Warrenville native celebrates 100 years
The same day the first person to drive a vehicle faster than 125 miles per hour set his record in France, lifelong Aiken County resident Marie Stinson was born in Warrenville, the second of six children.
Today Stinson celebrates 100 years of life with her family and friends during a special celebration at Warrenville Baptist Church, where she has been a member for more than 50 years. She will receive a proclamation from the mayor this week.
"I have always lived in Warrenville," said Stinson.
She attended grammar school in a one-room schoolhouse in Warrenville through the seventh grade before finishing the eighth grade at Graniteville High.
"As I remember it (grammar school), it was just one big room, and we were divided into three groups," she said. "We used to play all kinds of games that kids now think are crazy, like hopscotch."
During the summer between seventh and eighth grades, Stinson went to work at the Clearwater Mill.
"I was a smash hand. ... There were shuttles in the room that ran between and wove the cloth. Sometimes a calamity would break out a lot of the thread. My job was to draw the thread back into the right place and restart the loom," said Stinson.
Learning to sew at an early age, she made all of her own clothing from the time she was in her early teens and her love for the art carried over into her adult life when she made three-piece suits for her husband. Physical ailments such as being blind in one eye and color blindness never hindered her from sewing and tailoring.
Stinson knew of the man who became her husband from the neighborhood - he lived across the street from her - and from church.
"I always thought of him as a grown man, but one time when they were working on the church and our service was held in the schoolhouse, he was there. He wanted to take me home because it was raining outside. ... After that, we saw each other a good bit," she said.
Stinson is the mother of three children and took great pride in her family. She led an active lifestyle and, until earlier this year, could frequently be seen walking around Warrenville. She served for many years as a poll manager, encouraging people to vote and even served in the position in the 2008 presidential election just before her 99th birthday.
"I stayed busy raising my children, going to church, cooking and sewing," said Stinson. "It is the Lord's blessing that I am still here. ... The good Lord must still have something planned for me. Maybe He's just not through with me yet."
Stinson has big plans for the next 100 years.
"It's hard to tell what I will do, I am liable to do anything," she said. "I'm not going to sit and hold my hands."
Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com.