Mrs. Jane Neace, whose age extended four years beyond the century mark, died Saturday afternoon at four o'clock at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Kelly, Dunlow, this county. Old age coupled with a mild stroke of paralysis suffered a week ago was the cause of death. She is believed to have been the oldest woman in southern West Virginia.
Mrs. Neace was born in Russell County, Virginia, in 1816. She married George W. Neace, a prominent farmer and cattle dealer, when she was twenty-one years of age.
During the trying period of the Civil War, her husband was active in the discouragement of the strong rebel sentiment existing in Russell County. Immediately upon the outbreak of hostilities, he enlisted in the Union army. Citations commending him for bravery in action were made in several official reports. He was honorably discharged with the rank of captain when the Union army was disbanded following Lee's surrender at Appomatox Court House.
During the strife Mrs. Neace served as a self-appointed nurse, and her accounts of hotly contested battles which she witnssed from near vantage points and of the heroic work of the women of the country in ministering to the wounded and dying have held little groups of friends spellbound for hours at a time.
Shortly after the close of the war, the family moved to Wayne County, West Virginia, where they have resided since.
Until the illness which resulted in her death, Mrs. Neace has been in excellent health, and her abhorrence to doctors was a trait which often amused her friends. She walked with a firm step, her body held erect, and even in her last days refused to use a walking stick. In spite of her advanced age she was always insistent in doing a part, at least, of her own housework. She attributed her health to her outdoor life in Virginia.
She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Kelly, Dunlow, and four sons, George, John, and Newton [of] Huntington and William Neace who lives at Mount Union.
Funeral services were held at the home of Mr. Neace at three o'clock Monday afternoon. Burial was made at the Barbour cemetery, near Mount Union.
Transcription by June White