I know I have a family history blog, and I did type this up and put it there, but I decided I wanted it here, too. If I'm treading water this week, it's because I'm spending all my spare time working on family history.
It started with a new subscription to an online newspaper database (newspapers.com) which led to an obituary of my 3rd great-grandfather, John Miller...which led to his family and the names of his parents. A little success makes for a renewed obsession.
Now I'm hunting for articles about other ancestors. We already have several articles about the 100th birthday of Elizabeth Jervis (1794-1895), but these three I hadn't seen before and I really like them. You might consider it to be a fun read even if you aren't related to her.
The World, Saturday July 21, 1894
BORN IN THE DAYS OF WASHINGTON
Mrs. Elizabeth Jervis. One Hundred Years Old, Celebrates with Four Generations of Children
(Special to The World)
AMITYVILLE, July 20--
Born when Washington was President, Mrs. Elizabeth Jervis to-day celebrated the hundredth anniversary of her birth at the residence of her son, Scudder C. Jervis, in this village. The event was a notable one even for Amityville, which has a score of octogenarians.
Mrs. Jervis is a remarkable person. Her mental faculties are as clear as at the age of fifty years, and frequently during the interview with The World reporter she would correct some of the younger ones present as to the names and dates. She was born near Sayville, where in 1819 she married Joel Jervis, of Huntington. Within a few years they removed to what is now Amityville, but was then know as Bedlam. Here they lived till his death in 1863. For about a quarter of a century her husband held the office of Justice of the Peace, a position at that time of great importance, as lawyers were few, and the squire usually acted as lawyer and arbitrator, and no man in the county knew the family skeleton closets as well as the county squire.
Mrs. Jervis is the mother of eight children, seven of whom are living, six being present to-day, the seventh, Edna A. Vogt, being at Charleston, S.C. She has twenty-three grandchildren, thirty-eight great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren, nearly all of whom were present. Her oldest child, Phoebe M. Manburen [Van Buren], is seventy-eight years old, while the youngest is sixty-one. The combined ages of the widow and her family aggregate 589 years.
As to her personal habits in connection with her long life, she has nothing to say. She always ate what she liked, following the old custom of taking a little wine when she felt like it. Her hearing and eyesight are good, although she has read but little during the last two years. Until that time she regularly read six weekly papers with whatever else came to hand. She has a clear recollection of eight generations of her family.
A remarkable thing is that Mrs. Jervis is much interested in politics, and expressed Jeffersonian Democracy with vigor and clearness. When asked by The World reporter who she considered the best President she quickly replied, “Why, Washington, of course.” But of modern Presidents her ideas were Jackson and Cleveland in that order. The lady is quite indignant over the story published in several papers that she is a pensioner. Her husband enlisted and drilled for the war of 1812, but never was called into active service.
The centennial dinner to-day was eaten in an apple orchard nearly as old as Mrs. Jervis. Over 200 guests were entertained and at the close Mrs. Jervis was apparently as fresh and bright as if she had not entertained this host of friends. Of the six children present not one appeared over sixty years old, and most of them bid fair to become centenarians.
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The New York Herald, Saturday July 21, 1894 , page 9
HER HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY.
Mrs. Elizabeth Jervis Has Lived Under Every President of the United States.
SHE IS STILL STRONG AND ACTIVE.
Five Generations Represented in the Family Reunion Held Yesterday in Her Honor.
Mrs. Elizabeth Jervis, of Amityville, L. I., has been living on borrowed time for more than a quarter of a century. She passed her allotted three score years and ten thirty years ago, and yesterday celebrated her one hundredth birthday. It was the occasion of a great family reunion at her home, a pretty and quaint little farmhouse, where Mrs. Jervis has lived for the last seventy-five years.
There were five generations represented at the gathering, and all came laden with presents for the dear old lady. There were great white frosted cakes with “Grandma and her hundredth birthday” put on in ornamental letters; there were loads of flowers, rare and beautiful laces, books, silverware, and pretty things too numerous to mention.
Judging from her present appearance and manner, Mrs. Jervis is good for another fifty years. She looks younger than most women do at seventy, and still retains all her faculties. She is able to read and sew without glasses.
Mrs. Jervis stood for many hours yesterday receiving her guests and did not seem in the least fatigued.
NEVER HAS BEEN ILL
When I asked her to what she attributed her long life and good health, she said she could hardly tell; that she inherited a good constitution and came from long lived stock.
“I have not,” said Mrs. Jervis, “lived differently than other women, but I have been blessed with good health, never having been ill in my life.
I have always eaten lean meat, discarding the fat entirely, and have drank plenty of strong green tea.
“I am very happy to have lived to see my hundredth birthday, and I am very proud of my large family of descendants, for they are all good and I consider them all very handsome.
It seems almost impossible for me to realize that I have lived under every President of the United States.”
Mrs. Jervis was born in Sayville, L. I. on July 20, 1794. She was a Miss Smith, daughter of Captain Henry Clark Smith, whose father was Governor of Tangier [not true], and for this reason the family have always been known in Long Island as the Tangier Smiths.
COMES OF GOOD STOCK
Mrs. Jervis is the widow of Joel Jervis, to whom she was married in 1815. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. The Jervises, or Jervais, as the name was originally spelled, are one of the oldest and most respected families of Long Island, having settled there in 1654. They are descendants of Sir Francis Jervais, who came to this country in the good ship Primrose from Scotland, in the year 1636 and landing in Salem, Mass. From there he went to Huntington, L. I. where he settled.
At the gathering yesterday were her seven children, the eldest being seventy-six years old. There were also twenty-three grandchildren, fifty-four great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
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From The Long Islander (Huntington)
A Centennial Celebration
On Friday of last week Mrs. Elizabeth Jervis, of Amityville, reached
her one-hundredth birthday, and about eighty of her relatives and
friends gathered at the home of Scudder C. Jervis, with whom the
centenarian lives, to celebrate the anniversary by a quiet family
reunion.
The grounds around the old homestead, where Mrs. Jervis has lived for
seventy-five years, were very attractive with their decorations of
bunting. She rose with old-time dignity and grace to receive the
congratulations of her friends, and did not complain of fatigue, even
toward the close of the day. She preferred to walk around without
assistance, and indeed was almost as sprightly as any of her guests. A
photographer was on the scene, and she was photographed alone, in two
groups of five generations each, and in a group composed of all present.
While being photographed alone, one of her grandsons, in order to
change her position, undertook to lift her chair while she was still
sitting in it, but she objected, saying, "You treat me as if I were an
old woman." Soon after this Mrs. Jervis walked out to the orchard near
by, where a bountiful repast was spread, and took her place at the head
of the long table, at which sat nearly seventy of her descendants.
Mrs. Jervis is still a handsome old lady. Her form is straight, and
her hair abundant and there is always a trace of color in her cheeks.
Only within the last few months have her eyesight and hearing become
noticeably impaired. Physically her health is excellent. The partial
loss of her eyesight is a great grief to her, as she has always been a
great reader, and kept herself posted on current events.
Living under all the Presidents as she has done, she has her
political opinions. Washington she considers beyond all question as
having been our best President.
Her long life is due to the inheritance of a good constitution, and
her careful, temperate living, helped by a calm,contented disposition.
She has never had an illness.
She has always eaten lean meat, entirely
discarding the fat, and always drank strong green tea.
Her children, nearly all of whom were present Friday, are Mrs. Phebe
M. Van Buren, Brooklyn; Mrs. Gilbert Smith, who died in 1886; Miss Ann
Elizabeth Jervis, Amityville; Scudder C. Jervis, Amityville; H. Clark S.
Jervis, Brooklyn; Mrs. Ezra R. Sammis, Brooklyn; Mrs. E. Adele Vogt,
Charleston, S. C. The grandchildren are Mrs. Henry Pettit, Mrs. Henry
Beers, Mrs. Alonzo Conklin, Mrs. Joel Gardiner, Joel Smith, Wm. W.
Smith, Mordaunt L. Smith, Henry Smith, Horace Smith, George S. Jervis,
Joshua P. Jervis, Perlee V. Jervis, Frank T. Jervis, Miss Jessie W.
Jervis, Miss Lena Sammis, Frederick B. Sammis, Mrs. Ida Jervis Schepmoes
and Arthur N. Jervis. There are sixty great-grandchildren.
Mrs. E. C. Grumman, of this village, is the oldest great-grandchild,
and her daughter, Ethel, is the oldest great-great-grandchild. The other
two great-great-grandchildren are Charles S. Grumman, and a small boy
by name of Wallace Jeffrey Young.
Mrs. Jervis is the widow of Joel Jervis, who was prominent in politics
in the old town of Huntington, for a period of forty years. He held
various official positions, and for over a quarter of a century was
Justice of the Peace. He died in 1863 at the age of 72 years. She was
born at Sayville on July 20, 1894, and is of the family known as the
"Tangiers Smiths." She was the only child of Henry Clark Smith and
Jemima Terry. Her great-grandfather was Colonel William Smith, governor
of Tangiers [might be true but I can't find proof].
The mother of Mrs. Jervis was a daughter of Jeremiah Terry, of
Sayville. Joel Jervis, to whom the centenarian was married in 1815,
traced his lineage to Sir Francis Jervais, who came to this county in
the ship Primrose, from Scotland in 1636, landing in Salem Mass.
From this ancestry the line ran back to a Gervaise who crossed with
William the Conqueror and settled in Scotland. Lord Jervis, the Earl St.
Vincent, represented the English branch of the family. Joel Jervis was
the only son by Phebe Carll of Joseph I. Jervis, who, by a second
marriage, had seven children, one of them being John B. Jervis, the
engineer of the first croton aqueduct and the man after whom Port
Jervis, N. Y. is named [incorrect as he is a cousin once or twice removed and not a half-brother].
Mrs. Jervis was the recipient of many pretty and useful gifts, and
the whole occasion was very enjoyable. May she live to witness many
more.
To see her whole post on my family history blog, click
here.
