Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Russell Oral Interviews

Everlasting Life in Russell, Iowa

We all would like to live a very long and productive life.  Statistics show that people live longer now than ever before.  Russell residents are no exception.  There are only about 550 residents in town, but a large majority of them are over 80 years old.   The water in town must hold some special ingredient.  The Russell Historical Society did some oral interviews in 2004 with some of its residents and discovered that in 1930, fifty-two students enrolled in the Russell High School Senior Class and 34 of them graduated in the spring of 1931.  This is the largest class Russell has ever had in its school.  At the time of the interview these people were either 91 or 92 years old.  There were 12 former students from this class still alive and seven of them still lived in Russell, Chariton and Cambria.  Another lady lived in Russell and was 91, but she graduated from Chariton High School.  Four others lived away from Russell.  Dennis Drake lived in Colorado; Beulah (Cox) Huntley lived in California; Addison Wells lived in Minnesota; and Louise (Sanborn) Huff lived in Waterloo.

Daisy Chapman is the only one of the twelve we interviewed still living in December of 2010 and she was 97 this year. 
These interviews are in a book at the Russell Historical Society.  During the upcoming weeks I will be posting portions of these stories in this blog.  We hope you enjoy them.

2 comments:

Charles M. Wright said...

I called this story to the attention of a relative in Phoenix and he phoned (December 30) to say that he had this day visited by telephone with his cousin Louise Sanborn Huff who still lives alone in her own home in Waterloo. He reported that she had just returned from attending a wedding in Illinois, was very well and "as sharp as a tack!" (from Charles M. Wright of Ankeny, IA whose father was a first cousin to Louise's mother).

Lynne said...

Thanks Charles for the comment. It is good too know she is still doing so well. The people from the class of 1931 have/had a long lasting life. When I said Daisy was the only one alive, I meant she is the only one still alive from the ones we interviewed from that class.