James was a Civil War veteran.

This family is a good illustration of the falsity of a common myth. You often hear it said that life spans used to be shorter, with images painted of people getting frail and stooped in their fifties or earlier. But the reason that life expectencies used to be shorter is almost entirely due to how common it was for people to die as children or in their twenties, of illness or complications of childbirth. People who escaped a premature death and lived long enough to succumb to the ailments of old age - heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia, etc. - did so at just as advanced an age in past centuries as they do today. People did not “get old” at any earlier of an age than they do now.

In this family born in the mid 1800’s, the parents died at ages 86 and 101. Of their six children, one died at 3, one at 23, one at 52, and three in their 90’s. The average age at death of their children was 58, yet not one of them died of old age before 90.

1870 census of Floyd Co., Virginia, Indian Valley precinct, enumerated 31 Aug, lists on p. 40 as family #274/258:
Quesenberry, James, 40; Mary Ann, 33; Arbella A., 11; Lydia E., 9; Mary E., 3; Thomas, 2. All born in Virginia.

1880 census of Floyd Co., Virginia, Indian Valley precinct, enumerated 2 June, lists on p. 5 as family #37:
Quesenbry, James, 48; Mary A., 45, wife; Ananias, 23, son; Elizabeth, 13, dau; Thomas, 12, son. All born Va/Va/Va.

1900 census of Floyd Co., Virginia, Indian Valley district, enumerated 5 June, lists on p. 6 as family #54:
Quesenberry, James, 70, b. Feb 1830, Va/Va/Va; Mary A., wife, 64, b. 1836, Indiana/Va/Va, married 45 years, mother of 6 children, 4 living.