BIO: PEARSON, James Atlas, Warren County, Kentucky From: "Sue P. Carpenter" Date: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 21:11:48 -0700 PEARSON, James Atlas PEARSON DEAN DOWNEY BOGLE Warren County, KY Centenarian says the secret to a long life is no big secret reported by William Dean, from the Daily News, Bowling Green, KY 14 DEC 1998 J. A. Pearson of Oakland is not a doctor, nor is he a health and fitness guru who sells his latest how-to book, but his formula for a long and healthy life is just as valid. He will celebrate his 100th birthday today, as living proof that his methods work. "You've got to exercises," he said. Pearson starts every day between 3 and 5 a.m. he said because the nights are long, "I just get tired and get up." His exercise routine includes wiggling his fingers and toes to stimulate blood circulation. He said he massages the center of his forehead and both temples, which he believes has prevented a loss of memory to Alzheimer's disease. "I ain't forgot nothing much," he said. The Warren County native remembers hunting rabbits all day Sunday at the family farm on Lovers Lane and walking six miles to school in Woodburn when he was a child. He was the third-oldest of nine children, two of whom are still living. His sister, Daisy Downey, 96, lives in Woodburn and brother, Joe Pearson, who is in his early 80's lives in Madison. He remembers his father*, a shoe cobbler, returning home sick from work one day. He said his father died and was buried by 4 p.m. that day because he had cholera, which is highly contagious. Because the grave was unmarked, he doesn't know its exact location. He was told the grave is in Franklin. In 1919, he married Ethel Bogle of Warren County. "They charged me 50 cents to get married," he recalled. He remembers he didn't have a ring for his bride at the ceremony, but he bought her a diamond ring later. The couple had two sons, Howard Pearson and James Leslie Pearson. Their family grew to include seven grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and three great great-grandchildren. Ethel Pearson lived six years in a nursing home before she died in 1984. James Leslie died of cancer a year later. Pearson also remembers the horse and buggy days of Bowling Green, and teaching himself to drive his father's car, a Maxwell. He gave some of the first driving lessons in the city. He said he wanted to quit after one of his older students struck a telephone pole with the car, but he wasn't allowed to quit because so many people wanted to learn. He bought his first car, a Model T, in 1923 when his first son was born. Pearson moved his family to a farm in Oakland in 1939. He worked most of his life as a tobacco, corn and livestock farmer. Although he said he never retired, he no longer does farm work. His work consists of cleaning his 11-room house daily, washing his clothes and cooking his own meals. He also mows his six-acre yard with a 16 year old riding mower. When he isn't working, he listens to the radio and reads the newspaper. He said he doesn't like to watch television, but the radio plays all day. Because he doesn't see as well as he once did, he reads newspaper headlines to find out about current events. ________________ Notes by submitter: (* should read grandfather) (Not in Paper) James Atlas Pearson celebrated his 100th birthday on 13 Dec 1998 in Smith's Grove, Kentucky. It was attended by several nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, grand children, great grand children, his surviving sister and brother, and lots of friends. He received birthday greetings from the President and became the only Kentucky Colonel to be 100 years old. USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or his legal representative and then contact the listed USGENWEB archivist with proof of this consent.