STORY OF FORMER BARTON COUNTIAN NEAR CENTENARIAN

"Uncle Billy" (William Norris Cline), who resides with his son, James Cline, in Jasper, was born May 16, 1838 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. His father came to Jasper County and settled near Cave Springs. Uncle Billy was 16 years old. He married first 79 years ago, five years before the Civil War. He left southern Missouri when the war broke out between the states-served three years on the Kansas and Missouri line during the war-settled in the vicinity of Estrom at the close of the Civil War-Says Barton County then abounded in deer and wild turkey and here spent much of his time hunting-he used tobacco since he was twenty-one, began to use it as medicine, three years after he was married; he has drunk some liquor but was never crazy about it-smiling says he was married four times but only had three women-has not been able to see well enough to read for many years-can now see objects but can't recognize a man who stands a few feet away-voice is weak with age, but he talks very well-conversation is animated by the expression in his sensative noble face-ninety seventh birthday, May 16th.

Uncle Billy Cline, when born in 1838, Martin VanBuren was President, Andrew Jackson had retired from the White House a little more than a year before, and sought the historic Hermitage, which was to be his home until his death, five years later. Texas was not a part of the United States but an independant Republic. New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and California were part of Mexico. The first railroad had been built scarely ten years, there were but a few hundred miles of rails yet built, and over them coughed and wheeled puny locomotives, that couldn't run as fast as a good horse could gallop, pulling small frail easily smashed coaches and cars. The Civil War was far in the distance. Abe Lincoln was making a by no mean impressive effort to get started in a law practice at the bucolic capital of Illinois. All of these things sound like ancient history and they are. But they represent conditions in the county when this near centenarian was born.

"I was a very small boy when my father pulled up and left Lincoln County, North Carolina", Uncle Billy says, and moved to Georgia. He lived in Georgia about a year and then we moved to Polk County Tennessee. "We stayed there until I was 16 years old, that was in 1854, then we drove through to Missouri, settling near Cave Springs in Jasper County. Two years later (1856) I was married. My young wife died, leaving me with one baby daughter. I married again. We continued to live here in Jasper County until after the Civil War broke. Not long after this we moved upon the Kansas River in Kansas. In 1861 I joined the Union army and served chiefly on boarder duty, along the Kansas-Missouri line, under General Blunt. I served to the end of the war and was never in a battle. I had four brothers who were in. Each one of them were in several severe battles. Not one of them was shot. I had two fingers partly shot off. I was up a tree throwing grapes down to the rest of the boys when I was shot, how it happened, I never exactly knew."

"Well, when the war was over, we moved back down to Jasper County, and I went up into Barton County, around what is now Estrom and settled again. It was a wonderful place to hunt at that time. The people had all moved or had been driven out of this part of the county during the war, and the deer were much more plentiful than when we came to these parts a good while before the war. There were lots of wild turkeys and prairie chickens by the thousands. I spent much of the time hunting, when my oldest began to get up a little, they'd say "we'll get the corn out, you hunt, you can make more that way than we can on the farm."

Asked if he ever used tobacco, Uncle Billy said "Yes, he began to use it when he was twenty-one, three years after his marriage. I got so I was sick at my stomache and would frequently vomit shortly after I ate a meal. I tried various things, but nothing did any good. Finally one day, well along in the fall, I was walking through an old tobacco patch, when I saw several nice leaves well cured. I picked these leaves off and took them home. I made myself a corncob pipe, and before I sat down at the table to eat, I filled my pipe with this tobacco. I let the pipe lay on the table and as soon as I had finished eating I took the pipe, lighted it and smoked a short time, I did not get sick to my stomache. For many years after that I smoked just after I ate. It always prevented me from getting sick at my stomache."

"I had often tried to chew tobacco before this, but it had always made me so sick, so I gave it up each time, however I got to chewing when I was in the army and chewed for forty years". "I smoke yet", he said, as a matter of fact he had his pipe as he talked. Did you ever drink any liquor Uncle Billy we asked him, "Oh yes", he said, laughing softly. "I have drank some liquor but I never got drunk except a few times in the war but I take a drink occasionally."

"How many times were you married?" we asked. "Four times." he said, "but I didn't have but three wives. My first wife died before the Civil War. My second wife lived until 20 years ago. Then a good while after she died I married again. I got along all right with my other wives, but I didn't make it with this one. We were divorced, then we married again but we couldn't get along, so we were divorced a second time. She's still living." It has been many years since Uncle Billy could see to read, he can now only make out objects. He cannot recognize people he knows well a few feet away. Until about four years ago he'd walk up town every day, and on a nice day, when the Jasper horseshoe pitchers were trying their skill he would sit for hours at a time and watch them, but now he stays around the house. He lives with his son, James Cline. Uncle Billy is hard of hearing, but can carry on a conversation. His voice has grown rather weak with age, but as he talks his sensitive mobile face lights up and he shows by his expression how he is interested in what he is telling you.

His daughter born him by his first wife is dead. He has three grown sons and three daughters. The sons are Luther Cline, who lives near Anderson; Abe Cline who is in Idaho, and James, with whom he makes his home. The three daughters are Mrs. Jenny Nealy, who lives in Idaho; Mrs. Laura Baugh, who lives in Houston, Texas, and Mrs. Lou Tyler, who also lives in Texas. Uncle Billy recieves a Civil War pension of ninety-five dollars a month, it was a hundred but the Vetrens of the Civil War got a ten percent cut two years ago, at which time it was raised back to ninety-five.