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(note from submitter: "My Great-great-grandmother was over 100 when she passed in 1969. Born Jan 20 1866 in Mississippi, she moved to Elmer OK around the turn of the century and relocated to Cement around 1910. Except for 5 years spent in California with her daughters, she lived there the rest of her life. Her name was Mary Elizabeth (Franks) Harris. There was a newspaper article about her, written by Tom Sharrock, when she turned 103 in 1969. I believe it was in the Lawton Constitution, but I am not 100% positive. She was married to Robert Tillman (Bob) Harris. They had 10 children who lived to adulthood. Their firstborn (John) died at age 8 in 1900. A lot of her children moved to California during the depression (similar to the Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath)."
newspaper article about her, written by Tom Sharrock, when she turned 103 in 1969.
Cement- It's true that the first hundred years are the hardest. Ask Mrs. Mary Harris.
Mrs. Harris is 103, and a considerable amount of her first century was spent picking cotton, boiling diapers, and milking cows. But now, when the weather is nice, she goes fishing.
She can still bait her own hook, and reel in her own catch. She has a little trouble throwing out the line, but not much.
She chews tobacco. Without teeth.
Mrs. Harris, Cement's oldest citizen, is a remarkable lady in many ways. For one thing, she raised 10 of 11 children in an age when such a feat was rare. She fought off a case of pneumonia last year with a minimum of medical care. She has never been in a hospital, never takes medicine, and has never really needed a doctor except the time she broke her arm while milking a goat.
Occasionally she gets a bit confused. When someone mentions going to work, she is prone to ask about their cotton crop. This, however, is excusable; cotton has played a very large part in her life. "of course I don't know how much I've picked," she snapped when asked; a better answer than the question deserved. "But I know we got paid 50 cents the hundred. And that was picked, not pulled!"
Mrs. Harris was born in Houston, Miss., but has lived in Oklahoma since 1901, and Cement since 1910. Her first Oklahoma home was a dugout near Elmer; her first home here was another dugout north of town.
Most of her life has been spent in Cement, though she did live in California for five years. She returned a few months ago, against the advice of physicians, and against their idea that an ambulance would be necessary for the entire trip.
"She stood it better than we did," said a granddaughter, Mrs. Ethel Collins. "She was fresh when we arrived, and we were exhausted."
She lives with a daughter, Mrs. Lillie Swarts, who said there are probably more visitors to her house than any in town.
"Somebody is always dropping in," she said. "One of the nine great-great-grandchildren in school is always bringing his friends over to talk with Granny. And she was very active in the Baptist Church, and has a lot of friends."
Mrs. Harris has a host of descendants. There are eight children, 32 grandchildren, 90 great-grandchildren and 32 great-great-grandchildren. She knows them all.
She was here during the wild and woolly oil boom, but it made little impression.
"We were living on a farm just north of town," she commented, "and were more interested in horses and cows. Yes I can still milk a cow. You don't forget something like that."
Mrs. Harris still eats any kind of food she wants, and is never bothered with indigestion. She loves coffee, boiling hot, though she "saucers and blows." Once common, this is almost a lost art.
A great deal of her time is spent crocheting rag rugs. It keeps her hands busy.
"No, I don't live much in the past," she said. "There's too much of it. I look to the future. We are going on a fishing trip to Kirbyville, Tex., this spring."
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