The Oskaloosa herald., 1905-01-05
FIVE SCORE AND
EIGHTEEN YEARS
OLDEST MAN in IOWA NOW Liv
ING IN osKALoosA.
LOUIS YOUNG BORN IN 1876
Old Gentleman Knew Washington
and Hancock and Is Familiar
With the Early History of
American Independence.

Louis Young, Of Summers county,
West Virginia, is the guest Of his
daughter, Mrs. Frank Bush, at 40s
North Fifth street, and will likely re-
main here. His s~on-in-law, Mr.Bush,
the genial porter at the Lacey hotel,
went to West Virginia recently 10
bring the old gentleman to this city.
Mr.. Young is old, although neither
his name nor the man himself imply
that his years number lib. He cele-
brated his 11Sth birthday a week ago
and now y with pride that he is
''goin' on 49,"
Mr.. Young wax born in Prince Ed
ward, on Hat Creek, Tuckahoe coun-
ty, West Virginia, on a farm $50 poor
that it won't sprout b~lack-eyed peas"
in 1856, only two years after the
Declaration OF independence was
signed. Uncle Louis has lain three
wives beneath the sod, marrying the
first when he was 25 years old and
living with her for forty years. zone
year hence as he expressed it, he
married again, and the third spouse
was "Mr. CAROLS colored woman,
Mary Ann" who lived to be his wife
for 81 years.
Speaking of wives it was ascer-
tanned that Uncle Louis would not
mind trying a fourth one, but desig-
mated that she must be a young girl,
as ne wanted notrifiing old women
around him. 118 years old and look
ing for a wife. Most men are ready
to give up business at 65 and expect
ing to die at 70. But Uncle Louis
does not look old nor act old, either.
He seem to be in full possession of
his faculties and sees and hears fair
1y well. He is full or jokes and pokes
fun at you when you least expect il.
He interviews himself, first asking
the question which he thinks you
want to know, and then answering It.
The quaint, one4sided conversation Is
decidedly unique. His talk Is inter-
rogated with gestures, for he is a
southern darkey and rulI of the panto-
mime instinct of his race. with this
Is combined a certain shrewdness
and a cunning that makes one won
der until a full look in the face OF
the old man assures you of his Indian
blood, for Uncle Louis is half Indian.
He laughed when we asked il he had
not some Indian blood in his veins.
44n pretending NSngerpI1rSed
to his daughter ad asked: BE 1 red
Injun OF black nigger?" "Both," she
answered, and then ne laughed heart
lily, giving one of those indescribable
southern CALCULATIONS, he said: "Uh,
a red niger"
Does | know anything about the
Revolutionary war? Well, l should
say l does. l was one of them men
what hired their own time and went
where they chose, and I knows all
them five big men head men Of the
eight years The biggest old
head man was Gen1 Washington. /
knew him mighty well and him and
his wfie is buried with a big stone
for their grave, just as big as this
room and its right on top of 'em.
Then there was Gent Hancock, ne
lived in Bfacksburg county, but he's
dead now and you can go to his
grave, just the other side OF Salem,
past the big springs and the dirt tun-
mel and down the road and there you
are, lookin' at Gent Hancock in a big
glass vault"
"GenI Payton, he lived in Franklin
county, and he fought in the Revo-
luton war Gen'l Darlington lived
in Botetourt county, but Gen'l Rey-
nolds he was the youngest of any one
in the eight years war and he lived
to fight in the Patty war (meaning
the civil war;. His W soldiers
killed him at Manassas Gap, ne was
outside the lines and the sentry hear.
ing a noise shot into the brush and
instead Of hurting a Yankee, killed
their own general. They took him
down the tow path to Lexington, his
home, and there they buried him. He
give me a gun once, a horse pistol
TO guard with. / kept it until no,
long ago, when l hired a boy to cut
the grass in my garden and instead
Of cutting 1t he just tromped It down
and l was not going to give him any
6CSA AhOhOy " budNy anu DO "hCu 1T
come round / just give him that ole
boss pistol. I never used It, nohow
The hardware man in the town got
hold OF 1t and sent ror me to come
up and said the boy said I give It t.
him, and did I? / said yes, and Their
he wanted to know where I got Il
and I told him Gen1 Reynolds give Il
to me and he said 1t was SO old thai
they never see anything like it."
"Speakin' Of Indians, they wal
mighty bad before they was civilized
used to feed lots of 'em. Board ZEN
you understand. The governor would
give EN- meal tickets and many {
time ! have gone into the garden aht
picked red peppers for them Injuns;
put no less than three at a plate anc
they would take 'em right up and cal
iem like apples"
"Injuns never build a big fire and
alwavG ~gafsnnr rofnd closo RI ~ fbax