This special recent portrait shows that Frances still has style.
Most of us dream about living a long life. For Frances Mehaffey that dream is reality. At over 101 years young, Frances still enjoys a busy life. This amazing woman has a quick sense of humor and enjoys sharing stories of life as it used to be.
Frances Hartley was born in October, 1914 in Cambridge, Ohio at her parents’ home near Garfield School. Her mother told her the children were singing and playing “London Bridge” on the playground at the time of Frances’ birth. She has been entertaining others with music ever since.
While she never liked dolls, she remembered a swing and a wagon her father bought her when she was a child. The family moved often. When they lived next door to an early oil well in the county, Frances decided she would use a stick to drill her own oil wells in the dirt. She has been busy all of her life.
Peggy and mother Frances enjoy sharing memories over a cup of coffee.
With three children, her parents also stayed busy. Father drove a horse and buggy to deliver mail in the summer time, and rode horseback in the winter. Mother gave piano lessons after studying music at Mt. Union. Frances learned to play piano and organ.
When Frances was ten, the family moved back to Cambridge where several ladies wanted her to cut and set their hair. She walked from house to house after school doing something that came to her naturally…without ever going to beauty college.
An early picture shows Frances about the time of graduation from Cambridge Brown High School.
She graduated from Cambridge Brown High School in 1933. Her current beauty license, which she received in 1934, is the oldest in the state. She was honored by the State of Ohio Board of Cosmetology with a reception and proclamation of “Frances H. Mehaffey Day” on December 10, 2014.
Frances opened her first salon in the back of her father’s wallpaper store, followed by one over the old Strand Theater. She then opened the “Town and Country”, which she operated until a few years ago, and a second salon in Quaker City for several years. That’s over 90 years of making ladies beautiful!
John and Frances Mehaffey eloped to Wellsburg, WV in 1937, but no one knew they were married for several. months. When they moved to the country, their first home had no electricity, a hand pump outside for water, and an outdoor toilet. How life has changed.
While she was too busy to travel often, she remembers one trip to Texas where they stood in line all day long to watch part of the Lee Harvey Oswald trial.
Her children gathered for a surprise 100th birthday celebration. They include: Peggy Ringer, Dr. John, mother Frances, and Tom. Frances has 8 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild.
While raising their three children and operating her beauty salons, Frances planned and wrote scripts for PTA programs, started the cafeteria at Pike School and helped start the Cassell Station Fire Department. Square dancing, Buggy Wheel Riding Club, and the Organ Club added enjoyment to her busy life.
Later she formed and wrote the theme song for the “Kitchen Kuties”, who performed for many organizations. Over a cup of coffee during this visit, Frances broke into song singing, “We are the Kitchen Kuties…” Watching TV and reading books are not high on her list even today
Linda Johnson and Frances visit before a Lions Club Show.
Frances and John helped Bob Jonard get the Lions Club Minstrel started back in 1973. That first year she helped organize the musical performances and write the program. She headed makeup for the Minstrels for 39 years. Althought Frances stopped singing in the chorus a couple years ago, she still attends the Lions Club Shows and enjoys them thoroughly.
She even attends the Afterglow following the show. This year it was held on the second floor of a local club, but that didn’t stop Frances. She climbed those stairs better than some that are in the chorus today. When asked how she could still climb steps so well, she matter-of-factly remarked, “When I was 93, I had both knees replaced and I’ve been able to climb stairs ever since.”
Frances was happy to have knee replacements to help her walk more easily.
You might wonder what her secret is for being a centenarian. Frances will only say that she worked hard all of her life. She never smoked or drank, takes a daily vitamin but only two prescription medications, and attends First Methodist Church in Cambridge each Sunday. Although she no longer drives, Frances renewed her driver’s license on her 100th birthday.
When she was asked about working so hard throughout life, Frances responded with a powerful bit of advice for everyone, “If you don’t, you waste it. You don’t want to waste life.”
At the conclusion of the dedication ceremony, several honored guests placed special soil around the bottom of the statue. This soil came from near the cabin where the Boyds stayed when films were being made in California.
Waiting for the red trolley car to arrive, there was time to visit the Farmer’s Market in Nashville, Tennessee. Downtown parking seemed rather expensive at $20 for the afternoon but it was free to park at the Farmer’s Market and hop on the trolley at that point.
The driver and guide made the trip fun with a great assortment of historical facts, stories of businesses and some downright corny jokes. The Trolley Tour is a hop-on tour so you can get off at seventeen various stops and hop right back on later in the day. Sure saves fighting downtown traffic.
Getting on at this point, the first stop is the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. Not sure if the guide was stretching the truth or not, but he said the fountain of water supported a large granite ball weighing 18,000 pounds!
Attention was given to the local Piggly Wiggly as this chain began in Memphis, Tennessee as the first self-service grocery store back in 1916 by Clarence Saunders. Previous to this time, shoppers gave their orders to the clerk and the clerk then gathered everything from the shelves. Saunders rearranged the stores to make shopping much faster for the customer and the clerk. Today there are 600 Piggly Wigglys in 17 states.
RCA Studio B created Nashville magic for over 35,ooo songs, making it an international recording center known as one of the cradles of the “Nashville Sound”. Popular artists, such as Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Eddy Arnold recorded their songs here.
Nearby, the historic site of Columbia Records Studio A displays large guitars indicating the Carter Family and Johnny Cash recorded many of their songs here. Today both of these formerly popular studios are learning centers for Belmont University.
At Riverfront Train Station, the trolley takes a short break before continuing on the rest of the route. This site was previously the home of another train depot which was build in 1902. The present station was built in 2005 and they have attempted to capture the Old World flavor.
Straight across the street from the station is Honky Tonk Row. This is where many stars and hopefuls play during the evening hours as entertainment in many local clubs. They provide encouragement, a stage, and a tip jar for musicians.
The beautiful Cumberland River flows behind the station and gives a grand view of the Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans football team, on the other side. You can actually walk across the river to the stadium on the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge. The Cumberland River is 688 miles long and eventually joins the Ohio River in Kentucky.
A beautiful sculpture brightens the waters also. Ghost Ballet East Bank Machineworks received its name because as you look at the sculpture from different angels, it suggests movement, similar to that of a dancer. This gives a little time to watch the river flow by and gain a little peace from the busy day.
On our way back to Farmers Market, evidence appears that Nashville hosts more than country music. A glimmering bronze statue, The Recording Angel, stands at the corner of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, home of the Nashville Symphony, which provides classical music entertainment. But they are no snobs, as often country music favorites appear accompanied by the orchestra.
Gypsy Road Trip 