Obituary of Jane Rakes Hall, 1928 - Patrick Co. VA Mrs. Jane Hall Dies At The Ripe Age Of 106 Years, In Leaksville (Special to the Bee) Leaksville, N.C., March 7- Funeral services were held at 3 o'clock this afternoon for Mrs. Jane Hall, probably the oldest woman in this section of the United States, who would have been 106 years of age had she lived until next Saturday. Remarkably well preserved and comming out of hardy pioneer Patrick county stock, she bore the infirmities of old age with remarkable lightness, and it was not until her fatal illness of two weeks ago that she began to fail. Stricken with a bronchial infection, her lungs became congested and death was due to pneumonia, which with her advanced age she did not have the vitality to withstand. Mr. Hall (sic) maintained a bright memory until her illness, in which the heavy burden of years placed her under a severe handicap. She had the remarkable experence of living under the regime of 26 United States presidents, for she was born in 1822, and in that year James Monroe, the fourth president of America, was beginning his second term. The aged woman has actually contributed worthwhile information to contemporaneous history, for until a month ago her memory was so alert that she could recall well the events in her long life before the Civil war and was willing to be interviewed and to throw into relief the early practises so sharply contrasted with those of today. The greatest chapter of her life was recorded in her native Patrick county, where during the first year of the Civil war, when her husband was shot down, she was left with a houseful of children and their only provider. In that day the living was cheap, but during the distressful days of the Civil war and its aftermath she faced a stern task in rearing her girls and boys. She not only ran the farm but spun the cloth of winter evenings and did what she could to passing on to her children homely truths of life and surrounding them with a Christian influence which they were to reflect later. Her father was one of the pioneersa of Patrick county. That was in a day when the mountain county was viewed as a difficult of agricultural conquest and where the soil was wrestled for a living. It was a day when women were as active as men and where she acquired a strong physique which was the foundation of her long life. There is little doubt that Mrs. Hall was the oldest chuch member in Virginia or North Carolina. Few could boast a church membership going back 75 years for it was then she joined the Primative Baptist church which was a log hut and visited periodically by a circuit rider who preached all day long and spent the night in the mountain cabins of the congregation. Mrs. Hall came to Leaksville about six years ago to make her home with her daughter, Mrs. Lucinda Jefferson, on Matrimony Heights, where she passed away. Her husband, David Hall died many years ago and of recent years she visited her three surviving children who are Mrs. Jefferson, Mrs. Elisha DeHart, of Woolwine, and a son, Jack Hall, who lives in West Virginia. There is one sister, Mrs. Betty Spencer, of Henry county, and two brothers, Ellis Rake and Lum Rake (sic), both of Henry. Mrs. Hall's progeny is enormous and there are something like three hundred immediate descendants in the form of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. The funeral was held from Mrs. Jefferson's home this afternoon by Rev. Messrs. Cockram and Jefferson who paid tribute to her long useful and interesting life. Interment took place in the North Spray Cemetary. (Submitter note: There is a photo of Jane Rakes Hall appearing with the article. I think it is from the Danville (Va.) Bee, and has 1928 written on it.) Submitted by Truman Adkins **************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ****************************************************************