Ruth Esther Watson Corfield nee Schilling, just reached a remarkable milestone. On October 15th she turned a 100 years old. She was born in Porter Township in 1915, and has lived in Butler County her whole life. She was one of eight children, seven sisters and one brother. She is first generation American as her parents were German. Two of her cousins were also raised with her and her siblings.
Corfield was born in a time where all the children worked on the farm to keep it going. The farm kept her family going through the great depression.
“The rationing of food in the great depression and the wars did not affect us, because we were raised with do with what you have,” Corfield said, “and families also helped each other out.
She walked five miles home every day, even in grade school. The dead of winter didn’t stop her and her siblings going out in the snow. She remembers how her father used to tie newspapers around her legs, because the snow was so high and only ankle boots were available. She had one teacher at Mordechai John one room school. The teacher had to teach eight grades at a time, and be the nurse as well as the teacher. She graduated in Evans City in 1933. …show more content…
She said:
“People had trust in each other. Men shook hands and didn’t go back on the deals that they made,” Corfield further explained the change in society “Parents don’t talk to their children anymore they don’t communicate. They rush their children from place to place and they don’t sit down with