Alpena County MI Archives Obituaries.....Crippen Thompson, Rebecca Smith February 22, 1899
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Janet King JPerdue192@aol.com March 27, 2009, 11:53 pm

Burley Goyn Anderson Journel
Mrs. Rebecca Thompson (Crippen) died at 3:30 this A. M., on Washington's 
Birthday, in Wilson Twp., at the extreme age of 102 and a half years. She was 
buried yesterday afternoon from the Methodist Church in that township. Her 
death was the result of an attack of La Grippe. She was the only centuarian so 
far known that ever lived in the country, and almost as noteworthy as her age 
is the fact that she retained the active use of her senses until a few weeks 
of her death. The rule that he who exceeds the ordinary span of life will find 
his years full of trouble seems to have found an exception in this instance. 
So keen was her sight that at the celebration of her last birthday (102 on the 
28th of August) at the farm of her son-in-law Mr. Prevost, in Wilson Twp., 
where she resided during the last ten years, she called the attention of one 
of her grandchildren to a needle lying on the floor some distance from where 
she was sitting with the request that she pick it up. She was able to knit, 
read and sing to within a couple months of her death. Four generations 
directly discended survive the old lady. Mrs. Prevost, Wilson Twp., a son in 
Washington and one in Colorado (Tom Crippen) and two daughters, Mrs. Geo 
Masters and Mrs. A. T. Gibson. Ed Crippen and Frank Crippen of this city and 
David A Crippen formerly resident of Alpena, Michigan but now resident in 
Wisconsin are her grandchildren. Great, great, great grandchildren survive her 
in this city. Mrs. Thompson was born in Canada, August 28, 1796. She lived in 
southern Michigan during the early history of the state, and came to Alpena 
Co., about 20 years ago. For ten years she lived with her son, Mrs. Geo. 
Masters's father in this city and then moved to the country. She was twice 
married and had 13 children. Her first marriage took place at the age of 21 
years and her second at the age of 60. She was a tall woman, over six feet in 
height. The weight of her many years never bowed her frame. To the last she 
was an erect, energetic woman, as lively as most woman in their fifties. A 
kodak picture taken by one of her grandchildren on Jan 2nd of this year shows 
her sitting erect in her chair, with the appearance of a woman not far from 
three score and ten. She had a strong character and frame to support it, and 
decended from long line of sturdy American pioneers which accounts largely for 
her longivity; she lived through the most vital period of the country's 
history. She was a child over three years old when George Washington, on whose 
anniversary her life ended, died at Mt. Vernon, Dec 14, 1799. She was 19 years 
old blossoming into womanhood when Napoleon fell at Waterloo. At the outbreak 
of the Civil War she was already 65, yet she lived to see still another war 
transform the United States into an acknowledged world power. The span of her 
single life has more than covered the most eventful century in the history of 
the world.

Additional Comments:
Rebecca Smith was born 28 August 1796 in Canada to (Unknown) she married to 
Ebenezer Crippen in Ontario, Canada in 1817 he was born in Vermont 24 Sept 
1792 to David Crippen & Electa Hopkins. Ebenezer died 27 Oct 1855 in Michigan 
and Rebecca married David Thompson 30 Oct 1865 in Sanilac Co., Michigan.

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