The Washington times., 1901-07-05
MORE THAN CENHRNARIAN.
Mrs. Davis Has Seen One Hundred
and Twenty-four Birthdays.
Anniversary Yesterday of Il Wash
ington CoIOred Woman, One of the
Oldest Persons in the WorId-Her
Memory Recalls Even Washington

Anniversary leSteruIy OF Wash
ington CoIOred Woman, One of the
oldest Persons in the WorId-Her
Memory Recalls Even Washington
The Oldest inhabitant of Washington
yesterday celebrated the 125th anniversary
of the independence of the United States
and the 12ith anniversary of the day on
which she herself was born. She is Mary
| Eta Davis. a coIored woman, without
doubt the Oldest resident of the National
Capital. She is also one of the oldest liv-
/ ing persons in the world.
Even at this advanced age she is hale
and hearty. and is in better condition
| physically than she was twelve years ago,
when she apparently discovered the foun-
| tain of youth. Her hair, which for many
| years was snowy white. has now become
! almost black again. Twelve years ago
/ she was totally blind from old age Now
she has recovered her sight. which Is bet
( ter than ever. and she scorns the use of
( spectacles She lost her teeth many years
( ago. She works much harder than the
average person, in spite of her years. She
takes in washing, sews. cooks for her nu-
merous descendants. and Is active and
strong. Her memory is excellent and her
mind is still vigorous.
hiES DdNlS mas uetU Il TeSluent OF WASH
ington since the civil war She lives at 20
b Street southeast. In her family are
representatives of four generations-Hes
ter Covington. her daughter: Ella Carter.
her granddaughter and tN,a great grand
children.
There is no question as 10 the authen-
ticlty of the record regarding the date
of her birth. She remembers distinctly
when George Washington was lnaugu-
rated first President OF the United States.
At this time she was twelve years old.
as records which have been preserved
by her family and her old friends show.
This makes the year OF her birth M,
twelve months after the American colo
MES had become free. She was born in
bondage on a Maryland plantation, and
lived in slavery for nearly ninety years.
passing through the ownership OF many
masters. who died and bequaathed her
to others. For nearly century she was
bought and sold as chatteI. And yet
the person whom she is most anxious to
see. and whom she prays will find her
before she dies, is her last master She
was in the well-known Carter and Toll
bert families of Maryland almost all her
life. and in her day she was acquainted
with many of the men whose names have
made that of Maryland famous in the
history of the country.
Il want to find young Marse Bernard
Carter" said the old woman. "Be was
my last marster. 1 want to see him be-
fore / die" For years she has been hop
ing every day to ind him According to
her story Bernard Carter Is a prominent
lawyer in Baltimore. He is an old man
now, but she has learned recently that
he is still alive. and that he is well known
in Washington.
Her first master was George Tolbert,
one of the well-klown Maryland family
of that name. She was born in the slave
quarters on the Tolbert plantation. This
was in the eighteenth century One full
century has passed since then, and she |
has lived to see the dawn OF third one.
She brought to memory personal his
tory of the old colonial patriots of Mary
land when she repeated her story Her
first master daughter married Charles |
Carter She was a part of the paternal |
wedding gift to the bride. and so passed /
into the possession of the Carriers. Ber- !
marc Carter was born when she was a !
grown woman. he WAS the last owner /
she had. The war came, and with il the /
proclamation freeing all slaves. The site /.
OF the Carter home Is now known as
Goodwood.
She remembers well Oden Bowie whose I
son married her masters daughter. just
at the outbreak of the war. Had ii not I
been for the war-''Mr- I4incoIns war
she calls it-she would have been trans I
ferred to this family One daughter and I
one granddaughter were born in slavery. /
They didn't let US know anything about /
the war, at first she said last night The 4
slaves were not told anything concerning |
passing events. and il was not until the I
Confederate army invaded Maryland that |
the slave population learned of the fact /
that war was in progress. They heard
sound battles at + he me TINA
rumors that they were free. Many of the
slaves ran away.
Among these was the centenarian's
daughter, then a grown woman. She es-
capped to Washington. Later she went
back during the night time. aided her
mother TO escape, and brought her 70 the
Capital Mrs. Davis, however, preferred
slavery to freedom. She grew homesick,
even though home We're one of bondage,
and she returned to her master
She remembers the great meteoric show
er of 1880. She was at that time thirteen
years old. She reckoned this time in
peculiar manner. She remembered that
she had been in the fields one year when
the shower occurred. Slave girls she
said, were sent to the fields when they |
were twelve The shower OF stars caused |
a great religious commotion among the
coiored people. she said, who believed that
the day of judgment had come. THE stars
fell like rain.' she said, adding: They
looked like handful of salt thrown on a
fire"
The old c9lOred woman has nine grand
children living and eight dead She has
had twenty-seven great-grandeh and
has lived long enough to survive thirteen
of them. Her husband and she has had
only one IN a life of century and a
quarter, and two SONS ran away during
the war. She has never seen them since.
Two other sons We're sold into the rice
plantations of Louisiana. and they also
never returned. One brother died in Wash
ington several years ago. He was eighty
years old. She was full grown woman
when he was born and raised him to
and buried him.
How large a plantation did you live
on, aunty?" she was asked.
MY master was powerful rich" she
said And then she added with touch |
Of pride, in the language of slavery times,
which she has never outgrown: There
were a hundred and fifty head of people