Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-01-18
THE CENTENARIAN OF
AUGUSTA COUNTY
George L. Argenbrightr 100 Years Old
A Sketch of his Chiidheod, You'll,
and Manhood.

, and Manhood.
Y esterday, January II, 1901. M
g George l.. Argenbright, the centen
rian of Augusta county, celebrated b
l0oth birthday with dinner al
gathering of his friends at his hon
two miles north of Greenville. He b
been living for several years with h
son. Mr.. James AIgenbright, and 1t
rather remarkable that, in the sa II
house with him, is another of Augu
: ta's Oldest residents, Mrs. Piper, tt
mother of his son s wife, who is ninet
years old. One who sits around tx
fireside of this hospitable home, fine
himself sure enough in the atmOsphel
of "Auld Lang Syne," with. man 81
ting on one side who was born whe
Augusta county was so young she dl
not pay $4,000 a year taxes, and W.
man who was born fourteen years b'
fore the foundation of the Wester
Lunatic Asylum was laid. Their ia
miliarity with Andrew jackson an
the battle of New Orleans, Scott an
Taylor and the battles of Buena Visit
and Chapultepec, Vera Cruz an
Cero Gardo, makes you, if you ar
! nothing more than veteran of tn
civil war, feel like taking to hear
what your parents used to tell you
"Children must be seen and not heard.
The writer saw and heard many inter
esting things in connection with thu
venerable subject of this sketch, bu
| che first matter OF record, altar BIZ
birth which is duly recorded in tn,
family Bible as above stated, Is
HIS BAPTISM,
which occurred when he was a little
over three years old, the rite having
been administered by Rev. G.. A. Rech
ert, an Evangelical Lutheran minister
whose certificate recites the date oil
the incident with the date of his birth
and thus his great age is established
without question. This baptismal Ger
tiicate is written in german text and
the original Of the quaint old instru
ment which is in the possession of Mr..
Argenbright's eldest son, Newton, Ar
genbright, city clerk of Staunton, is a
relic of the past, well worthy of inspec
ton. The following is a literal trans
lation of the old paper:
George Lewis Argenbright was born
on the 18th day Of January, 1901, in
Augusta county, State of New Virginia,
North America, Of Evangelical Luthe
ran parents. The fathers name is
Jacob Argenbright, and the mothers
name is Christiana Argenbright nee
Mauer. The witnesses of the baptism
were the Hon. Mr.. George Lewis
Mauer and his wife, Christians. 20,
child Now that you are baptised and
have confessed God and call yourself
and all your own, after the name of
Jesus Christ, take good care and never
forget how mush good He he done you
on the day of your baptism. Guide
my mind, which is too full Of worldly
things, that | may not wander away
from Thee, but stay within Thy
bounds-be Thou my gain. Give me
Thy mind, and plant the impulse of
Thys spirit in my soul, that l may
watch and pray, SO that / may stand
before Thy face with JOY, and have
pure love in my soul.
Executed in Augusta county, New
Virginia, on the 18th day of April in
the year of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, 1904 Soil Dec Gloria.
G.. A. RECHERT,
SehoIa Colegia.
HIS SCHOOL DAYS.
The next recorded evidence of the
existence of the boy, George Lewis, is
his well worn, but neat old Murray's
which be used at school when
he was about IL years old And when
l read the title of the book and the
contents, wondered that little George
l.. did not stop growing right there or
run off to the Indians. Here's the til
tie of the book: 1.-THE English
or Pieces in Prose and Poet
~, selected from the best writers to
improve language and to incuIcate
principles of Piety and Virtue. p
Some neutrality-suspicious. Of a
good education, on gratitude, on for
giveness, on OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES;
Bayle, practice of gentleness. comforts
of religion, slavery of vice. Christiani-
ty defended sgainst this evils OF vice.
etc. That G. L. went through 1t. is
evident from the worn place about the
size of boys thumb that goes through
to the back of the book. But the boy
never grew to be large.
Another queer little book is called
History of the Bible. 1t is about the
size of the stone David slew Goliah
with and tells all about that historical
event also about Jonah, Moses, Jacob
and the others. 1t is ABOUT as thick as
it is long, bound in sheep and looks like
it is good for 500 years more II proper
iy tended. The illustrations are gems
or doubtless were when the book and
q. L. were both young. We can i'm
aging him holding his breath as he
watched the wobegons but happy
looking Jonah, whose clothing had all
been digestsd off of him, turning a
somersault out of the whales mouth
while the fish seems to be suffering
with sick stomach
AS he grew older and got into his teens
be seems to have developed into quite
a penman, made his own pens from the
goose quill, always disdainsd steel
pen and after he reached 20. kept beau
tiful copy and arithmetic book for he
was going to school then. He was
painstaking and industrious to fault
il we may judge by the ornamental
head lines he used at the top of every
page of the book we saw of over 100
pages. Surely it took hours to print
each line. There follow copies, rules