Articles have been edited by Suzanne Forte to avoid mention of living individuals.

Delphia Leppard Hamilton passed away on May 19, 1983

"I’ve had a long life, but I never thought I’d live to be this old, she says. "The Lord has just taken care of me and has helped me to take care of myself. I’ve worked all my life. I kept a yard of flowers in the front and grew tomatoes in the back up until this year. I had three light heart attacks, and the doctor told me to rest in the middle of the day. I’ve always stayed busy, and I’m not going to just fold my hands now."

Mrs. Hamilton is the daughter of the late J. W. Leppard and Annie (Atkinson) Leppard, pioneers of Gwinnett County. Both of her grandfathers, J. H. Leppard, Sr. and William Atkinson fought and lived through the Civil War. One of her earliest memories is seeing her father work on the streetcars in Atlanta when they were pulled by horses. Mrs. Hamilton moved to Youth about 1900 and lived there before she and her husband moved to Loganville about 13 years ago.

"Those were wonderful days down at Youth," she remembers. "I’ve been a member at Corinth Christian Church for 74 years, and I think I’m the second oldest member there. When I first moved to Youth, there were just a few houses. There was also a post office, where Crowe’s store is today. The mail came to Loganville on a train, and they brought it on a buggy down to Youth. I went to school at Corinth School through the seventh grade. Miss Sallie Shelnutt was one of my teachers. We walked through all kinds of woods when we went to school but we weren’t scared."

When Mrs. Hamilton says we, she means her sisters, who are also living. They are Evie Lou Palmer of Youth and Donie Kenerly of Lawrenceville. "We’re all in our eighties," she says, "I think it’s wonderful that we’re all still living."

Mrs. Hamilton’s husband, the late Mayo J. Hamilton, died in 1968. His parents were the late Robert Hamilton and Alice (Hopkins) Hamilton, also Gwinnett County pioneers.

"I married too young," she confided, "I was 16, and my husband and I farmed on land we rented from Collie Broadnax. He owned a lot of land around Youth back then. We moved all about in the Youth area and farmed all our lives. In 1925, the dry year, we made only four bales of cotton and two loads of corn. We really knew what hard times were all about. I’ve done farm work myself and milked cows all my life, ever since I got big enough. I’ve also churned by share of butter in my lifetime. We were married for 63 years."

Mrs. Hamilton has two sons. In addition, she has two grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter.

"I’ve got a good family," she says, "and the best daughters-in-law anybody could want. Willie Mae and Evelyn come down here ever so often and help me with the housework and I can really appreciate them."

"I’ve had a good life," she states. "I’ve only been out of Georgia one time, and I’ve never voted in my life. I use to think that was men’s work before the women got so liberated. I crochet and read as much as my eyesight will allow me, and I do love to watch the news and a few soap operas on television."

Mrs. Hamilton’s outlook on life is a simple one that most people would agree with. "The Lord’s been good to me, alright, but I couldn’t have lived without my friends. I’ve never lived anywhere that I didn’t have friends. You have got to be a neighbor to have neighbors, and you have got to be a friend to have friends. I enjoy talking to friends on the phone and people visit me a lot. This day and time, folks just ain’t old at 88," she laughs.