Mary Callahan, First Cousin to Lincoln & Oldest Citizen, 105

Lake City Reporter &
Columbia Gazette
Submitted by Diane Callahan Wallis

Mary Callahan, Cousin to Lincoln, and
Oldest Citizen of County, is 105

A first cousin of Abraham Lincoln, Mary Callahan, oldest living resident of Columbia County and one of the oldest living pioneers in Florida, will celebrate her 105th birthday Saturday at the home of her daughter, Miss Annie Callahan, on East Nassau St. Lake City.
     Until she was 100 years old she could sit up in a chair, walk about and carry on a fairly lively conversation.
     She was born October 29, 1850 in New Berry, South Carolina, and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Jacob Miller. she came to Columbia County in 1858 when she was eight years old in a covered wagon from Newberry South Carolina.
     The family settled on the old Coy Mayfield homestead and lived in the Mayfield farm house which was the oldest house in Columbia county until dismantled in recent years.
    Living with the family was the oldest daughter, Caroline Miller. They lived at the old Captain Roberts place near Columbia City which later became Coy Mayfield's home.
     The father, Jacob Miller, was an enterprising man and made shoes for the members of his family. Mrs. Callahan, tried the shoes, but found them uncomfortable so she threw them into a nearby sinkhole.
     She has 41 great grandchildren, 14 grandchildren and 33 great great grandchildren.
    Included among the grandchildren is Sheriff Ralph P. Witt of Columbia County.
     Other grandchildren are: John Callahan, Luther Callahan, Louie Callahan, and Mary Braco and Nina Campbell, children of her son Jake Callahan.
     She has four grandchildren of a deceased daughter, Mrs. Emma Summers. They are Cody Witt, Clifford Witt, Morris Witt and Sheriff Witt.
    She is especially fond of sheriff Witt, who she reared as a baby after his mother passed away.
     Other grandchildren are:
    Lizzie Walsh Durden, daughter of Mrs. Callahan's daughter, Mrs. Lizzie Walsh (deceased).
    Rubert Callahan, son of her son, Frank Callahan, (deceased).
    Mrs. Callahan is known to her many friends in Columbia County by "Aunt Mary" or "Grandma".
    Two of her children are now living. William Jacob Callahan and Miss Annie Callahan, with whom she resides.
     Mrs. Callahan's memories span more than a century of living - covering the pioneer years when this part of Florida was on the edge of the vast expanses of unknown land visited by a few white men and settlers to the south. she lived during the covered wagon, log cabins and the frontier life of Florida in the 1850's. during her lifetime, the state has progressed from a relatively primitive society to the modern machine age of today.
     Her early life was rugged and adventuresome, and not without its homespun joys. She can remember when Lake City was little more than a village connected to wagon trails through the scrub with other settlements.
Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud and, when you have found it continue to look at it, rather than all the leaden gray in the middle. It will help you over many hard places. A. A. Willitts.
Please note that the Witt Grandchildren were the son's of Laura L. Callahan and Barney Witt, not Emma Summers.
Mary's Father is listed as William Jacob Miller in this article, but research shows that his name was Jacob Conerly Miller, her Mother was Laura A. Enlow d/o Able Enlow and Elizabeth.