Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-15
District Woman Is los,
And Proud to Be Here
BY BETTY MILES

1t was her first birthday party
Mrs. Jane Brown was los years
old.
She may be even a year or two
older, for she has forgotten the
exact date of her birth. Doctors
at District General Hospital
where she was given an artificial
hip joint last october, and be-
lieved to be the Oldest patient
ever to come out of hip surgery
with such good results, said her
estimate of her age is probably
right.
II wasn't expecting all this
excitement" Mrs. Brown de-
clared, as she sat in the living
room of her home at 1919
Twelfth street NV. yesterday,
munching birthday cake and
drinking orange punch.
Proud Of Longevity
A small, alert woman, Mrs.
Brown added. You don't know
how proud I am.
If any one had told me I'd
be here till now, I'd have told
them it wasn't true"
Mrs. Browns grandchildren
with whom she lives, her grand
son, Timothy Childs, his wife
Henrietta. and her granddaugh-
ter. Mrs. Carlyn Kelly, gave the
party for her.
A hard worker all her life,
Mrs. Brown chafes at the relative
inactivity old age forces on her,
although she can walk quite we'll.
her eyesight and hearing are
good and her appetite is vigorous.
Hard times with me now"
is the way she expresses it.
Hard times when you can't
help yourself, can't work your
self" A friend gives her a daily
bath and rundown.
Born Jane Winston in Caro-
line County near Richmond, Va,
Mrs. Brown was the daughter
OF a slave who himself lived
more than 100 years.
Remember Union Soldiers
II was a young girl when the
Yankees came in" she said. IT
saw the soldiers when they came
up in Caroline County in great
droves. One said. You're all free.
You're not slaves any more
When I was growing up, my
father had a farm in the county.
and I helped work it," she said.
Il helped with corn and tobacco,
and we raised hogs, cows and
chickens.
When we had company we'd
kill two big chickens and fry
them. Then we'd go pick peas
and cook them. I'd like to be
able to do that now.
Il picked cotton. / planted
cotton. l even spun cotton" she
said. II brought water from a
spring with one pail on my
head and another in my hand.
These people coming along,
they don't know nothing"
Mrs. Brown came to Washing
ton with her children after the
death of her first husband, John
Bell. She supported them by
doing domestic work.
II came here because got
tired of staying in the country"
she said. Making money was a
little easier here. I've never re-
GREETED coming"
Mrs. Brown married her Sec
ond husband. John Brown, in
the late 1905. He died about 80
years ago.
She did all the laundry for a
boys home for many years, until
10 years ago, leaving home every
morning about 6 o'clock.
Nobody wanted her to CO."
Mrs. Childs said. "but she in
sisted.
She cooked for a boarder,
too, until last year. And she
tended the coal furnace until
four or five years ago."
Doesn't Wear Glasses
When I was in the hospital
for my operation after my fall,
the doctor thought it was funny
didn't wear glasses" Mrs.
Brown recalled. Il told him I
didn't know why he was sur
prised. I could see pretty good"
She hasn't got back to see
the friends she made on the staff,
but they come to see me-" she
said. THE nurses do. They
call me jamie.
People were surprised in the
hospital because I said, yes,
ma am and no, ma'am ," Mrs.
Brown recalled. I'VE learned