Julia O. Benson was born 12 October 1890, the daughter of August and Anna Marie (Johnston) Benson. She died at the age of 103, on the 30th of March 1994 in the same place she was born, Carroll Co.

This is the home she lived her entire life in. It's on the Wacker Road, the NW part of Section 22 of Mt Carroll Township. Julia lived here along with some of her brothers and sisters who also never married. ... Obituary

Ellen E. (Preston) Downing was born 07 June 1846 in Carroll Co, the daughter of Samuel Preston. She married Harvey L. Downing on the 8th of December 1869. Ellen died on the 19th of January 1948 at the age of 101. Ellen Preston Downing was the recipient of the Tom Brenneman "Breakfast in Hollywood" radio show orchid in honor of her 100th birthday. The orchid was delivered to her with greetings from Brenneman. Obituary

Laura Elizabeth (Oberheim) Fulrath was born 08 February 1877 in Mount Carroll, the daughter of William Wesly and Susan Catherine (Smith) Oberheim who were married in Carroll Co. 15 September 1874. Laura was married to Peter Fulrath 08 Jun 1899 in Mt. Carroll. Laura died at the age of 103. Obituary

Leona M. Hess - 101 years of age at the time of her death - Obituary

Mary Elnora (Deibler) Peters
Lanark is celebrating its centennial this year. On July 13, 1861 the American flag was raised at the center of a small settlement to signify the beginning of a new community. That same day in Brookville, ten miles away, Mary Elnora Deibler was born. The twins were destined to come together and Mary Deibler at the age of six moved with her family to this corn and cattle community settling on a farm south east of town, and this area has been her home ever since. Her parents had come from Pennsylvania in a covered wagon, her mother from Schlylkill county and her father from Dauphin county. Mary grew up on the Deibler farm and attended the Eastwood county school. After she married George Peters in 1878 he bought the farm and they continued to live there. Her children also went to Eastwood to learn the same “reading’, ritin’, and arithmetic” which had been their mother’s only formal education. Her children remember that Mary often worked in the fields beside her husband. After 19 years together on the farm they moved into town during the first world war, and here they lived in busy “retirement” until Mr. Peters’ death in 1936. For the next 21 years Mrs. Peters lived with a daughter and son-in-law, the Tom Diffenderfers. Her daughter says that she was always busy. She would write letters by the dozens to her friends and relatives, and would embroider pillow cases and “piece” quilts. Except for a bout with pneumonia some decades back, she has seldom been sick. Two of her children told me that “she never misses a meal.” Mrs. Peters has always liked to travel. She has gone back to Pennsylvania a number of times and not long ago traveled to Iowa to visit relatives.

I sat with her the other day in the nursing home in Shannon where she has been living since 1958. She was bright and cheerful, her sense of humor apparently undimmed by her almost 100 years. “I suppose you know about the celebration coming up on June?” I asked. She looked at me slyly. “I ought to be in the parade,” she said. Then she added, “Well, if I can’t ride a horse at the front of the parade, I won’t be in it!” She seems to enjoy life in the nursing home where her children and other relatives visit her frequently. She answered my questions sometimes humorously, sometimes seriously. A member of the Brethren church, she said “we must use the golden rule.” “When my children did what was wrong, I corrected them,” she said, “and I always tried to do what was right.” About the future she said, “I was always told that there was a hereafter, and I am not afraid of it.” Mrs. Peters had five children: Harry, William, Lloyd, Mrs. Tom Diffenderfer and Mrs. C. H. Roth, who passed away in 1951. She has six grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren. -- Rev. Ted Kimmel.
Contributed by Alice Horner. (Mary Elnora Deibler Peters died July 3, 1965)

Mary Elizabeth Snively 1903 - 2005 - Obituary

Ola Stoner -
SHANNON'S OLDEST RESIDENT AND BETHEL CHURCH'S OLDEST MEMBER - Ola is a happy little lady with a ready smile and a good mind. At the age of 100 she lives alone in a neat little well kept house near Shaw's Grocery Store. It is well maintained with a row of flowers planted along its foundation. Ola isn't able to cook much; consequently her meals on wheels are brought in from the Shannon Cafe, delivered by church members in the area. Her neighbor and tenant of twenty-five years, Donna Pritchard, mows her lawn, plants flowers, cleans her house and brings her groceries. Ola looks forward to getting the Rockford Morning Star Sunday paper. Her niece, Charlene Frey, also helps with her care. She spends much of her time watching television game shows. Her home was once a railroad boxcar. Ola's husband Mallie had the box car brought over from Savanna many years ago so they could make a home for Ola's mother when she grew older. They had it placed close to their home so they could watch over her.

She was born November 15, 1895, on a farm north of Milledgeville not far from the farm owned by Dick Dambman. When she was three years old she was playing in a field of tall grass that her father, Charles Woodin, was mowing with a horse-drawn hay mower. She was told to stay in the house, but didn't listen. He didn't see his little daughter and her leg was cut off about half way between her knee and her ankle. After the accident they brought her home and put the stump in a pan of hot ashes to cauterize it. They were Christian Scientist and didn't believe in medicine, but a medical doctor was called. Her father was so ashamed he couldn't get up enough courage to go in to talk to her for two weeks. When he came in Ola told him not to be so sad for it would grow back. From that day on she wore an artificial limb. She could do anything her brother and sister could do including climbing the windmill. She does not feel that this adversely affected her life. She graduated from the Hitt one room rural school where all grades were taught in one room. Most of the time she walked the two miles to school, but when her grandmother reached the age when she could no longer drive her horse and buggy she gave it to her grandchildren to drive to school. Ola went to high school for two months, but there was an outbreak of measles in her family; they were quarantined for a period of time and she never went back to high school. Her father had an automobile dealership in Milledgeville and as a result they had one of the three cars in Carroll County, an International with high, hard rubber tires similar to those on a buggy. The horses pulling the buggies were afraid of the car so they had to pull off the road and let the buggy go by. As was typical of most farms at that time they raised chickens, pigs and milked cows. They kept the milk cool in the basement and churned their own butter. Ola married Mallie Stoner in 1915. They moved to the Chicago area in 1919 so Mallie could find work as an auto mechanic. They bought a lot out in a field near Harlem Ave. and along with Neil Stoner proceeded to make cement blocks from which they built a double garage. While they were building their houses each family lived in part of the double garage. The houses they built in Chicago are still standing. When they first moved there they had to carry their water for 2 1/2 blocks and there was no inside plumbing. In the early 30's the WPA, a public works program designed to help the unemployed, put in water, sewer and sidewalks. The streets were not paved and in the spring of the year they laid down railroad ties so they could get through the mud. During the time they were living in Chicago she spent much of her time taking care of other people's children while the mothers worked. She was a good seamstress and made money by sewing for other people. She also did home work for a clothing factory. One of the things she enjoyed while in Chicago was going to White Sox baseball games. On ladies day she could get a ticket for ten cents.

When they traveled on trips to the Black Hills and Ozarks with other couples Ola was the banker. She kept the money in the foot of her wooden leg. Who would think of stealing money from the foot of a wooden leg? In 1941 they moved back to Shannon because the union came into the shops in Chicago and their income was cut in half. When they returned to Shannon, Mallie wanted to have a garage of his own and with the help of C.T. Wilhelms they were able to purchase the old cheese factory that once stood where Joe Buss lived. Ola was employed as a telephone operator in Milledgeville and as a librarian in the Shannon library. When they moved back to Shannon she joined the Methodist Church. Ola enjoys her status as the most cherished member at the Spencer-Benham reunion and is given a bouquet of three pink roses, a paper crown and has the privilege of giving a silver spoon to the youngest member in attendance. This year's recipient was a four-day old baby. Ola never had any children of her own, but she mothered many - including Charlene Frey after her mother died at an early age, She likes people and over the years she has done a considerable amount of sewing for other people. When a member of her family criticized her for not charging enough for her work she said, "Maybe not, but I am always busy," She isn't very interested in politics. Perhaps it comes from her Christian Scientist Grandmother who didn't vote because she didn't think it was a woman's place. Ola is one who can cope with adversity and come up with a smile. Her philosophy is there is no use feeling bad if you can't change things anyway. This attitude toward life has helped her live with peace of mind for over 100 years.
From the website of Steve Schack

William H. Wildey Recalls Days of Civil War