oldest or earliest born folks you talked to

[mickbr]

Docs post on cherishing families made me think about time spent talking to older folk throughout my life. What is the oldest or earliest born person you spoke to and do you remember what you spoke abou? Im turning 50 in a year so older than a few here but younger than others. As a small child in the early 80's we used to visit my great grandmother who was in her 80's then and remember her telling me about horse and carts. She was born 1896, died 1985.

[GunnyMack]

My grandfather was born in 1900, he came here from Germany as a young child. He and his older brother went on to owning a trucking company. His older brother was a submariner in WW1.
Had a neighbor as a kid who at 89 still chopped firewood by hand, chewed Redman and was kind of crotchety but finally I wore him down and the stories of hunting, heck just existing would make these kids today run crying to their mommies- like shoveling a path through the snow to get to the outhouse!

If more people would stop putting their ol folks in rest homes and engage with them our world would be a better place.

Had a good friend who at 96 was still doing his best to deer hunt, his favorite saying was
' youth and enthusiasm will never overcome age and treachery ' . They have seen and done things we can only experience for ourselves!

[gamekeeper]

Being born in 1948 most adults I knew growing up had not only experienced the 2nd world war but also the Great War, I loved listening to all the stories.

[gcs]

Always talked to the old folks, My grandmother was the most forthcoming on working the farm in Germany with hand tools, and the crippling inflation after WW1. Was friendly with a few old Baymen, talked about the old days fishing here in the bay, and they new the last of the market hunters. You couldn't just ask and get answers, you had to hang out with them drinking coffee in the AM and wait till something in the conversation would spark a memory...learned a lot practically by accident.... cause you can't learn it all about this business in one lifetime

[Bill in Oregon]

I was fortunate to be able to talk with my great-grandmother, who was born in San Luis Obispo County, California, in 1858, and died days before her 100th birthday in 1958 in Medford, Oregon. Her father moved the family from California to San Saba, Texas, about 1860. She married my great-grandfather in 1880 in Buffalo Gap. I was only five when she passed, so the memories of our conversations are but shadows. I do remember my grandmother's advice: You can ask her about horse and buggy days, but don't ask about Comanches. To this day, I wish I knew why.

[JimT]

I was born in 1946. In 1972 I became acquainted with Jim Hardy of Cave Creek, Arizona. He was born in 1875 and he died in 1978 at the age of 103. This is a photo of him at 100.

jim_hardy.jpg

[Rockrat]

My Great Grandmother was the oldest. I was 21 when she passed. She was born in 1879 in Texas. I used to kid her about breakfast and her liking bread crumbs on her stick of butter (Her toast). She mainly talked about horse and buggy days and life on the farm.

[6pt-sika]

My great grandfather on my mothers side was the earliest born . He was born in 1890 and he died in 1981 . My fathers mother made it to 98 when she passed , she was born in 1912 . My great grandmother on my mothers side while not the earliest or the oldest like my great grandfather was born up in the Blue Ridge in whats now the Shenandoah National Park , her father however was originally from Maine and had come down here during the war and was a turn coat . When I was rebuilding my first steam traction engine I remmember her telling me that her father would have loved to have seen it . It seems after the war and him settling in the mountains he had acquired three or four steam engines he used to power various implements for the community in the mountains . He had a different whistle on each engine and when he fired it up and got steam he’d blow the whistle so his neighbors knew what he was going to do that day and they would bring whatever they had that needed to be sawed or ground or etc . He did this for them on shares .

[jeepnik]

age wise the oldest person I talk to regularly is my aunt. She's 100 years old, and still drives. In fact when she and her 80 year old daughter go out, my aunt drives. The oldest in terms of when born I've ever talked to would be my maternal grandmother. Born in 1894 but she passed in 1968.

[Old Savage]

1875.

[horsesoldier03]

Back around 1987, the unit I was in was having a gunnery exercise and brought out Veterans from Vietnam, Korea, WWII, and WWI. There were only two veterans from WWI that were there that day. The most impressive story that they told was during battle they would occasionally lose the ability to elevate and traverse the main gun of the tank. Their solution was to get out on top of the tank and elevate the barrel steadying it on their shoulders while the gunner fired the round.

[Ysabel Kid]

My Great-Grandmother on my mother's side was born in 1882. She was still alive when I was young, but was "senile" (as they used to say) to where she really didn't speak. I do remember her. My grandmother on my Dad's side was born in 1897... on my birthday (I was born 67 years later). I remember her well as she lived with us for a year or when I was in middle school. I often thought about what she saw in her lifetime... going from horse & buggy to a man walking on the moon.

[Griff]

My Grandmother was born in 1874 and passed in July 1969 just days after Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. She talked of her family life in East Tennessee, the coming of cars, telephone, radio and TV. She was my Grandfather's second wife, mother to the 3 youngest of his 9 kids. Talked of farm life before tractors, and wars from the Spanish-American to VietNam.

[KWK]

The oldest of which I'm certain was my paternal grandfather, born in 1895. As a young man, I had many chances to talk with him. He remained sharp to the end.

There's another fellow I can barely remember meeting as a child. He was in the hospital nearing his end, and I remember my parents telling me years later he died in his late 80s. If these recollections are true, he'd have been born about 1880, but it's not as if we'd had a meaningful conversation.

Grandpa and I were 65 years apart. I can imagine an 85 year old man talking to a 15 year old boy, 70 years separating them. One can then imagine a game of Telephone in which these 70 year spans are chained end to end. That leaves Caesar and me only 30 spans apart: Time flies.

[Bruce Scott]

That would be my paternal grandmother, born in Birmingham UK in 1880 and died here in Australia in 1972 - I was 23 then.

[Gunstore Commando]

I remember being a little kid and hanging around the country general store listening to the World War One vets (who were the same age as Vietnam vets are today). They'd say "oh, those dummies -- if we hadn't gone over there they'd still be fighting!"

Some historians have lately validated that view, believing that the Great War would literally have never ended and they'd still be over there shelling each other's trenches.