File:Noah Raby biography in the New York Times on April 7, 1896.jpg

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Long Past The Century Mark. Uncle Noah Raby, Who Lives on a New-Jersey "Poor Farm." New Brunswick, New Jersey; April 6, 1896. Three-score years and ten is the allotted life of man. To add fifty-four years—a goodly age for men to live—to the allotted life, makes a person remarkable. That is the age which Noah Ray claims to have attained. Noah lives at the Poor Farm in Piscataway Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and is in pretty good health, and of late years has developed a fancy for an occasional glass of rye or old applejack. Being of Southern birth, he should take corn whisky in preference to rye, but possibly his taste has become vitiated, or improved, by long absence from his native heath. If Noah Raby is as old as he claims to be. and there are many people In Piscataway who believe his statement, he is the oldest man in the State, if not In the country. Henry G. Hummer, the Overseer of the Poor Farm, has known Raby for over fifty years, and is firm in the belief that he is at least 110 years old. "Uncle Noah," as Raby is called by his neighbors, looks to be more than a centenarian as he sits in his old-fashioned armchair by the fireside. He is short of stature and much bent with age. He became blind about ten years ago, yet at times his eyes sparkle as though he had his sight. His shoulders are pretty well contracted. but the muscles of his arms and legs are nearly as firm as they were a quarter of a century ago. Raby has no teeth, and when talking he emits a sort of sharp whistling sound, which is rather startling until one becomes accustomed to it. His voice is strong and clear, and his laugh hearty. He has a distinctly Southern accent. Raby says he was born at Eatontown, Gates County, North Carolina, on April 1, 1772. His mother. Sarah Raby was a South Carolinian, while his father who was called Andrew Bass, was an Indian. His parents were not married. His mother desired to marry when Raby was seven years old, and be was bound out to a farmer named Miles Field. Ray says that he commenced to smoke when he was six years old, and has used whisky for nearly the same time off and on," but claims he was " never drunk but three times in his life." When he was twenty-one year it old, he was hired by a widow, a Mrs. Parker, as overseer of her place for $200 a year. Next he was hired by her daughter-in-law who also was a widow, and it was his Intention to get into her good graces and marry her," and her property, which consisted of lands and slaves, but he had a faint heart and dared not tell his love. Raby's half brother persuaded him to go to sea, and he joined the Constitution. When he came back he asked the widow to become his better half, but she had transferred her affections to his successor as overseer. and Raby lost his Chance of be-coming the husband of a handsome woman and the master of a plantation. Ray left the navy at the end of his term of enlistment. He claims that while he was at Norfolk he heard General Washington speak, and liked his manner of getting to the point directly." After Raby left the navy he worked three years in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and then came to New Jersey, settling on the Connecticut farms. which Peter Kane owned. Then he drifted to Stelton and worked at odd jobs until about thirty years ago, when he became incapacitated for work and was sent to the Poor Warn). The old man enjoys good health and has had no serious illness since he was eighteen Years old. He sleeps in an upright position in a chair, as he is subject to a rush of blood to the head. On pleasant days he walks to the well In the yard, being guided by a wire which runs from the house. His diet Is simple and consists of bread and milk, boiled rice. or fish. He weighs 100 pounds, and In his prime never weighed more than 130 pounds. "Uncle Noah" seems destined to live several years. He does not always tell the same story about his life, but sticks to his age tale.

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• 2007-11-14 05:35 Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) 342×1555× (444178 bytes) LONG PAST THE CENTURY MARK.; Uncle Noah Raby, Who Lives on a New-Jersey "Poor Farm." April 7, 1896, Wednesday New York Times {{PD-US}} {{commons ok}}