Plentywood herald., 1928-05-18


There are few who have touched the
century milestone and gone bit
farther IN life. The allotted three
score and 10 years of mans time on
earth is considered fair average, but
when man or woman can say. "If 1
live until Aug. IL l shall be I02 years
old" an exception is noted.
Such claim is made by Mrs Elizabeth
Skiffington OF Hamilton. The story of
her life is one OF far more interest than
the average.
1t begins with the birth OF Elizabeth
Coleman at Ballinascarty. a little village
In the south OF Ireland. I'm County
Cork. six miles from the town OF Ban
don. 1t was" she said. and went on to
relate how her father, who was David
Coleman, went to England when she was
just child. leaving Elizabeth and her
mother to live with relatives. The moth
er did not wish to change her home from
Ireland to England and so 1t was not
until after the mothers death that the
little girl saw her father again.
Crossed Sea at 12
For short time she was with him
In England, and while she was still a
child OF IL, was sent to the United States.
Her destination was originally set as Al
bany, N. Y. but as she explains it:
THE boat we came on was booked for
New York, but 1t was ship OF mixed
uses. The owner of the boat used to go
to the West Indies for cargoes of liquor
The cargo this trip was whisky and 1t
was landed at Philadelphia, so passen-
gers had to land there.
"A man offered me a place taking care
OF chidren and l wanted work, SO
would not be dependent. I worked a
year there and was happy. My aunt
at Albany wanted me to live with her
put after / went there / was dissatisfied
as l wanted to earn my own way and did
not feel that / should be educated at
some one else's expense.
An uncle took me on to his home at
New York and got place there with a
woman who kept boarding house. ]
was With her long time, maybe wear
maybe more. That was on Twenty-thtrd
street and there was Jesuit mission on
sixteenth street, so I could 90 to mass
when was through with my work Sun.
day morning"
The thread OF memory Is sometimes 8
fragile thing and when 1T has been car
ried over such long time it is apt te
be broken and knotted in few places
But all in all this Irish born American
woman has retained her faculties re-
markably
Some things have happened "a gooc
while ago" Others are dated from the
time that Buchanan was president. Hel
marriage to James Skiffington was III
1858. He was Scotch parentage born IL
County Torone, in Ireland she said. The,
made their home for several years a.
Seneca Falls. N. Y. He was a cooper by
trade and used to make whisky barrel,
and hogsheads by the wholesale, coins
out into the woods to get hickory wooe
for some of his work
Fever Kills Seven
1t was at Seneca Falls that scarlet fe-
yer laid hold Of the family of seven chill
dren and when the final wave had passec
over the household, four Of her littI,
ones, Katie and Lizzie, Joseph and Char
lie, were dead. The tragedy of their los
was too much for the father, she said
and he grieved always for them, unit
later he himself was laid beside them.
Another daughter had been given then
in the meantime. and with three re
naming sons, Mrs. Skiffington moved tt
Michigan. When William was grown hi
mother placed him In the old school O
Notre Dame In Indiana, where she hopec
to educate him for the priesthood Blu
death claimed him after two years a
the school, where he was beginning t,
be teacher.
I'VE went down u, see MIN on ST
Johns day. but when we got there poo
VIII was dead" She closed her eyes 70
a moment and then produced Wills oil,
prayer book, which she had manages
somehow to save from the wreck of s.
many hard years.
Her widowhood was one of earnest en-
deavor for her children and now she
making her home with daughter, Mrs
Margaret Angel. A granddaughter, Mrs
Margaret Angel Greenup, Is the onl
other relative here. The eldest soT
James, lives in West Virginia, and tn
son John has not been heard from 70
! four years When last he wrote the moth
er, he was at Silverton, Ore.
Mrs. Skiffington's strong face is marke
by kindly expressive eyes and dee
knowing smile. She has always know
life from the angle OF the worker but th
desire for better things Of life has al
ways been uppermost
She is active and able to do for her
self in the little room set aside for he
) in the daughters home. The family hs
been in Montana about 10 years and sh
II