Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-10-09
MRS. KEISER LEARNS TO
PLAY PIANO AFTER EIGHTY

able to see 1t. Inc foregoing remark
would not be unusual in most cases,
but the speaker was a lady who will
be "a years of age on the 18th of this
month, and who was past four-score
when she learned to play on the in
strument. She is Mrs. Esther Keiser,
of 500 East Market street. blooming
ton, and her only reason for not
continuing her music is that since
June 20 she has been confined To her
bed. from the effects of a fail which
injured her hip and affected her
nerves. Otherwise Mrs. Keiser is in
full possession of her faculties and
enjoys meeting visitors with whom
she converses readily. She is re-
markably well preserved woman, her
hearing being much better than
many who are a score of years her
junior. and her eyes are so strong that
she rs able to pass many idle moments
each day in writing letters.
Mrs Keiser was born Oct. Is, 1SOS,
in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, near
the Monongahela river. and on the
banks of the Cheap river, stream
which attained some prominence dur
ing the civil war. In her early days
she lived on a farm, and she says
that she is believer that hard work
does not prevent longevity. As early
as she says she has put in n whole
day hoeing in the fields and as a girl
helped in the harvest and was always
kept busy She went to school as a
child, but in those days many thought
girls had no need of arithmetic, the
rule of three" being reserved for
the boys. However, she has been
keen reader all her life, has kept her
eyes and ears open all the time, she
says, has kept abreast of current af-
fairs and is better posted than many
a college graduate of younger years.
In her early years she had fond
ness for music and could play by ear
the violin. flute and melodeon. but she
never learned patent notes. She at
tended singing school in the days
when rudiments were long and short
meter, and enjoyed singing. 1t was
after she had lost her singing voice
and could not enjoy that exercise
that she picked up piano music and
enjoyed playing for visitors.
Her father died before she was so
years of age and her mother was 73.
She is the last of a family of ten, one
sister having lived to be "a, and two
others to be past so. There were only
two brothers in the family. She was
married Jan. l, 1915, at the age of sc,
TO John Keiser, at Fayette county.
where they lived until they came to
Bloomington in 1872. Mr.. Keiser died
the following year. They had two
sons and two daughters, Henry and Il.
q. Keiser. of Bloomington, and Mrs.
Lizzie Buhchell, of Kansas, and Mrs.
Sarah Cruikshank, of Randolph. The
latter has been home nursing
her mother since her last accident,
but is making arrangements to move
her to Randolph, where a room is-be-
ing fitted up for her especial con-
venience. Mrs. Keiser is not affected
by her injury except that she cannot
walk or stand. She says that she
fears that she will never be able to
do so again, but is very hopeful. She
never had any long sickness. but once
fell on the ice and was kept indoors
for a time. Until the last sickness
slss. frequently walked to South Hill
and once i'm while to Normal.
She has a faint recollection of the
war of 1912 and was old enough to un-
derstand the returning soldiers after
they got home, but, although she is
a member of the Christian denomina-
ton. her people were Dunkards and
opposed to war, so her family was not
in the revolution. and she
said with a smile that she nor her
would be able to break in
to the ID. 4. r." Her family name
was Cans. She tells a funny story o.
her first sight of train of cars and
now the train backed up, then pulled
away and left her several times, but
after many attempts to get on, some
one explained that they were switch
ing and that she would be able to ride
in due time. Steamboats, were com
mon in her early girlhood.
Mrs. Keiser enjoys company and.
while the Paragraph man was visit
ing with her, the postman brought
letter for her. Her memory is keen
and she enjoys joke with relish. The
other day she remarked on the family
memory of many aged people. and
said she was sure that some of her
acquaintance were beginning to be
affected that way, for she had writ
ten to number of them and they
had not replied. She has always been
in close touch with the members OF
her family through letters and says
that, while she has written many BIZ
ographies of many of her friends, she
has never tried her own although
she is not too old to do it yet, and
may do so.
TI,a NUooJchucIr