The Reporter this week had a letter from Mr. W.J. Sheppard, a former Stokes citizen now residing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in which he encloses the pictures and a newspaper article in regard to Joel and James Cheatwood, twin brothers, who are natives of Stokes county, having been born here Oct. 11, 1831, and who removed to the State of Kansas in the year 1856.
The article, which is taken from an Oklahoma newspaper, follows:
Leavenworth, Est. Oct. 29, 1921—The oldest twin brothers in United States, according to all available records, are Joel and James Cheatwood of Fairmont township township, Leavenworth, Kansas. The twins recently celebrated their 90th birthday anniversary with a family reunion.
The twins still boast of being able to handle a plow and to cut as straight a furrow as any of the young bucks still in their teens. Neither of the brothers looks his age. Both have the agility of the average man of 50 and are examples of the rugged pioneers who settled in Kansas during the days preceding the Civil war.
Joel has a flowing white beard and so has James. Both of them part their hair on the left side and both have blue eyes.
The two brothers for a period of 50 years have lived within a mile of each other. When they decided to pay each other a visit they don’t crank up the car but just “hoof it” as they say.
In appearance they can hardly be distinguished apart. Both can read without the use of spectacles.
Joel and James Cheatwood were born in Stokes county, North Carolina, Oct. 11, 1931. Joel came to Kansas in 1857. James came a year before his brother, and they remember many interesting events of the pioneer days. Delaware Indians were on the reservations here when they first came to Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Joel Cheatwood celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Jan. 20, 1921. The couple have seven children, and among them are twin daughters, both of whom reside in Kansas City, Mo. The daughters are 53 years old.
From The Danbury Reporter, Jan. 25, 1922
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