more. These names have been
gathered from every part of the globe.
This country leads In longevity, and Con-
nectlcut is at the front among the United
States. In that state l have gathered
statistics In regard to more than G,000
persons who were more than 80 years of
age, and of this number twenty were be-
yond the centenary limit. Vermont and
New Hampshire also show many instances
of longevity. The Chinese are short and
the Russians long-lived. As regards the
sex, the majority of these 10, 600 cases of
centenarlsns are women. account for
this by the fact that they less irregular
lives than men. have instances of fifty
old maids who come to my century stand
ard, and only twelve bachelors.
"Among the oldest people In the
United States," said the specialist on
old people, "were Flora Thompson, a
negress of Nashus, S, O., who died at
the age of $50 years; Betsy Frau thum,
native of Germany, who died In Tennes-
see at the age of 154 years, and Sims, o
slave, who died in Virginia, 180 years
old. have the cases of ten persons who
lived In safety for 100 years, and were
then burned to death. In Onondags
county have the sketches of fifty cen.
tenarlans. Among them Is the Rev.
Daniel Waldo, who died in 1862 at the
age of nearly 102 years. For more than
90 years he was clergyman In the Pres
byterian church, and on the anniversary
of his Tooth birthday he preached SER
mon In the FIrsts Presbyterian church of
this city. The last six pensioners of the
revolutionary war were centenarians, and
have their photographs. Then there
was ohm Weeks, of New London, Conn
who married his tenth wife when he was
LOG years of age and she only 16. He
died at the age OF ia. His gray hairs
had fallen off and they were renewed by
dark growth of hair. Several new
teeth had also made their appearance,
and few hours before his death he ate
three pounds of pork, two or three
pounds of bread and drank pint of
wine. The last man in the party that
threw the tea overheard in Boston har-
Dor, at the beginning of the revolutionary
war, was David Kennison, who died at
the age of III years. Then there Is
Scotch tinker by the name of Anderson,
who was ia years old when he died.
"Nicholas Schathcowski, of POsen, was |
another fellow. He depored on oath be-
fore the council of Constance, A. ID. 14l4
that he was 155 years of age, and that
his father, whose age at the time of his |
death was nearly 200, could remember
the death of the first king of Poland, A.
found In my book will be the photograph
of man who died at the age of 12l ye,rs.
He had Id children, grandchildren and
great.grandchlldren, and outlived them
all. Then there was Margaret McDowsl
of Edinburg, who died at the age of LOG.
She married and survived thirteen hus-
bands. John Rovln and his wife, of
Hungary, lived together as man and wife
for 148 years. He was 164 and che 172
years at the time they died, and their
son was 1l6 years old when the
parents died. / have ten Instances of
people who died on their one hundreth
and nine of centensrisns who
we're born and who have lived and died In
he same house. have three csntenar-
ans who were born dumb, the oldest
living to be 12l years old. Then there
we're three dwarfs, each one less than
hree feet In height, who lived to the {
ge, respectively, 100, 104 and III. {
nhere ara three cAses among the a,
entenarisns where the husbands aod &
gIfe each died on the same day, 9
nd one of The most curious things in my I
ollecti9n Is that In regard TO black /
nd waite centenarlan, Each of them t
,as blIn with six fingers and tees on | t
ach hand and foot. Then there is the {
6 l. Id | l.