Daughter of Edmon Johnson & Minerva
Gonzales Inquirer Aug. 3, 1951
Aged Princeville Woman Believe to Be 105
Gonzales Inquirer Jun. 23, 1955
Oldest Resident Gives Pointed Advice to Reporter
By Paul Ziemer
I'm still trying to figure out whether I was being needed.
If so, it was one of the most gentle and effective needling I or anybody else ever encountered.
It happened on a trip to take a picture of Gonzales county's oldest resident, Margaret Johnson Jones, born in slavery on the Jim Gray farm on the Colorado River near La Grange 109 years ago. It seemed a good idea , just before June 19, to talk to one of the few people in the nation alive on the first Emancipation day.
She was taking a nap when I arrived, but at 109 the borderline between sleep and waking, like a great many other things that seemed important very long ago, has blurred so it apparently isn't too I'm.
She woke as I spoke to her daughter, Georgia Mathis, 65, outside the daughters home in Greenwood community. And she seemed pleased at the thought of having her picture taken.
'Tend Own Business'
Inevitably, the question of the secret of long life was asked.
"I reckon," she drawled , "it's because I always tend mu own business, and never bother nobody."
She said it with a smile, and I thought she was sincere about it. I still think so. It was just a case of putting the shoe on if it fit.
For a reporter, it didn't only fit, it pinched in spots.
The same applied, though less pointedly, to other parts of Margaret's formula for a long life.
Sage Tea
She's never smoked. Nor does she drink tea or coffee. This last is just preference. She likes the old-fashioned sage tea you make with materials you can gather right out in the countryside. Maybe with a little lemon, if there's some handy.
There's nothing special about her either. Right now, her favorite dishes are brisket stew, greens, corn, peas, and mashed potatoes.
She can understand and tries to answer any questions you put to her, but when you get along in years, things like wars and such seem sort of dim. What remains is the memory of really important individual things, like being married on two long-separated occasions in Gonzales, the nine children born to the first husband, and three born to the second. Margaret says she remembers allof them clearly.
133 Descendants
She cannot name all of her other descendants, and it is doubtful whether anyone else can, either, without a lot of consultation with a lot of relatives. At last count, there were 133 living descendants scattered over four generations.
Eliza Henderson, 85, with whom Margaret makes her home, is the oldest surviving child. She's the third to be born to the aged woman.
While there is no record of Margaret's birth, all writing in the family referring to her agrees on her age. It's usually figured from the statement that she was 45 when her youngest daughter was born. That daughter is now almost 65. Margaret isn't certain just when she came to Gonzales county, but has lived in the Greenwood community for the past 70 years.
She says if she could turn back the clock, almost any period of her life would be acceptable to her.
"Just so long as I'd be young enough to work," she added.
Gonzales Inquirer Aug. 3, 1951
Aged Princeville Woman Believe to Be 105
Gonzales Inquirer Jun. 23, 1955
Oldest Resident Gives Pointed Advice to Reporter
By Paul Ziemer
I'm still trying to figure out whether I was being needed.
If so, it was one of the most gentle and effective needling I or anybody else ever encountered.
It happened on a trip to take a picture of Gonzales county's oldest resident, Margaret Johnson Jones, born in slavery on the Jim Gray farm on the Colorado River near La Grange 109 years ago. It seemed a good idea , just before June 19, to talk to one of the few people in the nation alive on the first Emancipation day.
She was taking a nap when I arrived, but at 109 the borderline between sleep and waking, like a great many other things that seemed important very long ago, has blurred so it apparently isn't too I'm.
She woke as I spoke to her daughter, Georgia Mathis, 65, outside the daughters home in Greenwood community. And she seemed pleased at the thought of having her picture taken.
'Tend Own Business'
Inevitably, the question of the secret of long life was asked.
"I reckon," she drawled , "it's because I always tend mu own business, and never bother nobody."
She said it with a smile, and I thought she was sincere about it. I still think so. It was just a case of putting the shoe on if it fit.
For a reporter, it didn't only fit, it pinched in spots.
The same applied, though less pointedly, to other parts of Margaret's formula for a long life.
Sage Tea
She's never smoked. Nor does she drink tea or coffee. This last is just preference. She likes the old-fashioned sage tea you make with materials you can gather right out in the countryside. Maybe with a little lemon, if there's some handy.
There's nothing special about her either. Right now, her favorite dishes are brisket stew, greens, corn, peas, and mashed potatoes.
She can understand and tries to answer any questions you put to her, but when you get along in years, things like wars and such seem sort of dim. What remains is the memory of really important individual things, like being married on two long-separated occasions in Gonzales, the nine children born to the first husband, and three born to the second. Margaret says she remembers allof them clearly.
133 Descendants
She cannot name all of her other descendants, and it is doubtful whether anyone else can, either, without a lot of consultation with a lot of relatives. At last count, there were 133 living descendants scattered over four generations.
Eliza Henderson, 85, with whom Margaret makes her home, is the oldest surviving child. She's the third to be born to the aged woman.
While there is no record of Margaret's birth, all writing in the family referring to her agrees on her age. It's usually figured from the statement that she was 45 when her youngest daughter was born. That daughter is now almost 65. Margaret isn't certain just when she came to Gonzales county, but has lived in the Greenwood community for the past 70 years.
She says if she could turn back the clock, almost any period of her life would be acceptable to her.
"Just so long as I'd be young enough to work," she added.
Daughter of Edmon Johnson & Minerva
Gonzales Inquirer Aug. 3, 1951
Aged Princeville Woman Believe to Be 105
Gonzales Inquirer Jun. 23, 1955
Oldest Resident Gives Pointed Advice to Reporter
By Paul Ziemer
I'm still trying to figure out whether I was being needed.
If so, it was one of the most gentle and effective needling I or anybody else ever encountered.
It happened on a trip to take a picture of Gonzales county's oldest resident, Margaret Johnson Jones, born in slavery on the Jim Gray farm on the Colorado River near La Grange 109 years ago. It seemed a good idea , just before June 19, to talk to one of the few people in the nation alive on the first Emancipation day.
She was taking a nap when I arrived, but at 109 the borderline between sleep and waking, like a great many other things that seemed important very long ago, has blurred so it apparently isn't too I'm.
She woke as I spoke to her daughter, Georgia Mathis, 65, outside the daughters home in Greenwood community. And she seemed pleased at the thought of having her picture taken.
'Tend Own Business'
Inevitably, the question of the secret of long life was asked.
"I reckon," she drawled , "it's because I always tend mu own business, and never bother nobody."
She said it with a smile, and I thought she was sincere about it. I still think so. It was just a case of putting the shoe on if it fit.
For a reporter, it didn't only fit, it pinched in spots.
The same applied, though less pointedly, to other parts of Margaret's formula for a long life.
Sage Tea
She's never smoked. Nor does she drink tea or coffee. This last is just preference. She likes the old-fashioned sage tea you make with materials you can gather right out in the countryside. Maybe with a little lemon, if there's some handy.
There's nothing special about her either. Right now, her favorite dishes are brisket stew, greens, corn, peas, and mashed potatoes.
She can understand and tries to answer any questions you put to her, but when you get along in years, things like wars and such seem sort of dim. What remains is the memory of really important individual things, like being married on two long-separated occasions in Gonzales, the nine children born to the first husband, and three born to the second. Margaret says she remembers allof them clearly.
133 Descendants
She cannot name all of her other descendants, and it is doubtful whether anyone else can, either, without a lot of consultation with a lot of relatives. At last count, there were 133 living descendants scattered over four generations.
Eliza Henderson, 85, with whom Margaret makes her home, is the oldest surviving child. She's the third to be born to the aged woman.
While there is no record of Margaret's birth, all writing in the family referring to her agrees on her age. It's usually figured from the statement that she was 45 when her youngest daughter was born. That daughter is now almost 65. Margaret isn't certain just when she came to Gonzales county, but has lived in the Greenwood community for the past 70 years.
She says if she could turn back the clock, almost any period of her life would be acceptable to her.
"Just so long as I'd be young enough to work," she added.
Gonzales Inquirer Aug. 3, 1951
Aged Princeville Woman Believe to Be 105
Gonzales Inquirer Jun. 23, 1955
Oldest Resident Gives Pointed Advice to Reporter
By Paul Ziemer
I'm still trying to figure out whether I was being needed.
If so, it was one of the most gentle and effective needling I or anybody else ever encountered.
It happened on a trip to take a picture of Gonzales county's oldest resident, Margaret Johnson Jones, born in slavery on the Jim Gray farm on the Colorado River near La Grange 109 years ago. It seemed a good idea , just before June 19, to talk to one of the few people in the nation alive on the first Emancipation day.
She was taking a nap when I arrived, but at 109 the borderline between sleep and waking, like a great many other things that seemed important very long ago, has blurred so it apparently isn't too I'm.
She woke as I spoke to her daughter, Georgia Mathis, 65, outside the daughters home in Greenwood community. And she seemed pleased at the thought of having her picture taken.
'Tend Own Business'
Inevitably, the question of the secret of long life was asked.
"I reckon," she drawled , "it's because I always tend mu own business, and never bother nobody."
She said it with a smile, and I thought she was sincere about it. I still think so. It was just a case of putting the shoe on if it fit.
For a reporter, it didn't only fit, it pinched in spots.
The same applied, though less pointedly, to other parts of Margaret's formula for a long life.
Sage Tea
She's never smoked. Nor does she drink tea or coffee. This last is just preference. She likes the old-fashioned sage tea you make with materials you can gather right out in the countryside. Maybe with a little lemon, if there's some handy.
There's nothing special about her either. Right now, her favorite dishes are brisket stew, greens, corn, peas, and mashed potatoes.
She can understand and tries to answer any questions you put to her, but when you get along in years, things like wars and such seem sort of dim. What remains is the memory of really important individual things, like being married on two long-separated occasions in Gonzales, the nine children born to the first husband, and three born to the second. Margaret says she remembers allof them clearly.
133 Descendants
She cannot name all of her other descendants, and it is doubtful whether anyone else can, either, without a lot of consultation with a lot of relatives. At last count, there were 133 living descendants scattered over four generations.
Eliza Henderson, 85, with whom Margaret makes her home, is the oldest surviving child. She's the third to be born to the aged woman.
While there is no record of Margaret's birth, all writing in the family referring to her agrees on her age. It's usually figured from the statement that she was 45 when her youngest daughter was born. That daughter is now almost 65. Margaret isn't certain just when she came to Gonzales county, but has lived in the Greenwood community for the past 70 years.
She says if she could turn back the clock, almost any period of her life would be acceptable to her.
"Just so long as I'd be young enough to work," she added.
Family Members
Children
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
