By Beverly Belcher Woody
When Lucy Haynes Grogan celebrated her one hundredth birthday, many wondered about the secret to her long and meaningful life.
Her answer was simple.
“Work hard, as working helps people,” she explained. “Laziness is the worst trouble anyone can have. Work just as hard as you can lay to it.”
Affectionately known as “Grannie Grogan,” she was known for her kindness and her gift for making others happy. That, she often said, was the “work” she did in her later years.
Lucy V. Haynes was born September 24, 1872, in Patrick County, Virginia, the twin daughter of Robert S. Haynes and Jemima L. Craighead Haynes. The 1880 census places the family along the Mayo River in Patrick County:
1880 Household — Dwelling 195, Mayo River District
Robert S. Haynes, 50, head
Jemima L. Haynes, 41, wife
William T. Haynes, 19
John B. Haynes, 17
Mary S. Haynes, 14
Edwin C. Haynes, 12
Lucy V. Haynes, 8
Lelia M. Haynes, 8
Mrs. Grogan and her twin sister, Lelia, shared a close bond from the beginning. For several years they could not pronounce their names correctly and called each other “Lula.”
“Of course we were spoiled,” she said with a chuckle. “Father carried Lelia and me on his shoulders to the meeting house every Sunday. I never saw my mother or father go to bed without kneeling and saying a prayer.”
The twins climbed chinquapin trees together and grew up in a time when life was simple but not easy. Mrs. Grogan later reflected on the economics of the late nineteenth century: “You could get a lot more with your money then, but you had nothing to buy it with.”
She remembered walking several miles just to see her first automobile and always preferred walking to riding.
“Automobiles are all right, I guess,” she once remarked, “but do you think people who drive cars would get along better if they’d never had them? There’d be a lot more living.”
In 1895, Lucy married Philander Clayton Grogan. Their happiness was short-lived. Philander died of typhoid fever in 1903, only eight years after their marriage, leaving Mrs. Grogan a widow with three small children, ages three, five, and seven. She never remarried and would remain a widow for seventy years. Her children were Emmett Smith Grogan, Jeter H. Grogan, and Mrs. Mable Grogan Clarke of Martinsville.
To support her family, she taught school near Spencer. Education in those days required determination and resourcefulness.
“School in those days was quite different from today,” she recalled. “The school was a one-room building, and I taught the first through the seventh grades.”
The building was heated by a large fireplace, and the pupils helped keep the fire going. Water had to be carried from a nearby spring — a task the children enjoyed because it gave them a brief break from the classroom.
Later, Mrs. Grogan moved to the Horsespasture community in Henry County, where she helped work on a farm with her brother. She was known as a good country cook and took pride in her independence.
She loved gardening, raising flowers and vegetables, and living from the land.
“I always had plenty to eat,” said Mrs. Grogan. “I always kept chicken, cows, and hogs. I never asked for five cents of credit in my life.”
Though raised Methodist and attending Meadow Methodist Church for many years, she later became active in Horsespasture Christian Church, where she attended faithfully and taught a Sunday school class.
When Lucy Grogan entered the Roman Eagle Memorial Home, she carried her philosophy with her. Though she admitted she had slowed down after a fall, her limitations were physical only. Her hearing and eyesight had weakened, but her mind remained sharp.
She continued to receive numerous visitors and wrote letters regularly to relatives and friends.
Her longevity brought recognition from many quarters. In celebration of her 100th birthday, Mrs. Grogan received more than 400 birthday greetings, including messages from President Richard Nixon, Governor Linwood Holton, Congressman Daniel, and others. In honor of Mrs. Grogan, Roy Stone of Martinsville purchased new pew cushions for Horsespasture Christian Church.
Until a fall injured her leg two months before her 100th birthday, she walked the halls of Roman Eagle independently, spreading cheer to residents much younger than herself.
Mrs. Grogan passed away in January 1973 only a few short months after her centennial celebration.
Through a century of change — from the days of chinquapin trees and one-room schools to automobiles and modern highways — Lucy Haynes Grogan remained steady in her faith, her independence, and her belief in honest labor.
If her long life held a single lesson, it was the one she shared repeatedly:
“Work.”
And she meant it.
While researching Mrs. Grogan, I found more than fifty mentions of her in local newspaper personal columns — hosting the home demonstration club, participating in the women’s missionary society, visiting relatives in Mount Airy, motoring to Lover’s Leap with her siblings, and even entering poetry contests. Hers was a life fully lived, deeply rooted in family, church, community, and service.
Perhaps that is the true Patrick County legacy she leaves behind — not simply long years, but years filled with purpose, kindness, and quiet faithfulness.
Information about Lucy Haynes Grogan was obtained from birth, marriage, and census records, as well as the Danville Register & Bee, Martinsville Bulletin, Martinsville Morning Post, and the Virginia Methodist Advocate.
For questions, comments, or story ideas, Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or 276-692-9626.
