Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-11-18
MRS. BETSEY c. GREEN
LEAF OF AUBURN WILL BE
81 YEARS OF AGE NOV. 10

| Auburn, Me-, Nov. 17.-Its does not
| fall to the lot of many to attain the
age of 81 years under such favorable
| circumstances as those enjoyed by
Mrs. Betsey c. Greenleaf of 121 Spring
! street, Auburn. Never having sought
notoriety, Mrs. Greenleaf has come
to be the oldest woman in Auburn,
without that fact being generally
! known.
She Is in many ways, a remarkable
woman. To meet her in the home, one
would Judge her age to be not over 75
She enjoys excellent health. Her brown
hair is scarcely silvered and the
| sparkle of her dark blue eyes reflects
| the clearness of the mind within. She
does not wear glasses, except to read
small print and when sewing on fine
work. She does a great deal of sewing.
She has long been member of the
| Elm street Universalist church, and
very rarely fails to attend the Sunday
| morning services. 1t being only a
short distance from her home Mrs.
Greenleaf usually walks to church.
She belongs to the sewing circle also,
and still may be found, busy with her
needle, at most of its sessions.
| Mrs. Greenleaf was born in Rumford,
| Nov 10, 1923, the eldest of the eight
| children of John and Vesta Abbott
Akeley. While she was yet a young
girl her mother died and this eldest
daughter assumed the care of the
household for four years. Then the
father married again and Betsey start
ed out to work for herself. She taught
q term of school and then went to
Saco, where she obtained employment
in a factory, where she worked for
four years.
On Aug. 10, 1S4s, she was married to
William T. Greenleaf of Milton Plan.
tation. Mr.. Greenleaf was a farmer
and they went directly to the new
farmhouse which he had been building
for their home. They began house,
keeping in two rooms, which were all
that were then in readiness. They
completed the house and this contin-
ued to be their home for many years.
Three children were born to them,
Ella, John A., and Alice J. Greenleaf.
The youngest daughter died at the age
of Is.
During the Civil War Mr.. Greenleaf
served in Co. B of the 18th Maine Reg
iment for one year.
Because of i'll health Mr.. Greenleaf
sold his farm a few years after his re-
turn from the war and moved his fam
lily to Auburn. They lived on Holly
street until the time of Mr.. Greenleaf's
death, March l, 1900. Then Mrs.
Greenleaf went to live with her son,
John A. Greenleaf. who was one of the
best known contractors in Auburn,
until his death in March.
The death of Mrs. Greenleaf's daugh-
ter. Mrs. Ella SWEET of Merrimac,
Mass. followed closely that of Mr..
Greenleaf
Mrs Greenleaf continues to have her
home with two grandsons, William A.
and Fred B. Greenleaf, both contract
ors.
Mrs. GreenIeaf has brother, Angus
tus Akeley of Mystic, Conn. Another
brother, john w Akeley, went to
Montana several years ago and his
sister has not heard from him for
years.
Mrs. Greenleaf has seven grand
children and four Observation-Disclosures
Mrs. Greenleaf attributes her good
health to the way in which she lived
when a child. People lived on coarse
food cooked by the open fire and had
healthy appetites. Her father used to
drive to Portland to do his trading.
There was no railroad then and no
market for any kind of produce nearer
than Portland.
Her father used to hire a shoemaker
to come to the house and make shoes
for all the children for winter In
summer they always went barefoot.
Mrs. Greenleaf's relatives and friends
are planning to make her 91st birth
day Thursday an occasion to be re-
membered.