StemCell Therapy

Time seemed to pause for Willie Hawes.

How do you measure time?

By minutes?By moments? By memories?

If you go by years, Willie Hawes has us all beat.

Somewhere in themid-1980s, The Augusta Chronicle's reporters discovered Hawes, a retired farmer living near Appling.

He was a quiet man, beloved by a large family that called him "Papa," unremarkable perhaps, except that he was then 113 years old and would live to be 120.

He didn't have a birth certificate. Georgia didn't begin to keep such records until 1919 when he was 47. But he did appear in a church census in his native Lincoln County, which recorded his arrival as Jan. 15, 1872.

Think about that.

In January 1872, Ulysses S. Grant had not finished his first term as president. The flag of the United States only had 37 stars and George Armstrong Custer still had his hair.

After discovery of Hawes' singular longevity, a series of reporters would stop by each January for an update on his health, a wrapup of his birthday celebration and any possible insights into how one lives more than a century.

Despite growing deafness and failing sight, Hawes was kind and gracious.He preached the virtues of common sense and "eating the right foods."

His family would laugh and point out his appetite was legendary.

He liked to eat corn, spaghetti, fried chicken, turnip greens, pecan pie and a number of "stick-to-your-ribs" menu items,they'd say.

At one birthday banquet, he finished off potato salad, chitterlings, cabbage and cornbread,and then had yellow cake with white icing for dessert. They didn't bother with candles on his cakes, either, because by thetime you got all 100-plus lighted, some had melted down.

Yes, he ate well much of his life, but he also worked hard,usually with a mule and a plow. He did this a long time, explaining, "that way you know what you're eating."

He farmed in Lincoln County until 1924 when a flood prompted amove to Columbia County,where he continued to farm into his 80s.

He was always a robust man, who decided to demonstrate his agility at age 100 by leaping onto the hood of a grandson's car. His children and grandchildren loved to hear him tell stories, but also knew him as a strict disciplinarian who "only had to whip you once."

By the time Hawes reached 118, NBC's well-known weatherman Willard Scott of the Today Show began to salute his birthdays in national broadcasts.

When Hawes turned 120 in 1992, the newspaper sought out a doctor, who called him "an extraordinary physical specimen," and attributed his long life to family genetics, a good heart, low cholesterol, hard work and a healthy diet.

That was the last reporter visit.

Willie Hawes died April 26, 1992. He was 120 years, 3 months and 11 days old.He was buried in the Second Mount Carmel Baptist Church cemetery and his funeralwas no doubt well attended.

Survivors included three daughters, one son, an adopted son, five stepsons, three stepdaughters, a brother, 46 grandchildren, 113 great-grandchildren and 84 great-great grandchildren.

Visit link:
The Way We Were: Applings Willie Hawes, a legend of longevity - The Augusta Chronicle

This entry was posted on September 21, 2020 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Longevity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |