The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 24, 2022 — Page 71960s centenarians celebrated, repeatedly
Kathy Maurer
Copy Editor
The social news of births, weddings, anni-
versaries and milestone birthdays is part of the
appeal of rural newspapers. Chances are better
that the honored individuals are known by
many readers, and the frequency of such events
is perhaps more manageable than in larger
metropolitan areas.
The Banner of the 1960s highlighted age
accomplishments of several residents, includ-
ing “Jennie” Conley, who was featured in this
column last week. That same decade saw pho-
tos of centenarian Mary (DeMott) Waters as
well as articles on Emma Grant of Vermont-
ville. The Banner published articles on Mrs.
Grant four times in six years as she reached
100, 102, 105 and 106 years of age. The arti-
cles varied a bit, but repeated some details,
such as how she sewed all of the clothing for
the family, including “overalls for the men-
folk,” and that she still slept in an upstairs
bedroom – by choice.
Emma Grant was born before Abraham Lin-
coln was elected president and outlived Presi-
dent Kennedy. Twenty-one U.S. presidents
were elected or appointed during her lifetime.
Mary Waters war born when Ulysses Grant
was president and would have been 7 when the
U.S. celebrated its centennial. She died just
days after the country marked its bicentennial.
Mrs. Emma Grant of Vermontville observed
her 102nd birthday anniversary Tuesday, Jan.
9, the Jan. 18, 1962, Banner reported.
A resident of this area all her life, she was
born in Chester Township, a daughter of Mar-
cus and Lucy (Clark) Olin. As a child, she
attended the Olin School, which later was
renamed Ames.
She was married to Hiram Grant in Charlotte
Dec. 3, 1880. She recalls the day as “Beautiful.
No snow, but plenty of mud.” The couple drove
to Charlotte in a double buggy, taking with
them their attendants, Miss Emma Crocker and
the bride’s stepbrother, Dexter Clark.
“Mrs. Grant, despite her years, seldom uses
glasses, and enjoys fairly good health.
“Although she enjoys reminiscing, she keeps
up on current events, as well, and her keen
sense of humor and alertness make her an inter-
esting person to visit with.
“She will tell how, as a child of 4, she
climbed up on a stool to learn the fine art of pie
baking. And she still likes to bake pies best.
Each year for the Vermontville Maple Syrup
Festival, she bakes a couple which are taken to
her church to be served at their big feeds.
“Then there was the very mild Thanksgiving
Day of her childhood when a young fawn,
chased by dogs, crashed through the window,
over the table which was set for the festive
dinner, and finally made its way outside
through the open door.
“Another time she and a group of children
came upon some 25 or 30 hogs in the woods ...
which had huddled together to keep warm and
had frozen to death. There were no fences in
those days, all animals were free to roam as
they wished.”
After 32 years on the farm, the Grants
moved into Vermontville at 354 E. Main St.,
where she has resided for 50 years. Mr. Grant
continued to work their farm until he was well
past 80. He died in 1940 at 88 years old.
She shares her home with her daughter Mary
(1903-1993) and son-in-law Jesse Baker.
Although there is a downstairs bedroom for
her, Mrs. Grant prefers to climb the stairs to an
upper bedroom. She said she wants to continue
this as long as she is able.
“And the exercise is good for me,” she
added.
Her other daughter, Nora, (1890-1972) was
the wife of Allison McNabb, who lived nearby
on Grainger Highway. The paper noted that
Mrs. Grant “helped celebrate the McNabb’s
50th anniversary a couple of years ago.”
Two sons were still alive Lynn (Marie) of
Newaygo, and Grover (Hilda) who lived on the
old farm on Brown Road.
Their second child, Leslie, died of scarlet
fever in April 1885 when he was 1 1/2 years old.
Two of her children and both daughters-in-
law died within six years of Emma, her chil-
dren Lynn and Nora, having reached 77 and 82,
respectively.
Son Grover and daughter Mary (born when
Emma was 43) seemed to have inherited a
longevity gene from their mother, reaching 93
and 90, before their deaths in 1980 and 1993,
respectively.“Eaton’s oldest resident gifted in many
ways” a headline in the Jan. 21, 1965, Banner
announced.
“Eaton County’s oldest resident, Mrs. Emma
Grant, 354 E. Main St., Vermontville, is 105
years young,” the paper announced. “Gifted
with a keen sense of humor and sly wit, Mrs.
Grant spends her days reading newspapers and
magazines.”
The article mentioned that her childhood
school, “the little red brick building” which
had been renamed Ames School, by then was
being used as a tool shed on the Evert Steward
farm.
Reminiscing of earlier days, Mrs. Grant
recalled her wedding day, 85 years earlier,
when her betrothed and two attendants took a
buggy to Charlotte that snowless day.
“They called at three parsonages before
finding a pastor at home to marry them,” the
article noted. Afterward, the wedding party
visited friends around Charlotte before starting
back toward Vermontville. It started raining,
and the roads were even more muddy. Still, she
remembered the day as beautiful.
“The young couple started housekeeping on a
farm and Brown Road where they both worked
hard and raised a family of two daughters and
two sons. As a farmer’s wife, Mrs. Grant made
all the clothing for the family even the shirts,
pants and overalls for the men. She baked her
own bread and pastries, made butter, raised
chickens, did fancy work and knit mittens.
“‘Hiram would wear out a pair of mittens a
day working on logs in the woods until I started
covering the palms with pieces of green bags,
then they’d last a little longer,’ Mrs. Grant
recalled.
“She remembered the first sewing machine
she operated by turning the wheel using a little
red handle. This was before the pedal machine
was invented. At 14, she carded and spun wool
for two blankets, one of which was still a fam-
ily treasure.”
The Grants had a large sugar bush on their
farm and each year made syrup and sugar. The
sugar was made in 4-pound blocks which were
loaded on a sleigh and taken to Nashville and
Vermontville and sold for 5 and 6 cents a pound.
“Money was scarce in the olden days,” Mrs.
Grant said, “but there was plenty of wild game,
quail, squirrel, wild geese and turkey, and Mr.
Grant shot them along with deer on many occa-
sions” to provide meat for the family.
Not long after they were married, Hiram
Grant built “a fine new house on the farm,” the
article noted.
“Despite Mrs. Grant’s 105 years, she contin-
ues to use an upstairs bedroom. ‘I could sleep
downstairs if I wanted,” she said, “but I simply
prefer to climb the stairs, and shall just as long
as I am able.’”
Mrs. Grant also has three grandchildren, 11
great-grandchildren and seven
great-great-grandchildren, one of whom was
born this past year.
~~~~~
In her final year of life, Emma Grant was in
the running for an unusual title. The May 19,
1966, Banner announced “Vermontville woman
may be our state’s oldest resident at 106.”
“As a highlight of Michigan Week, a con-
certed effort was made to determine Michi-
gan’s oldest resident,” the article noted. “Unless
someone has been overlooked, it appears that
Mrs. Emma Grant of 354 E. Main St., Ver-
montville, has that distinction. Mrs. Grant
observed her 106th birthday Jan. 9.
“Although bedridden since a fall last July
27, she is ‘very comfortable,’ according to her
daughter, Mrs. Jesse Baker who looks after her,
enjoys every card she receives, and occasional-
ly reads a newspaper.
“Mrs. Grant has lived on East Main Street
54 years, and was born, as she puts it, ‘only a
stone’s throw from Vermontville.’
“... Mrs. Grant has always taken an interest
in community affairs, especially the Vermont-
ville Maple Syrup Festival. And while she
always remained in the background, she assist-
ed with church suppers by baking. Pies were
her specialty, and she continued to do this until
just four or five years ago.“Michigan’s runner-up, age-wise, may be
Mrs. Anna Miller of Hesperia, who was born
Aug. 29, 1860, and is just six months younger
than Mrs. Grant.”
~~~~~
Emma Grant died at home Dec. 16, 1966, a
few miles from her birthplace and a few weeks
shy of turning 107.
The Banner announced her death in the Dec.
22, 1966, edition: “State’s oldest resident dies
at Vermontville.”
The article recapped details from previous
features, and like those earlier versions, did not
include a photo.
“This centenarian had the distinction of
being Michigan’s oldest resident,” The Banner
reported, “and was honored last summer with a
congratulatory message and roses sent by Gov.
George Romney.
“Mrs. Grant died Friday evening ... She had
been in failing health the past couple of years,
but prior to that time had been extremely active
for one her age.”
By then, more great-great-grandchildren had
joined the family, bringing that number to 13,
along with the 11 great-grandchildren.
~~~~~
A photo of Mary (DeMott) Waters was pub-
lished in the Jan. 9, 1964, Banner when she
turned 95; again in 1969 when she turned 100;
as well as in May 1963, when she joined her
son, his daughter and a new granddaughter for
a five-generation photo.
The 1964 article, celebrating her 95th birth-
day, noted “Mrs. Waters has not been too well,
but enjoyed the anniversary, nevertheless.”
Mary was born in Augusta, the daughter of
Theodore and Happy (Hawes) DeMott. She
moved to Hastings as a child and attended
school here. She married Thomas Waters June 4,
1890, and they lived their entire married life in a
home on Green Street until his death in 1932 at
age 65. Mary was a life member of the First
United Methodist Church and was involved in
its guild as well as Guild 19 at Pennock Hospital.
Their son, Ray, was the only surviving child
at the time of her death July 12, 1976, and she
also was survived by two grandchildren, seven
great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchil-
dren.
She also was survived by a sister, Hattie
Prentice, who was 11 years younger. Hattie
died April 24, 1980, exactly three months
before she would have turned 100. Her hus-
band, Fred Prentice, reached 98. One of Mary
and Hattie’s brothers, Edward DeMott, had
turned 93 before he died in 1967.Sources: Hastings Banner, findagrave.com,
familysearch.org, “The Farm Journal Illustrat-
ed Rural Director of Eaton County, Michi-
gan,” 1916; Bentley Historical Library, Uni-
versity of Michigan.Seeing in color
Dr. Universe:
How come some people can’t see color?
Pearl, 8, South Dakota
Dear Pearl,Our brains have the amazing ability to
gather information and interpret it. This
ability to gather and interpret – or perceive- is a big part of what helps humans see
colors.
Our eyes have tiny cones that receive
light, turn it into chemical energy and acti-
vate nerves that can send information to the
brain. You might see an apple and think to
yourself, “That’s the color red.”
My friend Rachna Narula, an optome-
trist at Washington State University, told
me all about it.
You may remember that the colors peo-
ple see correspond with different wave-
lengths of light. Part of the reason someone
can see red is because they have a type of
cone that picks up on certain long wave-
lengths of light.
While red cones pick up on long wave-
lengths of light, blue cones pick up on
short wavelengths. Green cones pick up on
middle wavelengths. A person with
full-color vision typically has three kinds
of cones: red, blue and green.
But sometimes a person’s cones might
be a little different. They may not have
some of those main three cones, which
means they can’t pick up on certain wave-
lengths of light. Or the cones might not
work very well.
Narula told me the most common color
deficiency is red/green. That means that
the cones aren’t able to pick up on long
wavelengths and middle wavelengths of
light. People with this kind of color defi-
ciency may have trouble spotting the dif-
ferences between colors, the brightness of
colors or the shades of colors.
Narula also showed me a book that
optometrists use to test how people see
color. It’s called the “Ishihara Test for Color
Blindness,” and it was designed by a pro-
fessor at the University of Tokyo in 1917.
Each page features different colored dots
that make up a background and a number.
For instance, someone with full-color
vision might see a background of green
dots and the number “5” made up of red
dots. But someone who has red-green color
deficiency would see a completely differ-
ent number.
If you’re like me, you might be curious
to find out not only how people can per-
ceive different colors but why.
Narula told me color vision deficiency is
a kind of hereditary trait. This means it is
something that can be passed from parents
to their offspring. Most people who experi-
ence color vision deficiency were born
with it. It’s in their genes.
She also said some people can see many
more colors than most of the population.
Narula said these people have a fourth cone.
Some scientists are studying genetics to learn
more about this kind of fourth cone and find
out exactly how this kind of vision works.
Like humans, most cats also have the
three main kinds of cones: red, blue and
green. Dogs have just two kinds of cones.
You know, it sure is interesting to think
about what it might be like to see the world
through different types of cones than my
own. I bet it would provide a whole new
perspective.Dr. UniverseDo you have a question? Ask Dr. Uni-
verse. Send an email to Washington State
University’s resident scientist and writer at
[email protected] or visit her website,
askdruniverse.com.Defend against scammers who target benefits
Vonda VanTil
Public Affairs Specialist
Scammers are always finding new ways
to steal your money and personal informa-
tion by exploiting your fears. The most
effective way to defeat scammers is to
know how to identify scams and to ignore
suspicious calls and emails.
One common tactic scammers use is
posing as federal agents or other law
enforcement. They may claim your Social
Security number is linked to a crime. They
may even threaten to arrest you if you do
not comply with their instructions. Here
are three things you should do:- Hang up right away or do not reply to
the email. - Never give personal information or
payment of any kind. - Report the scam at oig.ssa.gov to
immediately notify the law enforcement
team in our Office of the Inspector Gener-
al.
You should continue to remain vigilant
of phone calls when someone says there’s
a problem with your Social Security num-
ber or your benefits. If you owe money to
us, we will mail you a letter explaining
your rights, payment options, and informa-
tion about appealing.
There are a few ways you can identify a
scam call or email. Remember that we will
never:- Threaten you with benefit suspension,
arrest or other legal action unless you pay
a fine or fee. - Promise a benefit increase or other
assistance in exchange for payment. - Require payment by retail gift card,
cash, wire transfer, internet currency or
prepaid debit card. - Demand secrecy from you in handling
a Social Security-related problem. - Send official letters or reports contain-
ing personally identifiable information via
email.
If you do not have ongoing business
with our agency, it is unlikely we will con-
tact you.
Again, if you get a suspicious call claim-
ing to be from us or law enforcement about
Social Security, you should hang up and
report it right away at oig.ssa.gov.
Vonda VanTil is the public affairs spe-
cialist for West Michigan. You may write
her c/o Social Security Administration,
3045 Knapp NE, Grand Rapids MI
49525, or via email to vonda.vantil@
ssa.gov.Another January-born centenarian was Mrs. Thomas Waters. She is pictured here
celebrating her 100th birthday with her son and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Ray (Ida)
Waters, and granddaughter, Mrs. Thomas (Marguerite) Taffee. “Mrs. Waters is at the
Barry County Medical Facility and enjoyed the occasion very much,” the Jan. 9, 1969,
Banner reported. The former Mary DeMott actually reached 107 1/2 before her death
in July 1976. Her photo was published a few times in the Banner, but little in the way
of a story. The opposite was true for Emma Grant, of Vermontville, who was featured
in articles, but without photos.Emma Grant of Vermontville saw many advances in her lifetime from 1860 to 1966,
including gasoline-powered tractors and electric sewing machines. After her marriage
in 1880, while her husband did field work with a horse or ox and a plow, she made
clothes using foot-powered or hand-turned sewing machine. (Photo from “The Farm
Journal Illustrated Rural Director of Eaton County, Michigan,” 1916)SOCIAL SECURITY