Flynn and Related Families

OBITUARY published in the Bangor [Maine] Daily News on December 24, 1945: Mrs. Mae Glidden Dies at 107 - VASSALBORO, Dec. 23 - Mrs Mae Z. Glidden, believed to be Maine's oldest resident, died last night - 12 days after she observed her 107th birthday. Mrs. Glidden, who sewed and knit for the soldiers of five wars, had been confined to bed at the home of her son, George, for several months. In the Civil War, she made 7,000 pairs of pants for the Union Army at a hand sewing shop in UNion, Maine. At the same time she was caring for five children. She spun and wove many blankets - 15 in one winter; knit thousands of pairs of mittens and socks, and won many prizes at fairs for her needlework until her eyesight failed - when she was 100. In her 100th year she helped to husk 150 bushels of corn during a harvest at her son's farm. Contending that "hard work never hurt anyone," Mrs. Glidden attributed her longevity to work and to diversified interests. Born at Etna, she went to work at the age of eight - for her keep. At 13 she earned 50 cents a week on a farm, and when she was married, at age 19, was receiving $1.50 a week. Her husband, Rufus Glidden, of Somerville, died in 1921, the year they observed their 64th wedding anniversary. She headed a five-generation family group whose members totaled well over 100. a number of them gathered here at her last birthday. Three of her five children survive, Besides her son, they are Mrs. Ena Dean of Modesto, Calif., and Mrs. Annie Tibbetts of Norway. Funeral services will be held at the Hussey funeral home in East Vassalboro at 10 a.m., Wednesday. Burial will be at Etna.