The world was a very different place when Arthur "Buck" Brown was born a century ago in Henry County.

Brown recently celebrated his 100th birthday — on December 25, Christmas day — surrounded by family, including 31 grandchildren, more than 30 great-grandchildren and more than 10 great-great-grandchildren.

He was born in 1910 in Locust Grove as the eldest of three boys and six girls to mother Lena Brown and father Clove Brown, though he said his father left when he was young and didn’t show up again until he was an adult. He began farming as a youngster and did not go to school.

Brown, a long-time deacon at Double Springs Baptist Church, met his wife Leola Brown, who was a member of a nearby Cedar Grove church, in Rockdale and raised his seven children in Rockdale County.

Today, he still works, maintaining the Underwoods’ former chicken farm, and still drives himself to get to where he needs to go, or else walks to where he needs to go.

His granddaughter Dr. Taiwanna Brown-Bolds, a physician, said Brown’s health is top notch and he only takes two medications. She pointed out his diet is mainly vegetables, cornbread and buttermilk.

Ironically, Brown, said he got his nickname "Buck" as a child. "I was real fat and chunky; that’s why they started calling me that."

When asked what was the secret to living such a long time, he said, "My secret? Oh, my goodness, I can tell you that. I went to work when I wasn’t big enough and I worked all my life long. That’s the biggest secret I could tell you."