MRS FAYETTE, 102, IS HAPPY AND HAS SENSES
Native of Cayuga Co. to Have Party in Brooklyn Home for Aged
by - Mary J. Flaherty, Special Dispatch to the Herald
Brooklyn - Feb. 22 - One thing which Mrs. Rachael Fayette, who will be 102 today, sort of hopes to do is "to live to a pretty good age."
Sitting in her comfortable room at the Graham Home for the Aged Ladies, 520 Washington Ave., the white haired centenarian, native of Cayuga Co., dropped her knitting, which keeps her "busy every morning", just long enough to give her annual Birthday interview. With the last word said, she was busy knitting again before the reporter even got outside the door.
"Why shouldn't I live to a pretty good age she remarked. I'm perfectly well. Health is good. Appetite is good. I'm happy too. I've got the best of a home. I often get tired of living, but as long as I'm well & have my senses, its all right.
Philosophical, witty, cheery, bright as the proverbial penny, Mrs. Fayette watches the calendar go around and dreads her mounting birthdays only because of the fuss made about them by her many friends at the home and by the public.
I don't mind about a birthday if anybody didn't know about it. There was a time once when you knew it was your birthday because someone spanked you once for each year. My, I wouldn't want a very heavy one now.
Her eyes twinkling, though she has the sight of only one, she continued, thinking with a sigh of the party the home is giving her today.
I've lived through a good many birthdays & I guess I'll get through this one. She added, they always make me a very nice birthday cake, I'll taste it.
Candy is her weakness, she admitted. White & Red Peppermint Drops. She always has some of them besides. Asked if they were her greatest weakness, she retorted, I'd never get intoxicated, then she confessed, I have never touched a drop of liquor in my life. Smoking? Oh, she replied almost indignant, Inever look at anybody that smokes. Reminded that the modern woman indulges complacently in the delicate weed, Mrs. Fayette said well, I think its an awful miserable habit. It doesn't look ladylike. I think thats something that belongs to the men.
Mrs. Fayette has no recipe for attaining old age. I never thought about it, just went right along living, counting the years as they came along and I've counted a good many. I've never been idle. I think the best food for the mind is work. Keep the hands busy.
Mrs. Fayette practices what she preaches. However, through her knitting needs, her chief occupation, still flash every morning from 9 to 12. She does not do as much as she use to during the World War when she received a special medal & citation from the Red Cross for her knitting work. She explained she must rest her eyes these days. Outside of this and a slight difficulty in hearing, Mrs. Fayette is in perfect health. She surprised the physicians by recovering from a fractured hip, suffered when she fell shortly after her 100th birthday.
Mrs. Fayette was born February 22, 1831 in Cayuga Co., NY, the daughter of Darius & Abigail Stoddard. Her husband Henry Fayette, whom she married in Utica when she was 18 years old, was a second cousin to the Marquis de Lafayette. Consequently she has a keen interest in the French Patriot, as well as i her fellow birthday celebrant, the Father of our Country. A sister, 10 years younger, lives in Fulton, Oswego Co., NY.
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