William Howard Taft was president when Catherine (Owen) McNutt was born in New York City on June 24, 1909.

The first president she ever recalls meeting, though, was Herbert Hoover, who promised during a campaign swing through New York “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” McNutt said she was walking down the street in New York City as a young woman when a candidate running for president shook her hand. Women had won the right to vote in 1920, when McNutt was 11.

“He was interested in me getting my father to go vote, and I promised him I’d get Daddy to vote for him,” she said. “I won’t tell you what party he belonged to.”

McNutt said she makes it a habit of not talking about politics or religion. It causes too much dissension, she said.

“Everyone has a right to their own opinion,” she said.

Republican Hoover had the misfortune of seeing the country plunge into the Great Depression. But McNutt said for her and her brother, Ross, who she called Brother, life was good. Their father was a physician, and the family had a car so he could make house calls.

McNutt said she remembers her father taking her along to people’s homes when he delivered babies to an ethnically diverse population all over the city, from Harlem to Little Italy.

“An office call was $1, and a house call was $3,” she said. “My daddy loved those babies.”

A gifted singer, McNutt sang on the radio, went dancing, attended Broadway shows for $1, visited museums for free and went off to college at Ohio Wesleyan University, her father’s alma mater. That’s where she met her late husband, Stephen McNutt.

“That’s Stephen with a ‘ph,’” she said.

After their marriage, her sales manager husband was transferred to Kansas City. In about 1950, they bought 12 acres on North Ridge Avenue, where she still lives. She has three daughters, Ruth Ann Swearingin, Nancy Claque and Lynn Sanders; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Swearingin lives next door, but McNutt still handles her own cooking and cleaning. Her husband died at 90 years old in 1998.

“We liked Liberty. It was a small town, but it’s too big now,” she said.

For 50 years she was the choir director at Liberty Presbyterian Church. She said the Rev. Julian Houston told her he really preferred a man for the job. Once she challenged his attitude, they got along just fine, she said.

“I’m going to have to have a talk with him,” said Mary Jane Houston about her late husband.

Houston was among a group of women who attended a 100th birthday party for McNutt at Hair Lines beauty shop June 25.

Anna Margaret McGuire, who also attended the party, said she had known McNutt for half of McNutt’s life.

“I visit her once a month, but she doesn’t have air conditioning,” McGuire said. “I love to hear stories about Brother and her daddy and living in New York City.”

McNutt, who looks much younger than 100, said the key to longevity was to start out with good genes and then to have plenty to laugh about and stay busy.

“Keep smiling. If you frown, you’re going to get wrinkles, and I don’t have many wrinkles,” she said. “I’ve had a wonderful life and marvelous family and friends.”

McNutt said she still enjoys knitting and doing crossword puzzles. Sanders said her mother has a good attitude about life.

“She doesn’t let things get her down,” Sanders said.

FUN FACTS

Some celebrities also born in 1909 include:

- Politician Barry Goldwater

- Singer Ethel Merman

- Actress Ann Sothern

- Secretary of State Dean Rusk

- Actress/singer Carmen Miranda

- Actor David Niven

- Criminal Clyde Barrow

- Musician Benny Goodman

- Singer Burl Ives

1909 in LIberty

One hundred years ago there was plenty going on in Liberty, according to the Clay County Archives.

- A high wind estimated at 75 to 80 miles an hour damaged buildings and houses, with the most damage reported to the Liberty Auditorium on the north side of the Square, which lost a brick wall.

- A wolf hunt was planned north of Liberty. Rifles and revolvers were forbidden.

- There were 70 cases of smallpox reported, most of them at William Jewell College. Schools and churches were closed for two weeks.

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .