Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-02-01
ALMOST A CENTURY.
4 Monmouth Woman Who Will be 100
Years Old, This Year.

SSoA' VI PieaSait he, ana with the
latter part of this year will have passed
her looth birthday. This is Mrs. Lydia
Mower, who is living there with her
daughter in her 93th year. Mrs. Mower
Is smart as one of years younger and
each day hnds her busy with her work
ana taking an active interest in the
affairs OF the day.
Mrs. Mower was born in Topsham.
NOV. q, 1914. the daughter of Lemuel
thompson, and came of a long lived
family. While her birthdays have not
All been on Thanksgiving day, she was
polh Oh the date of that anniversary
ana mas mad many Thanksgiving birth
Gays since. Among the pioneer resi-
dents of Maine, her father was one of
the first settlers of Topsham and later
Went to kennebunk erecting his cabin
III the woods some three miles from
Topsham.
Her father lived to the good old age
OF ?6 years, and of his large family Of
children, ten lived to manhood, Eu.
Mrs. Mower is the last of the family
remaining, one of the brothers, Benia-
min, living to the age of 92 years. The
family are all of a hard working class
ana a cousin on the old homestead at
i 4
hundred years.
during the past year. her busy hands
nave completed ten large bed quits
and more would have followed had the
patchwork held out. Many friends
have received gifts of mittens and
stockings from the hands of Mrs
Mower and she has assisted in the
homework and the making of cloths
for relatives.
When a reporter called at the
pleasant home of Mrs. Donnell, the
daughter of Mrs. Mower, he was
| quickly made at home and the bit of
time spent there was long to be
| remembered. In speaking of old times,
| Mrs. Mower said: I'VE used to use
| flint instead of matches and the punk
and tow prevailed; instead of the
present kerosene lamp being the
| tallow candles. which our mothers were
came into vogue. In those days we
| never dared to let the fires on the
| hearth go out, because it was so hard
to start them again and quite neces-
sary to resort to the use of flint and
| punk. In those days it was not an I'M
| common thing to go to a ncighbors to
borrow Goals, taking home a fire brand
in the tongs which we had taken along.
Yes. it was quite a job in making
the candles, which we used without a
mould. but we took pieces of wick and
| dipped them in the hot tallow, allowing
them to drip bit and then with each
dripping they could be held in the cool
of the cellar to harden. This proved
rather a slow process, but we got quite
| f,;p cl, Nd IN, no nd
| they proved very serviceable.
| White bread in those days was
some what limited, but in later days it
| became very common. MIX was
plenty and bread was made from
buttermik, butter often being seen in
tine milk. Soda was not very plenty
when I was young and when we got
out of the powder, we used "a prepara-
| tion made from corn cobs, which was
made by burning the corn and cobs to
| ashes and then adding water to make {,
lye. which after straining, was to all
| intents and purposes, as good to raise
a batch of bread as the best soda in the
| market. Sometimes we used hardwood
ashes, for liquid soda, but it did not
| prove so satisfactory as that made
from the ashes of the corn cobs.
l
pies were not often made except when
there was company around. Our cook
ing was all done over the fireplace and
pork beans. potatoes, Indian meal, pud-
ding and bread, constituted the COM
mon bill of fare. The potatoes were
boiled in kettle suspended from a
| crane over the hot fire, which could be
swung in and out as the cook desired.
-. l,,,., liz, low,
or frying pan, held over the roaring
flame.
while the cooking WAS very print
tive, have never been able to find any
thing which would excel the suet
lcakeS which were cooked by my moth
or in the old Dutch oven. The children
never tired of those cakes and my
mother always had some ready for us
when we returned home from school Ak
might.
when I was A young girl it was
lrather hard for children to get shoes
to wear and the cost and the limited
lamount of money in circulation, cut
ldown our supply. so that one pair had
to last a long time. In summer time,
to save expense, we walked to school
lin our bare feet, and except on Sunday
to church and other prominent gather
IinCs very seldom Wore Our shoes.
lChurches were not very plenty and the
nearest to my fathers home was some
four miles away, we all walking there
on Sunday. There was no carriages
then and it WAS a case of walking or
going on horseback, and the older folks
usually used the horses leaving the
children to walk. Often in the days
gone by. have l rode on the rump of
the horse while held with one hand to
tho cruper strap and the other to the
waist of my mothers dress. When go
ing to church. us children walked along
the road carrying the shoes and stock
lings in little bundle, which were put
on just before entering the church. At
ter church we repaired to a spot near
by and taking off shoes and stockings
walked home"
Mrs. Mower was married at the age
of 81 years, to Calvin Mower of Greene,
land removed to that place. where two
children were born to them. who are
vet living Mrs William Harris of Min