The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-12
LONG-LIVED PEOPLE.
A CLASSIFIED RECORD OF TEN
THOUSAND cENTENARlANs.
The Result of Thirty eight Years of Pa
tient Investigation-LOngev and
OccupatiOn-A Number of Spe-
cial Instances-Oueer Cases.
Isyracuse Cor. New York rrfbune.I

lCJAdNuSO OOf We" 1OTK tribune.
A newsletter of this city is about to
publish book entitled "The Encyclope-
dia of Human Longevity" which is the
result of thirty eight years of investiga.
ton on his part The book will contain
an authentic record of a large number of
people, men and women, who have at
tanned the age of 100 years or more The
only exception to this is the case of a man
who died at the age Of SO years and 1854
days. and whom the author regards as
virtually a centenarian. The book will
represent an immense amount of labor
and research, and its author believes that
it may be relied on as accurate in every
instance
Il have said the author, speaking of
his books, more than TO- 600 instances of
people who have lived 100 years and
more These names have been gathered
from every part of the globe This coun-
try leads in longevity, and Connecticut is
at the front among the United States. In
that state / have gathered statistics in
regard to more than 5000 people who
were more than 90 years of age, and of
this number twenty were beyond til cen
tury limit AS regards sex, the majority
of these 10, 900 centenarians were women.
l account for this by the fact that they
lead less irregular lives than men. l have
instances of fifty old maids who come up to
my century standard, and only twelve
bachelors As regards occupation, l find
that sailors, soldiers, and farmers are the
longest lived Among the professions |
have the instances Of 100 ministers who
lived to 100 years and more while |
could find only thirty doctors, ten law
yers and ten actors who came up to the
standard l can find no case among my
10000 of a newspaper man who has lived
to lie 100 years Old. Newspaper men do
so much brain work that they die young. +"
Coming to special instances. Among
the Oldest people in the United States
were Flora Thompson, a negress of
Nashua, n. G, who died at the age of $50
years; Betsy Frautham, a native of Ger
many, who died in Tennessee at the age
of 154 years. and Sims, slave, who died
in Virginia, $50 years old. | have the
cases of ten persons who lived in safety
for 100 years and were then burned to
death. In Onondaga county / have the
sketches of fifty centenarians Among
them is Rev. Daniel Waldo. who died in
1864 at the age of nearly 102 years. For
more than sixty years he was a clergy
man in the Presbyterian church, and on
the anniversary of his Tooth birthday he
preached a sermon in the First Presby-
terrain church of Syracuse The last six
pensioners of the revolutionary war were
centenarians and | have their photo
graphs. Then there was John Weeks, of /
New London, Conn, who married his
tenth wife when he was 106 years of age.
and she only Is. 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 a few hours before
MS death he ate three pounds of pork, two
or three pounds of bread, and drank a
pint of wine.
Nicholas Schathcowski of Posen. was
another old fellow. He deposed on oath
before the council of Constance, a D.
l414, that he was $50 years of age. and
that his father, whose age at the tine of
the death Of the first king of Poland. A.
D. 1925. Among the oddities to be found
In my book will be the photograph of a
man who died at the age of III years.
He had IA children, grandchildren
and grandchildren, and outlived
them all. Then there was Margaret Nc
DOwal, of Edinburgh, who died at the age
Of 1O6- She married and survived thirteen
John Rovin and his wife, of
hungary, lived together as man and wife
Tor AS years He was 1914 and she 172
1t the time they died, and their youngest
,on was 116 years old when his parents
lied.
There is the case of a man who mar
led sixteen times and had no children.
This case is offset by that of another cen ,
enarlan who had forty-nine children
John Rlva, an eXchange-broller, of Italy.
lYed to the age OF ll6 years, and had q
hid born to him after he was 100 wears l
Id Betz, a Sioux squaw. who died a
title while ago lived for more than 100 ,
ears She had been the wife in turn of
n army officer, an Indian chief, border
aValryman and a Methodist minister
William Ward, of Westchester county,
led in ITS at the age of 101. He was
member of the Ward family who were
mong the earliest sett ers in Westchestei
ounty and the particulars of his life
nd death were given in the New York 7
apers of the time.
Another queer incident is that Of a :
utenarian who was married four times
nd had daughter b.; each wife. These
aughters married, and each of them had
ourteen CHILDREN. Then there vas
IAN who went over the century line and
ad twenty-five children. His first was
boy, and girls and boys came after that
! regular rotation There was a Tersun
uown as Elizabeth Page. who lived in
nndon and died at the age of los years F
fter death, it was discovered that the
opposed woman was man