Centralia Chronicle Advertiser, Centralia Washington Newspaper articles about Snohomish County
March 5, 1937
GRANGER NEARING 99TH MILESTONE
Most people who have reached the age of 90 or more can
readily tell you the secret of their longevity. Some say it is temperance, some
outdoor life, etc.
Not so D.F. Sexton, charter member and past master of Garden
City Grange, Snohomish county, who will celebrate his 99th birthday on April 1.
In fact, Mr. Sexton cannot think of a single reason why he attained such an
advanced age, unless it might be because his mother lived to be 99.
Mr. Sexton resides alone in his big farmhouse near Snohomish.
His wife died nine years ago, and now the neighbors who live on the bottom land
bordering the Pilchuck river-the whole section of which was cleared and settled
by Mr. Sexton in 1878-administer to his needs.
Though physically inactive, his mind is keen. He reads
extensively-books, magazines, newspapers-and keeps up with the world, which he
says is "a pretty good world to live."
Only Indians were his neighbors when he settled on his
section along the Pilchuck in '78. "I got along fine with them," he said. Now
there is a small community of homes bunched together on the original Sexton
dairy farm.
Each year for the past decade and a half, the Grangers of
Snohomish county have honored their aged brother with a birthday celebration.
They have profited much from his wisdom and experience and his kindly Christian
philosophy. His advice to Grangers, he said, is simply:
"Lead good, Christian lives, and you can't go wrong."
As to the Grange itself, "Any community having a Grange is
better for it, if Grange principles are lived up to."
Mr. Sexton was born April 1, 1838, in Montgomery County,
Ohio. He was a full grown man at the time of the Civil War and served in the
Union Army. When he came to Washington state, he became a charter member of the
Snohomish post of the G.A.R. Only two Civil War veterans remain of this
group-the other living at Granite Falls.
Mr. Sexton became a Granger in 1909, when Garden City Grange
was organized. He received the seventh degree in 1929, when National Grange
convened in Seattle. He has attended a number of state Grange sessions,
including the Wenatchee and Pullman meetings.
©Shauna Williams