Kansas City daily journal., 1897-01-24
SURVIVOR OF TWO WARS
WILLIAM HAYNES RELIEVED To RE-
THE OLDEST SOLDIER LIVING.
Now an Inmate of the Memorial Homo
at st. Louis-He Fought First in
1872 and Later Served in
War of the Rebellion.
From the Chicago Trihune

From the Chicago Tribune.
The closing week of the old year, with
its many joys and sorrows. brought around
an anniversary OF great interest to the in
mates Of the Soldiers Memorial home in
s.. Louis. II was the birthday of William
Jack Haynes and marked the completion
ot MS Iv3th year of activity. Son of one OF
the patriot army which fought under
george Washington. II seemed but a nat
uIsei sequence that when lSl2 rolled around
ana war again cast a shadow over the
struggling young country, Mr.. Haynes
should shoulder 4 rifle in his country's de-
He was at that time young man nearly
- Years OF age, in the flower of his youth
HtVirg m ~ Deen porn near Sparta. White Coun-
y, Itiil.; on christmas day. l1SI. Born in
a time OF strife. away out in what then
was the Wild West, he grew up a sturdy
ielIo% ana developed n strength and vital
NY which nave enabled him to pass far be-
yoEd the allotted period of mans life
IN spite or his great age, he retains his
vigor TO 4 remarkable degree He is fond
OF exercise and each day he strolls around
the spacious grounds of the Memorial
nome without help. His appetite is good
nearing fair. and eyesight sufficiently good
10 read without the aid OF glasses. His
halr and long, flowing beard are as fiue
rs slIken threads, and of silvery whiteness
He speaks low. a rare thing in one whose
hearing is in any way affected In n home
OF aged people. and he is the oldest person
there, in looks and actions he seems as
young as the youngest. and few people at
10 are as well preserved as this old man AT
Ivy. ms longevity appears remarkable in
view OF the fact that his ancestors were
In no way noted for their abundance OF
years
Served Under General Jackson.
AT the age Of q Haynes entered the
United states army and saw service under
GENERAL jackson, participating in the battle
OF New Orleans. He has a vivid recolIec-
tion or the engagement and never tires OF
relating thrilling incidents of that useless
battle. At the close of the war he learned
engineering and embarked on a steamer
plying between New Orleans and Africa,
engaged in the slave trade With the de-
cline of the slave traffic he ran on the Mis-
sissippi for awhile and was the engineer on
the second locomotive ever run in Missouri.
When the civil war broke out HAYNES
was employed as an engineer on the Iron
Mountain railway. He al once gave up his
was assigned to duty on board the Sumter.
ran the blockade at Vicksburg and re-
mained with the ship until it was captured
and burned. He otticiated on several other
vessels in the Federal navy as engineer.
but came through the war without 4
scratch. He Joined the G. ~ r. and
eral run of mankind. he went to work
steamboating again. He continued at this
ly retired and entered the Memorial homo
with his wife, who died there shortly after
ward, aged 76 years.
Times have changed a heap since used
to run on the river" said Mr.. Haynes.
Engineers were scarce then and they got
good pay Everybody got good wages and
that jobs were looking for men to take
them; now If man gets out OF work he
has hard time finding a place"
Strange to relate in spite of his long life
he has not great many descendants. OF
of st. Louis. They are Mrs. ]. r. Kersten
and Alonzo Haynes. He has a dozen grand
children. but no great-grandchildren.
His age is fully established by the docu-
ments he has in his possession, which have
been Investigated thoroughly. He is, and
always has been. very religiously inclined.
md ana
from accident and injury during his long
journey through life to his faith in God.
though unable to attend lodge meetings is
fully imbued with the spirit of the two fra
ternal organizations
Age Not Due to Whisky.
1t will be quite treat to temperance ad-
vocates to know that Mr. HAYNES attrib-
He never drank intoxicants to excess. He
smoked but one cigar. The effect was quite
the reverse of what he imagined 1t would
be, and he never tried another. But he
has always chewed the weed. II 1t sick
ened him when he smoked it. it proved a
pleasant stimulant when it came to chew
ing, and he has always been liberal user
of tobacco In that form. AT least he was
until he was leo years old. When he was
young his people tried to break him Of the
habit, and he always promised he would
when he got to be 100 years old. When he
turned the century mark this promise OF
his younger days came back to him, and
he kept his word. He stopped entirely and
became very sick, and his physician ad-
vised him to take a chew occasionally and
break the habit gradually. He took this
advice, and since then has had little crav-
ing for the weed.
In spite of his advanced age, Mr.. Haynes
has never been convinced but that life is n
good thing. He has the same repugnance
TO death he had in his youth, and conf-
IDENTIFY expects to live at least twenty-five
years longer. II he lives one-ffth of that
time he will have lived in three centuries
the setting of the eighteenth, the whole OF
the nineteenth and the dawn of the twen-
tieth. He created considerable interest in
st. Louis, when, prior to the last election,
he presented himself for registration. A
Democratic paper in commenting on this
stated that Mr.. Haynes intended to vote
for Mr.. Bryan. This worked the old man
up considerably. as he said he never had
any intention of voting for any one but
Mckinley, and his ballot went into the box
for the major. Voting for president was
no new thing for MIR. Haynes. His first
presidential vote was east for Andrew
Jackson, and he has voted at every election
since that date.