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Entering third century

100-year-old woman prepares for new millennium
100 Year Old Carrie Sutton Buchanan

100 Year Old Carrie Sutton Buchanan

 Carrie Sutton Buchanan admits she's a little hesitant as the new millennium approaches. "It scares me a bit, but guess I'll be going there," said Buchanan, who will be one of the rare ones. Rare because when January 2000 arrives, she'll have lived in three different centuries.

Daughter of the late William Allen and Lula Allison Sutton, she was born in Jackson County on Dec. 27, 1899, in a log cabin in Savannah community. Her family and friends are planning a 100th birthday party for her from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 26, at Skyland Care Center.
100 Year Old Carrie Sutton Buchanan Her brother, Clint Sutton, who was a couple of years older, lived to be 100.

"When he was 99, he prayed and prayed to reach 100. When he got close to his mark, I helped him pray," said Buchanan. "But then, after he reached 100, he didn't care about being 101 and he died."
Many of Buchanan's family still live in Jackson County. Son Joe, who lives in Dillardtown, said, "Mom's the reason most of our family is still here. Over the years, she's prayed a lot to keep us on the straight and narrow. We kids think she is the closest thing to an angel."

"They are way off their mark," their mom quickly retorted with a grin.

As a mother, Buchanan is described by Joe as "strict, but caring. She made us get our chores done first, before we did anything else. But after we did the chores, we could play. If it were Wednesday or Sunday, we'd go to church. She used to say to us, ŒHurry and get your chores done so we can go to church.'"

Buchanan herself was a hard worker, especially following her mother's death when Buchanan was just 8 years old.

"Mamma had sciatic rheumatism, went to bed on her birthday and stayed in bed that whole year, dying a year later," Buchanan remembered. "When Mamma died, I did all the cooking, made the garden and kept up the yard. I only went to school about four months out of the year."

Whenever she had free time, this young girl-turned-family-caretaker climbed trees. "Oh, I loved to climb trees and jump rope," she said, remembering her youth.

At 19, she married Thomas Luther Buchanan, a farmer and carpenter, on Sept. 22, 1918. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary before he died in 1983. Their nine children are Jack (who died of cancer at age 50), Bill, Joe, Tommy, Don, Dan, Lula Rebecca Kloss, Helen Morgan and Nancy Carolyn.

"Five of us six boys served in the military, and we all came home," Joe said proudly. Life was good, said Buchanan, except during the Great Depression. "That was just awful. We moved to South Carolina to work as sharecroppers, and it was so bad we only stayed there six months, then we came back home.

"The only good thing I remember about all of South Carolina was these big watermelon patches. For breakfast, we could go out in the patch, pick us a big ripe watermelon, slice the top off and sit right down there and eat it off the vine."

Buchanan remembers the day she saw "the devil." "Me and this old lady were walking down the road together. It was all muddy, I remember, when this big black thing whipped by, fuming and carrying on something awful...and splashing mud all over us," she said. "That old lady started hollering for her husband, 'I've seen the devil! I've seen the devil!' she cried out. Turns out it was the first car ever to be in these parts."

For awhile Buchanan and her peers thought president Franklin D. Roosevelt "was the second coming of Jesus Christ. That is, until we found out about his girlfriend. That kind of lowered his standards in our book."

Buchanan thinks the airplane is the greatest invention of the 20th century. "But now I never rode on one, and I don't plan to in the next century either."

Looking back on her life, the only thing Buchanan would change is spending more time with her children. "You have to make a living, but you don't have to make it all in one day. Each day you need to take time for your kids, 'cause in life, they are what's important."

In addition to her children, Buchanan has 20 grandchildren. "I can't tell you how many great-grandchildren I have ­ 28, I think, and two great-great-grandchildren," said this oldest member of Wesleyanna United Methodist Church. According to church records, Buchanan joined the church located in the Savannah community in 1914, when she was just 14, and after more than 85 years is still a member of the congregation.

In talking about changes over the years, one change that upsets Buchanan is "people just seem to be getting meaner... and lies. They'll tell you lies right to your face. I worry about how we're raising our young people nowadays."

For the past three years, Buchanan has lived at Skyland where she shares a room with her daughter, Nancy Carolyn. "It's a good place to be, if you have to be away from home," she said. "They feed you good."

Her health is also good and she is able to move around some with the aid of a walker. But mostly, as she herself puts it, "I sit here and gaze... and listen to the radio; I like the religious songs best." "There's not a thing wrong with her mind," said Joe. "In fact, her mind is better than mine."

Back to Archive: 12-16-99.