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            MRS. ARABELLA LOCKE
            Author-Georgia A. West
                      Oshkosh
    Mrs. Arabelle Locke is one hundred and five years
old and came to this state in 1851. She was born in
Westfield, Connecticut one of fourteen children. Her
parents were Oliver E. and Marcia Manning, the latter
being one of eighteen children. Mr. and Mrs. Manning
both lived to be over ninety.
    When Mrs. Locke was two years of age, her par-
ents started with horses to move to New York intending
to take up government land. The weather being very
stormy they stopped at Chester, Massachusetts for one
year, then moved to Berlin, Van Ranselier County, New
York, where her father secured a small piece of land.
He soon gave it up, however, and worked at shoemaking,
going from house to house making shoes for the families.
Mrs. Locke's parents remained in New York till 1853
when they went to Milwaukee by water, then with horses
to Oak Center and finally to Omro, Winnebago County.
    Mrs. Locke at the age of fourteen returned to Massa-
chusetts and worked in a cotton factory. When she
was seventeen she married Mr. Arnold Locke at New
Lebanon, New York, just over the boundary of Massa-
chusetts. She continued, however, to work for several
years weaving cotton cloth. In 1844 she and her hus-
band came to Illinois through the Great Lakes and in
1851 came by team to Wisconsin. They settled near
Omro and in 1869 bought the farm on which Mrs. Locke
still resides. Mr. Locke died in 1891. In 1885 they haJi
celebrated their golden wedding with a family reunion.
     Mrs. Locke joined the Baptist Church eighty-five
years ago when she was twenty years old. Although she
has cataracts on both eyes, she reads her bible, the
Christian Herald and the daily newspaper. She keeps
well posted on current events and took an active interest
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