Reader Brings By an Interesting Story About A Really Old Former Resident

In last week’s paper in our story about Mary Lee Mewis’ upcoming 109th birthday we mentioned she might be the oldest resident ever in Fayette County. That prompted an interesting submission brought by our office.

Somebody dropped by a printed out of a copy of the March 2, 1939 edition of The La Grange Journal newspaper.

The story was headlined: “120 Year Old Dies Wednesday South of La Grange” “Friday of last week, in the old Bethlehem community near La Grange, the body of an aged woman, Lucy Kinder Shelton, was buried. She died Wednesday afternoon, February 22.

From what facts could be obtained – and the informant was emphatic in her statements – this woman was born in Arkanas, and was brought as a slave, to Texas 90 years ago, exact date not given. The date of her birth is said to have been June 30, 1818.

Her granddaughter, Alvera S. Waddles, gives the information that Lucy Shelton came to Fayette County 13 years after the battle of San Jacinto was fought by Houston’s army against Santa Anna’s, and that she could tell of many interesting stories of those early Texas days. “I came to this county after the Texas colonists began their fight against Mexico, and can remember every way since then, in which Fayette County people had a part,” she told inquirers a short time since.

Recently her memory began to fail, more the regret that she was not interviewed a few years ago, and her stories, broken in recital as they may have been, reduced to writing. She was the oldest living citizen of Fayette County.”

We appreciate that alert reader for bringing this 86-year-old story to our attention. We tried to do some more research on Mrs. Shelton but have been unable to find any more information on her. If her age could be verified, she would be the oldest person in the history of the U.S. That current record is held by Sarah Knauss, who died in Pennsylvania on December 30, 1999, at the age of 119 years and 97 days. If anyone knows any more about Lucy Kinder Shelton, or anyone else that lived to be more than 109 in Fayette County, we’d love to know about it. – Jeff Wick