SHARON HERALD, NOVEMBER, 1948
COOLSPRING

Coolspring Man Is 98 on Monday

Marion Perrine, a former resident of Coolspring Township, making his home for the winter with his son, Emery Perrine, of Fredonia, will celebrate his 98th birthday on Monday, Nov. 29th.

Mr. Perrine lived for many years on the farm where John McDowell lives now and it was he from whom the McDowell family purchased the farm. He was born at Perrines Corners in 1850 and he had 17 brothers and sisters. Thirteen of them lived to be over 70 years of age.

His eldest brother was killed in the Civil War. He has one brother, Col. E. E. Perrine of R. D. 3, Mercer, and a dister Mrs. Imogene Strubble, of Franklin.

Perrine's Corners was named for his parents, Isaac and Augusta Sweet Perrine.

Mr. Perrine has three children living: Dr. Myrtle Jack, of Mercer, Dr. Carrie Davis of Salem, W. Va., and his son, Emery Perrine of Fredonia. He has five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

His wife was Ella Cole before her marriage and they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in 1938. Mrs. Perrine passed away since that time and Mr. Perrine his been spending his summers in Salem W.Va., with his daughter and with his son during the winter months.

He has a splendid memory and remembers many incidents of things that happened many years ago. He attributes his long life to the fact that he always led a quiet, temperate life, neither drinks nor smokes and gets his amusement from playing Chinese checkers and taking long walks when the weather permits.


NEWSPAPER: SHARON (PA.) HERALD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1949

F. M. Perrine Marks
99th Anniversary In
Open House Saturday

Francis Marion Perrine, one of Mercer County's oldest citizens greeted his friends Saturday when they came to help him celebrate his 99th birthday anniversary here.

The "open house" reception was held in the home of his daughter, Dr. Myrtle Jack, North Otter St, a retired physician.

More than 45 callers enjoyed the hospitality of the Jack home and were served pieces of the 18-by-24 inch birthday cake elaborately decorated with pink and green scroll design.

Beautiful floral tributes were sent by his neighbor, J. F. Nelson, Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Endres and Mrs., Gertrude Perrine, Franklin, a sister-in-law who was also present. Other gifts of candy, cards and miscellaneous items made the occasion one to remember.

Among relatives present were his son, E. A. Perrine and Mrs. Perrine, Fredonia; two grandchildren, Robert A. Jack, Pittsburgh, son of the hostess, and his wife; and Mrs. Ralph Noble, Jackson Center, daughter of the E. A. Perrines, her husband and three children; Mrs. Doris Redic and David and Martha Jane Noble.

Guests came from Franklin, Sandy Lake, Jackson Center, Hendersonville, Pittsburgh, Greenville, Fredonia and Mercer. They included Dr. Ferdimore E. Vogan, whose family farm formerly adjoined that of the Perrines, and Rev. W. Malcolm Brown.

Mr. Perrine has never used tobacco or liquor and has worked hard most of his life on his farms.

His actual birthdate is Nov. 29, 1850. He was born at Perrine's Corners near Jackson Center, one of 16 children of Isaac and Mary Augusta Perrine.

In 1874 he was married to Ella Cole who died more than eight years ago.

In addition to Dr. Jack and E. A. Perrine, he has another daughter, Dr. Carrie Davis, a retired dentist of Salem, Va.; five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

In fairly good health, Mr. Perrine is slightly deaf and enjoys one main recreation - playing Chinese checkers.

The last farm he owned was purchased by John McDowell and lies between Mercer and Jackson Center.

An elder in the Jackson Center Presbyterian Church, Mr. Perrine has always been an ardent church worker and one of the foremost authorities on the early history of northeastern Mercer County.


NEWSPAPER: THE MERCER DISPATCH
Thursday, November 26, 1953

Area Oldtimer, 103 This Sunday..
Recalls Memories Of Yesteryear

Says Modern Gals
Really "Don't Know
What Work Is"

Francis N. Perrine said that Sunday, Nov. 29th would be spent much like every other day in the year. Mr. Perrine, who will be 103 years young on that eventful day, also stated that he is long past the stage of celebrations.

The spry, spritely man is very deceiving in his appearance and his quick sense of humor and easy manner all add up to a very remarkable man.

Recalls Boyhood

Mr. Perrine had no difficulty at all recalling his boyhood days. He was sixth in a family of 16 children and well remembers his mother knitting socks and making clothes for the entire family. Said Mr. Perrine, "Women today don't know what work is."

When asked if he remembered anything about the Civil War. he replied with a shake of his head, "I think. I do." He so vividly recalled one of his older brothers leaving for the war, that he even remembered the shawl his brother was wearing. His brother was later killed at Petersburg, Virginia.

Boys in his time had their fun at corn husks and necktie parties, and of course, girls were always on hand.

Railroad Worker

Before he was 21, Mr. Perrine went to work for the New York Central Railroad. At that time however, it was called the Lake Shore Michigan and Southern. To get to work, lie walked 2 miles, worked 10 hours a day, and received the enormous sum of $1.25. However, Mr. Perrine added that he wouldn't want to do it now.

While Mr. Perrine is first and foremost a farmer, he managed to do quite a few things during his time. In addition to his railroad work he was foreman for 6 years in a stave mill and later acquired a mill of his own in Grove City. He also worked for oil companies in Venango and Clarion Counties and occasionally did some carpentry and masonry work.

Mr. Perrine has been a church member for over 77 years and attended "A whole lot of them" including Methodist, Wesleyan, and Presbyterian churches. Because of his deafness, Mr. Perrine hasn't attended services for about 10 years, but he remembers very well the last sermon he heard. It was 10 years ago in Roanoke, Virginia and the text was - "He Is Not Here-He is Risen."

Cuts 'Nonsensicals'

Until a few years ago, Mr. Perrine liked to spend the days on walks and playing Chinese checkers. However, he's stopped a lot of nonsensical things like playing checkers and "kissing girls." He still likes to take his walk through town, but now limits himself to weekly excursions. For the most part, he would rather spend the day eating, sleeping, and meditating.

In 1874, he married Ella Cole who died about 13 years ago. Until recently, he divided his time among his three children: Dr. Myrtle Jack, retired Mercer doctor; Dr. Carried Davis, retired dentist of Salem, Virginia; and E. A. Perrine, Fredonia, where Mr. Perrine now resides permanently.

Although a little handicapped by deafness, Mr. Perrine's general health is very good.

Doubtlessly, Mr. Perrine will spend his 103rd birthday next week in a quiet family observance and will indulge in his favorite meal of meat, potatoes, bread and butter, and applesauce prepared by his daughter-in-law. As Mr. Perrine so aptly put it, "I have nothing to do about the birthdays, they just continue to come."



SHARON HERALD ?
______________, 1955

F. M. PERRINE, NOW OF FREDONIA,
WILL BE 104 YEARS OLD IN NOVEMBER

Oldest Mercer Countian Was born at Perrine's Corners
By Mairy Jayn Woge

The year 1850 is little more than a life span ago to Francis Marion Perrine of Fredonia. Mr. Perrine will celebrate his 104th birthday in November. In many cases, he has known five generations of a family. He is Mercer County's oldest known resident.

Mr. Perrine was born in a log house at the crossroad known as Perrine's Corners, east of Jackson Center. Perrine's Corners was named for William Perrine, an ancestor who settled at that spot in 1800.

Mr. Perrine was the sixth of 16 children. His parents were Isaac and Mary Augusta Perrine. When he was two years old, his family moved to the Millbrook district. He sat beside his mother on the wagon seat while the rest of the family journeyed along on the feather ticks in the wagon bed.

There were seven boys and nine girls in the Perrine family, and the mother knitted socks and made clothes for the 18 of them. F. M. Perrine recalls an older brother leaving for the Civil War and later being killed at Petersburg, Va. Three of his brothers lived to be 90, and Mr. Perrine is the last of the direct line.

Once Was Farmer
He became a farmer (the last farm he owned is the site of the McDowell potato farm). In Jackson Center, served for six years as a foreman in a stave mill, and finally operated his own stave mill in Grove City. Mr. Perrine worked for oil companies in Clarion and Venango Counties and was a skilled hand at any kind of carpentry or masonry work.

Before F. M. Perrine was 21, he took a job on the old Lake Shore, Michigan, and Southern Railroad (today's New York Central Line). He walked two miles in his job on a section crew, worked ten hours a day and drew $1.25. In the fall of 1872, he got a job at the freight station in Franklin.

It has been82 years since he was a railroad employee. He is the oldest former employee of the New York Central Railroad.

Mr. Perrine can remember one of the first trains that ran through Mercer County. It was a gravel train that came up today's Bessemer tracks running beside his father's house.

He recalls that old passenger trains consisted of a baggage care and two coaches; freight trains, 10 to 20 cars. Engines burned a mixture of coal and wood splinters from old railroad ties. Mr. Perrine says "trains are now a mile long." Four tracks run within 200 feet of his present home and near Fredonia.

Licensed To Preach
Mr. Perrine has been a church member for 81 years. He started in Sunday School at the age of five. He was an elder for 12 years and was licensed to preach in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He officiated at three funerals and a wedding. He has drawn up 33 wills. He remembers the words and music of many Methodist hymns.

Mr. Perrine has a quick wit and a repertoire of old-time county church stories. He remembers a camp meeting where he was leading a congregation in a prayer service. Seeing an old friend, Joe Little, in the assembly, he invited Mr. Little, a former elder, to lead a prayer. The meeting became somewhat ruffled when Joe Little prayed: "Oh Lord, there are two things we can't escape, death and the tax collector."

Duncan Carmichael was a county commissioner. At one time, a friend of Carmichael's, John Gadsby, had asked a minister to immerse him at an artificial lake near Perrine's School." The minister and John Gadsby waded into the pool.

After the immersion, Duncan Carmichael called from the pool's edge, "John, is it cold?" John Gadsby answered, "No, it's as warm as warm as warm."

To this Duncan Carmichael retorted,"Put him in again, reverend, he hasn't quit his lying."

Mr. Perrine hasn't been able to attend church services for 10 years because his deafness has made it impossible for him to hear the sermon. But he "wouldn't want to live in a community where there was no church.

Married in 1874
The biggest parties of all, in the 1860s and 1870s, were husking bees and necktie parties. It was at a necktie party that F. M. Perrine met his wife, Ella Cole. Miss Cole's mother had been born on a barge on the Ohio Canal near Marietta. Later the family moved to Millbrook.

At a necktie party, the girls auctioned ties and the young men bid on the ties and a subsequent walk home. Mr. Perrine chuckles when he recalls that "I don't know how I came to go home with my wife; I didn't get her necktie, I didn't get any necktie."

He was married in 1874. Mrs. Perrine died 14 years ago.

The Perrines had three children, Dr. Myrtle Jack, a retired Mercer physician; Dr. Carrie Davis, Salem, Va., dentist; and Emory A. Perrine of Fredonia, a house painter. Mr. Perrine has five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. One great-grandchild is a dentist.

Mr. Perrine lives with his son and daughter-in-law in a comfortable, white turn-of-the-century home. Until he was 100 years old, he never needed a doctor and since that time, only once – three years ago when he had a severe cold. He still haves himself with an old time straight razor.

Never Used Tobacco
Mr. Perrine has never used tobacco or liquor. He has a hearty appetite. His favorite meal is meat, potatoes, bread, butter, applesauce and cocoa.

Even until last summer, Mr. Perrine did his own shopping for groceries. He claimed grapefruit juice kept him young.

He used to walk to Fredonia once a week. This summer he was too feeble and has only gone to town once. He particularly enjoyed investigating the construction of new homes.

Until his 101st year, Mr. Perrine was an avid Chinese checkers fan. When he lacked partners, he frequently played against himself. It required a great deal of arranging, but he always won.

He was a close friend of William Nicklin, who died at age 103 last year.

Mr. Perrine likes young people, knows new developments, and is facile at remembering names. He is an authority on the history of northeastern Mercer County. Lately, he has helped his daughter-in-law plan designs on a new hooked rug.

Five years and a century ago, before electricity, atoms, automobiles, plastics or telephones, Francis Marion Perrine was born. He has taken everything in stride and doesn't seem the least bit surprised at what may happen next.



NEWSPAPER: SHARON HERALD, October 24, 1955, Sharon, PA:

FRANCIS PERRINE DIES AT AGE 104

A brief illness claimed the life of Mercer County's oldest resident on Saturday, a month short of his 105th birthday.

Frances Marion Perrine, retired fanner, died at the home of his son, Emory Perrine, Fredonia. He had been ill for several months.

Mr. Perrine was born in a log house at the Worth township crossroads known at Perrine's Corners, east of Jackson Center, on Nov. 29, 1850. He had been a lifelong resident of Mercer County. One of 16 children of Isaac and Augusta Sweat Perrine, he was the last member of his family.

Mr. Perrine operated a stave mill in Grove City, worked for oil companies in Clarion and Venango counties, and was a skilled hand at any kind of carpentry or masonry work.

Mr. Perrine never used tobacco or liquor. Until he was 100 years old, he never needed a doctor, and until his fatal illness was treated by a physician only when he had a severe cold.

A member of the Mercer Presbyterian church, he was also licensed to preach in the Wesleyan Methodist church.

In 1872, he married Ella Cole who proceeded him death on February 28, 1941. Mr. Perrine is survived by a daughter, Dr. Myrtle Jack, retired physician of Titusville; a son, Emory, with whom he made his home; five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and five great great grandchildren. (Source: Sharon Herald, October 24, 1955, Sharon, PA)