The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-08-06
OLDEST MAN IS MISSOURIAN
 HE IS HI

| Minden, Mo-. Aug. GA few miles
 north of here, in Barton county, Mo-,
 lives a man, the oldest in America
 Henry Dorman is his name and his
 years number Ill.
 ''Uncle Henry as he is called, was
 born in January 10, 1799. He first | saw the light of day in Steuben coun- | ty, New York, at that time on the Western frontier When he was | born there was not a sulphur match ! in existence. Washington was still alive, and when Abraham Lincoln, was born Uncle Henry was schoolboy of eight. Before the first mile of rail- | road was laid he was young married l man with children about his fireside. For years the people of Southeast | a very old man. But they were not prepared for the declaration made a short time ago by the old mans rela- tives that he was the oldest living l man in the nation.
 The relatives had made investiga-
 tion and they feel warranted in the assertion that Henry Dorman can show records to prove a greater age than any other man in the United States. Some men assert that their years exceed those of Uncle Henry, but they cannot show proofs. Most of these are negroes who. do not really know old they are.
 Uncle Henry bears the burden of Ill years we'll upon his sturdy Shoul- ders. His thick, short figure is bent, his hair is thin and gray and time has left it's traces in the furrows of
 his face, but his body still looks fair
 ly strong His eyes still beam forth
 fire from under heavy lashes and now
 and then they show a glint of huTnor,
 hi ioI, jY1
 spite of his age, gets enjoyment out of living.
 A visitor went to the Dorman home a short time ago. The house on the
 old farm is old and small, but it is
 we'll kept by the old man, his aged son. All in the Dorman household are old. Hattie Dorman, the daugh- ter-in-law, welcomed the visitor, and said that Uncle Henry was out "chor- ing around" some place. In few minutes the bent old man came in and extended horny and wrinkled hand. The hand was his left.
 You'll have to take my 1eft,'' he explained, because my right is not fit to be shown. I got shot at the battle of Yellow Tavern in Virginia, just before the close of the war" And the old man showed the injured member from which two fingers were missing.
 "I guess the Lord just meant me to live long," exclaimed Uncle Henry, 'tfor I never took any kind of care of myself. None of my family ever liv- ed long, either and when I was four teen I was an orphan. That meant that I had to get out and make my way in the world at an early age. And sometimes it was mighty hard. I always was a farmer and I always worked mighty hard, and sometimes I think that is the reason for my long life Hard work is good for a man and it is the only medicine that I ever took.
 "'I never did drink any strong drink and I never did smoke, but I have chewed a whole lot in my time. I took my first chew when I was twen- ty-four and the last when I was 1O4. In the intervening years I consumed enough of the weed for three men. The reason that I quit was that I began to realize that chewing was a dirty habit for an old man to have. And then, too, on the average it cost me about $10 a year which, without interest in eighty years amounted to S3OO An old man must be economi- cal and so decided to save my mon ey. When I was 104 I thought that I was getting old.'' Uncle Henry chuck led at his joke.