The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-09-19
MEET
Uncle Jack Phipps and Jonathan
Wax are introduced and Take
an Auto Ride Together.

One of the most remarkable meet
ings ever recorded took place in
front of the Sentinel-Post building
last Friday afternoon, when Jona-
than Wax and John NJ Phipps were
first introduced to each other. Mr..
Phipps celebrated his Tooth birthday
last st. Valentines day, and Mr.. Wax
was 100 years old March 29th.
These rare old gentlemen had fire.
Quently heard of each other, for Mr..
Phipps lives at Farragut, and Mr..
Wax spends several months each
year at the home of his son, w. H..
w. Wax in Shenandoah, but they
had never seen each other until this
meeting was arranged by the Senti-
nel-Post They took long look at
each other, shook hands, and then
said one to the other:
well, I'm mighty glad to meet
you!"
Then they broke into eager con-
versation and with animation dis
cussed events which happened in
their early days, events which are
classed by the most of us as "ancient
history" when we went to school.
They climbed into H. E. knights
auto, and after their pictures had
been taken, enjoyed an auto tour
al 1ound Shenandoah, talking eagerly
the while. These men were past
their ninetieth birthdays before they
first saw an automobile, and yet they
took as much keen delight in hit
ting up the pace as any kids who
had grown up with the motormania.
They are spry, both Of them, and
lively, and full of jokes and fun.
They read and write and walk and
talk almost as readily as you and /
in spite of their great age. They are
proud of their years too, as they
have a right to be.
John M. Phipps was born in Wash
ington county, Va. He left Virginia
when he was seventeen and came
west to seek his fortune in the new
country. He first came to Iowa in
1885. He lived for time in Ne
braska and Missouri, and then came
back to Iowa, and settled on farm
near Farragut, where he has resided
for more than thirty years. Phipps
was one of the family of ten child
rem, two girls and eight boys, OF
which he is the only surviving mem
ber. His twin brother, Eli, who liv-
ed in Oklahoma, died just few
months short of the hundred mark
John Phipps was married in Decatur
county, Feb 27, 1912, to Miss Mary
E. Long, an aunt of o. S. Long.
They had four children, four OF
whom are now living. His son,
Matthew, lives in Oklahoma, a
daughter, Mrs. F. A. Gardner, at
Leon, and another daughter, Mrs.
Mary Winfrey, at Richardson, Neb.,
and Mr.. Phipps frequently boards
the train and HES himself away, all
by himself, to visit them. In fact,
when the two old men met last Sat-
urday, he was just returning from =
visit in Leon. Mr.. Phipps' other son,
A. S. Phipps, lives on the old home
farm between Shenandoah and Far
ragut, and the old gentleman makes
his home there. During early life
he acquired a considerable fortune,
but this he has given to his children,
only enough to keep him
self comfortably.
Jonathan Wax was born in Perry
county, Penn, and grew to manhood
there. He came to Ohio in 1870,
was married there, and in 1854, he
moved to Iowa, coming overland in
a prairie schooner. He came first
to Pierce township, but couldn't find
a house, and went on to Fremont
county. Later he lived in Montgom-
cry county for number of years.
In fact, his life history would tell
much of the history of Page, Ere
mont and Montgomery counties, for
he lived and traded in all these
places during the pioneer days when
the first settlers came. His wife
died in 1894, and since that time he
has made his home with his two
sons, w. H. w. Wax, who lives in
and F. NJ. Wax, who
lives in Uniontown, Kansas. He
makes the trip back and forth alone
each year, and enjoys the travelling
as much as ungster.-Shenan-
doah Sentinel-Post.
Wreck Delayed Traffic.