Background
Gertrude Grubb was born in Blaine, Tennessee, and was courted by John Janeway beginning when she was 16. Her mother, widowed when Gertrude was only 13, would not allow her to marry until she was 18.
Gertrude Grubb was born in Blaine, Tennessee, and was courted by John Janeway beginning when she was 16. Her mother, widowed when Gertrude was only 13, would not allow her to marry until she was 18.
The marriage ceremony took place in the middle of a dirt road with family and friends in attendance. They lived together in a log cabin in Blaine, Tennessee, until John Janeway"s death in 1937. Gertrude continued to live in the cabin for nearly 70 years after her husband"s death.
She received a $70 pension check for veterans" benefits from the government every two months until her death in 2003.
On April 9, 2011, The Economist commented on her as an example of the length of pension obligations:
The pair had married in 1927, when he was 81 and she was 18. The amount may have been modest but the entitlement spanned three centuries, illustrating just how long pension commitments can last.".
She was a member of the Green Acres Missionary Baptist Church.