Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 174, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1915 — IS THE OLDEST BLACKSMITH [ARTICLE]

IS THE OLDEST BLACKSMITH

Michigan Man Is Eighty-six Years of Age and Still Shoes Horses. Homer, Mich.—The oldest blacksmith in Michigan—probably the oldest in the United States. That’s whai Jacob L. .Lyon of Homer believes he is. He will be eighty-six years old next January. And if there are any competitors for the honor, Mr. Lyon hopes to remove all doubt by remaining at the anvil for many more years. "You see, my father lived to be eighty-two, but he had two brothers who lived to be ninety-four and ninetysix years old," he declares. “So I have a few more good years in me yet" Mr. Lyon hasn’t missed a day at his shop in several years. His arm is as powerful and he is as active as the man, forty years his junior, who is his employee. He lives with his wife, who is sev-enty-seven years old, in a pleasant little home only a few yards from the blacksmith shop.