AT 114 SHE GOES FOR A WALK
Brooklyn Standard Union July 1905 "Auntie Van DYKE" Startles Young Generation With Her Sprightness Reception in her Honor at the Lindcoln Mission __________ In a humble household on the top floor of the two-story house at 1308 Atlantic avenue, ther was consternation yesterday morning, because "Auntie Van DYKE" had disappeared. She had been living for many years with Mrs. Sarah BROWN. When Mrs. BROWN went to her room as usual to bid her good morning yesterday, lo and behold, "Auntie had disappeared. "Surely she must have been wafted to heaven," exclaimed good Mrs. Brown in perturbation. "Auntie" Van DYKE had not gone on such a long journey, however, but, unbeknown to the household, had taken her cane and hobbled downstairs. "Just to get a bit of fresh air," as she explained to a Standard Union reporter last night. "Next Tuesday "Auntie" Van DYKE will celebrate the 114th anniversary of the date of her birth and, to all appearances, she will live to celebrate many more of them. She has been kept indoors nearly all winter owing to it's unusual severity. The restraint has made her restless and when yesterday morning the sun came out bright and the air warm, she could not resist the temptation of going downstairs to get the full benefit of it. "Auntie" is colored and wants it to be understood that she comes from an old-line family that is many degrees better than some of "dis yere white trash" so much in evidience in recent years. Long before it was ever supposed that "Auntie" would become a centenarian, it was known that she was a very, very old woman, but no particular efforts had been made to arrive at the exact date of her birth. But as she passed the century mark, the question became more then one of idle curiosity and broadened out to one of specific interest. A search was instituted and in the old CORTELYOU records in New Utrecht it was found that she was born March 14, 1791. She was born a slave and the first sixty ears of her life were spent in bondage. She declares that she remembers seeing George Washington when he visited her master, Daniel CORTELYOU at New Utrecht, on which occasion she declares that the "Father of his Country" frequently came to her master's house, usually on horseback. This was 1798 or 1799. "Auntie" Van DYKE was sold as a slave to Mr. Cortelyou by his sister and in 1812 she was married to a slave named Van DYKE. She is the mother of eight children, all of whom were born and died in slavery. She said last night.. "We lived on the outskirts of New Utrecht and I remember when Fort Hamilton was built. We used to go down there and if you did not watch out you would get lost in the woods in those days. It was so deep down that some of us did get lost. Like all the other slaves, I used to go out into the fields and hoe and do general farmwork." "Auntie" seems to be as bright and active as any woman of 70 years. She gets up early every morning with the rest of the family, dresses herself, walks about the house and when the weather is good, goes out and takes a short walk about the block unattended. She has only one eye but the brilliancy of the optic makes up for two. She has no teeth, but a fairly good crop of grizzly white hair. She is just now very much interested in the preparation of a new dress in which she is to appear at the festivities to be held in her honor at the Lincoln Mission, 1699 Atlantic avenue on Thursday evening. While the recollection of scenes in early life down to 1846 are clear, her mind seems almost a blank on events that occurred subsequently. She recollects little or nothing of the Civil War, when she was in her seventies and it is with some difficultly that she recalls events of recent date. Transcriber : Nancy E Lutz RETURN to PEOPLE MAIN RETURN to BROOKLYN MAIN