Obituary Record

Last week The Echo chronicled that Peter Dudley had been pensioned by the county board, this week we chronicle his demise which occurred Sunday forenoon after an attack of la grippe. Peter Dudley was the most unique character in this section, and from the best authority from the people of Pearlington and Gainesville, Miss., Uncle Peter was between 108 and 110 years of age. He was born in Brunswick county, N. C., and brought to Hancock county, Miss., in the year of 1835, and at that time was owned by Mrs. Amelia Russ, at Pearllngton.

Men like the late Captain Poitevent of Gainesville, here said when they were children, Peter was then an old man. Thus it can be proven, without a family Bible, that the deceased was the oldest man in the county, and perhaps In the state of Mississippi. Until the last day of his Illness his mind was clear and his memory wonderful. He could tell the history of half the oldest citizens of the county, and when in a talkative mood delighted to dwell on the old days spent among them. He was fond of walking about the Bay and seeing all of the people and children whom he was especially fond of, always haying a good word for them all. A few days ago he was spearing of a lady in Iberville parish, who had offered him a home as long as he lived, when he said "I could not go to live in Louisiana. If I did, how could I go about the bay and hear all the news?" Strange as it may appear, Uncle Peter did know about all the news going, such as deaths, births, marriages and other important

events.

He visited among his own color and the white folks, and while there was never idle. He would chop wood or rake the yards and wheelbarrow the trash on the beach into the water. He was honest, industrious and faithful to every trust, and there are mothers and grandmothers who knew Peter when they were bit of girls.

Peter spoke but a few words before he died, and those were spoken about 4 p.m. Saturday. For about thirty years or more Peter walked in a stooped position and the only time for many months did he try otherwise until last spring when he stood for his picture to be printed in the Sunday Picayune. The photograph and the sketch of the old man was noticed by hundreds, and several on the strength of reading about him sent him money. For awhile he felt so flattered over the attentions paid him, he did not care to work, but that feeling wore off, and he [...]

[...]

Peter, while not a member of any church, was of a religious turn of mind, and he said his prayer every night was "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep," When dressed for burial he was stretched out in a natural position, and the undertaker said he was more than six feet in height and had been a powerful man in his young days.

Peter often declared that he was from New York and that he was a "north" man, and that he did not belong to this country. In the old days when voting in Mississippi was not limited, he never lost a chance to cast a vote, and he said he was a "Publican." Often he was given a democratic ticket, but he invariably threw I it aside and hunted out one from another pocket. He had lots of friends among all the white people, and there was not one who would refuse Peter anything asked in reason.

Source: Sea Coast Echo 01-16-1897