Born in Bryson City, Swain County, NC, USA, John Stamper was a farmer his entire working life, until he retired in his late sixties and sold his farm located on Powder Springs Road, out of Marietta, GA. He grew apples, produced "good-cutting" sorghum syrup thick enough to "stay put" on a biscuit, operated a corn mill and a sawmill, and worked hard all of his farming years, doing his best to give "good measure" of any product he sold.
Skilled as a carpenter and a rock mason, John built several houses and barns along with many fireplaces and chimneys. His fireplaces always "drew" well. The last house he built was a rock house in Marietta, GA, where he lived until he passed.
Above average in height, John said that one should always "step on out" when walking, because taking short steps would make you look old. And he had great teeth; at age 97 when he died he had never had a single cavity!
John could read and write and studied the Bible regularly; he relied on and trusted in his faith in God, believing that God could heal all in this life and that heaven was a place where one would have a spiritual body because men were created in the image of God. Though he was a fundamentalist Christian, John was not one to condemn others. He accepted people "in their own right."
"He was always John Stamper....Predictable, honest, sensible, realistic....He was never rash, overly emotional, vain, or irrational....In his own way, he understood people, problems, and situations....He respected genuineness, and wisdom in others, regardless of their ages.....He was never one to do much criticizing of others....He would tell of incidents of dishonesty or other unacceptable behavior, but he would not 'blaspheme.'" - Hiram John Grogan, grandson.
When John Stamper passed in 1978, at the age of 97 after brain surgery to relieve fluid on his brain caused when he hit his head on a bed railing, his youngest daughter, Reba Stamper York, said "I guess we expected Pa to live forever."
John Baxter "Pa" Stamper was indeed a living legend.
Skilled as a carpenter and a rock mason, John built several houses and barns along with many fireplaces and chimneys. His fireplaces always "drew" well. The last house he built was a rock house in Marietta, GA, where he lived until he passed.
Above average in height, John said that one should always "step on out" when walking, because taking short steps would make you look old. And he had great teeth; at age 97 when he died he had never had a single cavity!
John could read and write and studied the Bible regularly; he relied on and trusted in his faith in God, believing that God could heal all in this life and that heaven was a place where one would have a spiritual body because men were created in the image of God. Though he was a fundamentalist Christian, John was not one to condemn others. He accepted people "in their own right."
"He was always John Stamper....Predictable, honest, sensible, realistic....He was never rash, overly emotional, vain, or irrational....In his own way, he understood people, problems, and situations....He respected genuineness, and wisdom in others, regardless of their ages.....He was never one to do much criticizing of others....He would tell of incidents of dishonesty or other unacceptable behavior, but he would not 'blaspheme.'" - Hiram John Grogan, grandson.
When John Stamper passed in 1978, at the age of 97 after brain surgery to relieve fluid on his brain caused when he hit his head on a bed railing, his youngest daughter, Reba Stamper York, said "I guess we expected Pa to live forever."
John Baxter "Pa" Stamper was indeed a living legend.
Born in Bryson City, Swain County, NC, USA, John Stamper was a farmer his entire working life, until he retired in his late sixties and sold his farm located on Powder Springs Road, out of Marietta, GA. He grew apples, produced "good-cutting" sorghum syrup thick enough to "stay put" on a biscuit, operated a corn mill and a sawmill, and worked hard all of his farming years, doing his best to give "good measure" of any product he sold.
Skilled as a carpenter and a rock mason, John built several houses and barns along with many fireplaces and chimneys. His fireplaces always "drew" well. The last house he built was a rock house in Marietta, GA, where he lived until he passed.
Above average in height, John said that one should always "step on out" when walking, because taking short steps would make you look old. And he had great teeth; at age 97 when he died he had never had a single cavity!
John could read and write and studied the Bible regularly; he relied on and trusted in his faith in God, believing that God could heal all in this life and that heaven was a place where one would have a spiritual body because men were created in the image of God. Though he was a fundamentalist Christian, John was not one to condemn others. He accepted people "in their own right."
"He was always John Stamper....Predictable, honest, sensible, realistic....He was never rash, overly emotional, vain, or irrational....In his own way, he understood people, problems, and situations....He respected genuineness, and wisdom in others, regardless of their ages.....He was never one to do much criticizing of others....He would tell of incidents of dishonesty or other unacceptable behavior, but he would not 'blaspheme.'" - Hiram John Grogan, grandson.
When John Stamper passed in 1978, at the age of 97 after brain surgery to relieve fluid on his brain caused when he hit his head on a bed railing, his youngest daughter, Reba Stamper York, said "I guess we expected Pa to live forever."
John Baxter "Pa" Stamper was indeed a living legend.
Skilled as a carpenter and a rock mason, John built several houses and barns along with many fireplaces and chimneys. His fireplaces always "drew" well. The last house he built was a rock house in Marietta, GA, where he lived until he passed.
Above average in height, John said that one should always "step on out" when walking, because taking short steps would make you look old. And he had great teeth; at age 97 when he died he had never had a single cavity!
John could read and write and studied the Bible regularly; he relied on and trusted in his faith in God, believing that God could heal all in this life and that heaven was a place where one would have a spiritual body because men were created in the image of God. Though he was a fundamentalist Christian, John was not one to condemn others. He accepted people "in their own right."
"He was always John Stamper....Predictable, honest, sensible, realistic....He was never rash, overly emotional, vain, or irrational....In his own way, he understood people, problems, and situations....He respected genuineness, and wisdom in others, regardless of their ages.....He was never one to do much criticizing of others....He would tell of incidents of dishonesty or other unacceptable behavior, but he would not 'blaspheme.'" - Hiram John Grogan, grandson.
When John Stamper passed in 1978, at the age of 97 after brain surgery to relieve fluid on his brain caused when he hit his head on a bed railing, his youngest daughter, Reba Stamper York, said "I guess we expected Pa to live forever."
John Baxter "Pa" Stamper was indeed a living legend.
