Eliza Nelson
Kentucky Post, Tuesday, 22 July 1902, page 1
COLORED WOMAN DECLARES SHE IS 103 YEARS OF AGE
Aunt Eliza Nelson, who was born near Richmond, Va. July 19, 1799, was on Saturday 103 years old. She states there is no guess work about her age, as she has the facts and figures in a very ancient yellow paged Bible to show when and where she was born. She claims to be not only the oldest colored woman, but the oldest resident of Kentucky. She remembers well, she states, hearing her old master telling her that she was born the year Washington died. Her husband, who was well known in Newport as Major Nelson, died about ten years ago. He was a preacher and held services in a small cottage on Southgate street. He paid for the unpretentious edifice in small installments, requiring, some twenty years to meet the final payment.
In this the old colored woman resides and is carefully looked after by Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Neblett. For forty years she was a slave under Col. Garrard Richards of Harrodsburg, Ky. and he was owner of a large plantation near New Orleans, where the family spent the winter months. Henry Clay, being a relative of Richards, he and his family, she states, spent a great deal of their time at the Richards home. She nursed members of the family and she remembers "Massa" Clay well and never tired of talking about his qualities.
Her marriage to Major Nelson took place soon after they were set free and, she states, they walked over 25 miles to the nearest preacher. She recalls the names of every President since Washington and takes pride in the fact of having lived under them all. She never had any schooling until after her marriage, when she was taught to read and write by her husband. Notwithstanding her remarkable age, she is well preserved and she sings many of the old hymns that were favorites in slavery days, keeping time with her body swaying as she sings.
She longs for the day, she states, when she will be called home to join her husband and old master and mistress.