Theodore Roosevelt was president. Work on the Panama Canal had just begun. And the first Model T Ford had yet to roll off the assembly line. That was the world into which Nell Taylor of Port Orchard was born 100 years ago on Aug. 15. She joins a rapidly growing club: She is one of nearly 70,000 Americans who are 100 or older, according to the U.S. Census. By 2040 that group is expected to number more than half a million.

When asked what was different when she first moved to Washington nearly 80 years ago, she said simply, "Everything."

Her many descendants and friends — 132 of them — gathered Aug. 11 at the Port Orchard home of her youngest son, Frank Feulner, 70, and his wife, Wilma, also 70, for a 100th birthday celebration. They enjoyed a potluck lunch, photo sessions and time to catch up on family happenings.

Nell, her hair pure white, her skin still soft and amazingly smooth, presided over the outdoor party wearing a tiara on her head and a corsage pinned to her pink blouse. Her son Herbert, 80, was there as well as Frank. Another son, Vernon, has passed away. With eight grand­children, one of whom has died; 15 great-grandchildren; and 13 great- great-grandchildren, it looks as though Nell has founded a dynasty.

"And most of us live nearby in the area," said her  granddaughter, Cheryl Alexander, 52. "We all get along well and enjoy getting together."

Nell Dunsmoor came into the world in Strawberry Point, Iowa, the daughter of farmers of English and scottish descent. She married her first husband, Alfred Feulner in '1924 while still in Iowa. The young family first moved to Maltby in 1928 and to the Port Orchard area in 1941 when Alfred got work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Nell still lives on her own in the log home on Beach Drive that her first husband and his brother built in the 1940s.

After Alfred died in 1978, she mar­ried her second husband, Harry Taylor, in 1979.

"She's an amazing person," her stepson Jim Taylor said of Nell. "She and my dad really enjoyed them­selves. They belonged to both the Eagles and the Elks and they went dancing every week."

Harry died in 1996.

Jim Taylor and Nell's son Her­bert both said the centenarian nev­er badmouthed anybody. She had few health problems and enjoyed activities at Elim Lutheran Church throughout much of her life.

Cheryl Alexander works as a nurse at Harrison Medical Center,

"Everything."

Her many descendants and friends — 132 of them — gathered Aug. 11 at the Port Orchard home of her youngest son, Frank Feuiner, 70, and his wife, Wilma, also 70, for a 100th birthday celebration. They enjoyed a potluck lunch, photo ses­sions and time to catch up on family happenings.

Nell, her hair pure white, her skin still soft and_. amazingly smooth, presided over the outdoor party wearing a tiara on her head and a corsage pinned to her pink blouse. Her son Herbert, 80, was there as well as Frank. Another son, Vernon, has passed away. With eight grand­children, one of whom has died; 15 great-grandchildren; and 13 great-great-grandchildren, ^it looks as though Nell has founded a dynasty.

"And most of us live nearby in the area," said her granddaughter, Cher­yl Alexander, 52. "We all get along well and enjoy getting together."

Nell Dunsmoor came into the world in Strawberry Point, Iowa, the daughter of farmers of English and Scottish descent. She married her first husband, A^lfre^d Feulner in 1924 while still in Iowa. The young family first moved to Maltby in 1928 and to the Port Orchard area in 1941 when Alfred got work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Nell still lives on her own in the log home on Beach Drive that her first husband and his brother built in the 1940s.

After Alfred died in 1978, she mar­ried her second husband, Harry Taylor, in 1979.

"She's an amazing person," her stepson Jim Taylor said of Nell. "She and my dad really enjoyed them­selves. They belonged to both the Eagles and the Elks and they went dancing every week."

Harry died in 1998.

Jim Taylor and Nell's son Her­bert both said the centenarian nev­er badmouthed anybody. She had few health problems and enjoyed activities at Elim. Lutheran Church throughout much of her life.

Cheryl Alexander works as a nurse at Harrison Medical Center,  but arranges her schedule so she can spend Mondays with her grandmother.

"I've learned so much from her; I cherish my Mondays That I spend with her," she said.

 Other family members, in­cluding daughter-in-law Charleen Feulner, 77, pitch in to help so that Nell can re­main in her hone.

Although her eyesight is failing now, Nell said she always loved doing "fancy­work" such as crocheting and knitting. "About the only 'thing I didn't do was tatting," she said.

She always had large flower gardens, grew her own vegetables and did a lot of canning, Alexander said.

As far as longevity- tips, 'Nell didn't have too many. "It's just something that hap­pens," she said of living to be 100. "You can't really make it happen."

'She did recommend "mod­eration in all things." Researchers say it helps to Have parents who were long lived if you're looking to join the century club. And Nell fits the pattern.

"My father lived to be 95 and his mother also lived to 95," Nell said. "My dad was alert right up until the end.'

She said she was proud of her "wonderful family" and gratified that they enjoy each other's company.