Oldest and longest subscriber tells all
By ALLAN TINKER and FRED PETERS
Fred Peters claims the distinction of being the oldest living subscriber to the McClusky Gazette as well as the longest continuous subscriber. He is open to any challenges on either front.
This summer Peters visited McClusky during the Midsummer Fest. While he was there, he visited this old friends John and Hannelore Davis, former Gazette Editor and Publisher James Wills, and current Gazette Editor Allan Tinker and Brian Tinker.
Politics, family, old friends and recollections of days past and interesting events recalled filled the all too short afternoon. Peters again visited the Gazette office before he left for home, going over more of his history with Tinker. Before he left Editor Tinker invited him to send his story to share with readers so they would know personally the writer of the many letters the Gazette has published from him over the years.
The following is his story, straight from his capable computer and reduced from the much more detailed version he created for his children and grandchildren.
"My grandfather, Friedrich August Peters, a coal miner, emigrated from Wesstphalia, Germany, with his wife and five children in April, 1891, settling in Canton, Ohio. One son, Frederick, remained in Germany, an apprentice tailor. Shortly after the family left, he skipped out before his two years were up, boarded a ship as a stowaway, and soon joined his family in Canton.
