New oldest living person?
Lenona321
Lenona.
Louis Epstein
: Now that Sarah Knauss has quietly departed, who is her successor, please?
I have not seen any announcement of recognition from the Guinness people
as of yet,and I am in communication with them on supercentenarian matters.
I append the lists I maintain of persons aged over 110 living and deceased
who appear to have been verified by authorities(not just press chatter).
The claim of Ella Galbraith Miller to have been born December 6th 1880
is being investigated.Not sure about Eddlee Bankhead's claim he was born
in March 1883.Of those with no death date on the list,my bet at
this point would be that Bremont is the oldest who is actually still
living.
==============================================
The following are the Guinness-authenticated persons who have
featured in tables or sidebars in various editions from 1970 on,
or been otherwise mentioned as having passed muster with their
documentation standards.I omit those who did not make it to 110,
which no longer gets onto a table when they publish one.Some people
certified by their governments have been listed on a case-by-case
basis.SEE THE NOTES FOLLOWING THE FIRST TABLE.
CHRONOLOGICALLY
Years Days Born Died
Pierre Joubert 113 124 July 15,1701 November 16,1814
Thomas Peters 111 354 April 6,1745 March 26,1857
Geert Adrians
Boomgaard 110 135 September 21,1788 February 3,1899
[Guinness dates birth to September 23,miscounts as 113 days?]
Margaret Ann (Harvey)
Neve 110 321 May 18,1792 April 4,1903
Delina (Ecker) Filkins 113 214 May 4,1815 December 4,1928
Demetrius Philipovitch 110 150+ March 9,1818 alive August 1928
Hon. Katherine Plunket 111 327 November 22,1820 October 14,1932
El Hadj Mohammed El
Mokri 112 +?? 1844 September 16,1957
[Gunther's INSIDE AFRICA claims he was younger,1851 or so]
Martha Graham 114 c. 180 December 1844 June 25,1959
John B. Salling 113 1 March 15,1846 March 16,1959
James Henry Brett Jr. 111 220 July 25,1849 February 10,1961
Christina (Backs)
Karnebeek 110 5 October 2,1849 October 7,1959
[only ever listed in Guinness as "Baks Karnebeek (Mrs.)"]
Yoshigiku Ito 110 114 August 3,1856 November 26,1966
Johanna Booyson 111 151 January 17,1857 June 16,1968
Marie Bernatkova 111 + October 22,1857 alive October 1968
Ada (Giddings) Rowe 111 339 February 6,1858 January 11,1970
Josefa Salas Mateo 112 228 July 14,1860 February 27,1973
Khasako Dzugayev 110 + August 7,1860 alive August 1970
Ada Sharp 110 39 April 6,1861 May 15,1971
Alice Stevenson 112 39 July 10,1861 August 18,1973
Elizabeth Watkins 110 235 March 10,1863 October 31,1973
[Guinness miscounts as 234 days?]
Mito Umeta 112 65 March 27,1863 May 31,1975
Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
Virginie Duhem 111 c. 210 August 1866 May 1,1978
Fannie Thomas 113 273 April 24,1867 January 22,1981
Rozwlia Mielzcarak 112 +?? 1868 January 7,1981
Augustine Teissier
(Sister Julia) 112 66 January 2,1869 March 9,1981
Jane Piercy 111 235 September 2,1869 May 3,1981
Gerarda (Bosgoed)
Hurenkamp 110 141 January 5,1870 May 25,1980
[Guinness spells her name Gerada]
Lambrini Tsiatoura 110 +?? 1870 February 19,1981
Wilhelmina Cammel 110 16 January 8,1871 January 24,1981
Petronella Maria
(Verstallen) Ribbens 110 170 February 2,1873 July 22,1983
Mamie Eva (Walter)
Keith 113 182 March 22,1873 September 20,1986
Mary McKinney 113 248 May 30,1873 February 2,1987
Anna Eliza (Davies)
Williams 114 208 June 2,1873 December 27,1987
Florence Knapp 114 93 October 10,1873 January 11,1988
Andrei Akaki Kuznetsoff 110 106 October 17,1873 January 31,1984
[Guinness has INCORRECT death date April 17 1983]
Diminia Sette 110 +?? 1874 February 25,1985
Wilhelmine Sande 111 89 October 24,1874 January 21,1986
Frederika Louiza
(Benkemper)
Van Asselt 110 41 November 16,1874 December 27,1984
Carrie C. (Joyner)
White 116 88 November 18,1874 February 14,1991
Caroline Maud Mockridge 112 330 December 11,1874 November 6,1987
Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
Lydie Vellard 114 183 March 18,1875 September 17,1989
Orpha Nussbaum 112 230 August 13,1875 March 30,1988
Margaretha Eijken 110 170 November 12,1875 May 1,1986
[Previously listed as born December 11,1875 and died
January 5,1986 with same lifespan(which does not work out),
citing a Dutch Guinness edition as source]
Alphaeus Cole 112 136 July 12,1876 November 25,1988
[not in Guinness,but a known artist before old age]
Birdie May (Musser)
Vogt 112 354 August 3,1876 July 23,1989
Christina (Hoogakker)
Van Druten 111 18 November 20,1876 December 8,1987
[1991 Guinness INCORRECTLY says born January 20 1876,aged 111yr 322d]
Maren Bolette Torp 112 61 December 21,1876 February 20,1989
Kate Begbie 111 240 January 9,1877 September 5,1988
[Guinness miscounts as 238 days?]
Charlotte(Milburn)
Hughes 115 228 August 1,1877 March 17,1993
[Guinness miscounts at 229 days]
John Evans 112 295 August 19,1877 June 10,1990
[Guinness inexplicably miscounts as 292 days]
Ettie Mae (Thomas)
Greene 114 171 September 8,1877 February 26,1992
Waka Shirahama 114 85 March 23,1878 June 16,1992
Jean Michael Reskens 111 241 May 11,1878 January 7,1990
[Belgian name;died in Netherlands as Jan Machiel Reyskens]
Maria Corba 111 190+ August 15,1878 alive March 1990
Fanny Matilda Nystrom 110 335 September 30,1878 August 31,1989
Margaret (Seward)
Skeete 115 192 October 27,1878 May 7,1994
Tane Ikai 116 175 January 18,1879 July 12,1995
Wilhelmina (Geringer)
Kott 115 183 March 7,1879 September 6,1994
Asne Hustveit 110 20? December 2,1879 December 1989
Domenico Minervo 111 11 May 10,1880 May 21,1991
Daisy Adams 113 163 June 28,1880 December 8,1993
Marie Louise Febronie
(Chasse) Meilleur 117 230 August 29,1880 April 16,1998
Sarah (Clark) Knauss 119 97 September 24,1880 December 30,1999
Mary Electa Bidwell 114 352 May 9,1881 April 25,1996
Nellie (Hardman) Eby 111 241 May 17,1881 January 13,1993
Rebecca Hewison 112 338 October 19,1881 September 22,1994
Estella Jones 117 229 November 10,1881 June 27,1999
Hulda Johansson 112 105 February 24,1882 June 9,1994
[death date missing in Guinness]
Janina Izykowska 116 + February 27,1882 STILL ALIVE 2/98
Anicuta Batariu 115 157 June 17,1882 November 21,1997
Christian Mortensen 115 252 August 16,1882 April 25,1998
Johanna Francina
(Giezen) Zandstra 111 9 September 7,1882 September 16,1993
Annie Scott 113 37 March 15,1883 April 21,1996
Katharine (Hardman)
Davenport 110 182 March 31,1883 September 29,1993
Lucy Askew 114 92 Sept 8,1883 Dec 9,1997
Chelidonia Merosi 111 100+ October 11,1883 alive February 1995
Sue Utagawa 113 105 January 19,1884 May 4,1997
Suekiku Miyanaga 114 77 April 4,1884 June 20,1998
Asa Takii 114 94 April 28,1884 July 31,1998
Tase Matsunaga 114 191 May 11,1884 November 18,1998
Annie Jennings 115 8 November 12,1884 November 20,1999
Anne Kathrine
Matthiesen 111 114 November 26,1884 March 14,1996
[death date missing in Guinness]
Yasu Akino 113 348 March 1,1885 February 12,1999
Ann Jemimia Flower 110 32 July 8, 1885 August 9,1995
Johanna (Hamer)
van Dommelen 110 200 October 20, 1885 May 7, 1996
Minnie Ward 114 13 November 19,1885 December 2,1999
[authentication by New England Centenarian Study]
Cornelia Louisa
Christina (Maas)
Hendrikse 110 226 December 2,1885 July 15, 1996
Jeanne Dumaine 112 298 March 11,1886 January 3, 1999
Marie Bremont 113 + April 25,1886 ALIVE 4/1999
Denzo Ishisaki 112 191 October 20,1886 April 29,1999
Laura Hansine Svehaug 111 107 November 19,1886 March 6,1998
Ellen Johansson 110 164 January 23,1887 July 6,1997
Geertje (de Groot)
Roelinga 110 46 June 29, 1887 August 14,1997
Kamato Hongo 111 364+ September 16,1887 ALIVE 9/15/1999
Lempi Maria "Maija"
(Sparfven) Rothovius 112 + October 2,1887 ALIVE 10/1999
Catharina Angenieta
"Kaatje" (Groeneveld)
Van Dam 112 42+ November 20,1887 ALIVE 1/1/2000
Kayo Fujii 111 147 Mar 12,1888 August 6,1999
Hilda Grahn 110 14 June 10,1888 June 24,1998
Teresia Lindahl 110 265 June 10,1888 March 2,1999
Elsa Moberg 110 153+ June 30,1889 ALIVE 11/30/1999
Benjamin Harrison
Holcomb 110 200+ July 3,1889 ALIVE 1/19/2000
Karen Svisdal 110 + December 16,1889 ALIVE 12/1999
===================NOTES=============================
**For the purposes of this table,women's maiden names are
parenthesized and followed by married names,regardless of
their native national practice.The Guinness Book often used
hyphenations particular to some countries.**
Irene Vanderhaegen of Belgium,June 26 1887,had her 110th birthday
certified by her country's authorities...Vanderhaegen would break her
country's Guinness record.There have doubtless been other authenticated
110-year-old claims for countries with higher records.
Izykowska is accepted by Warsaw authorities...but was born in Ukraine.
Shirahama,Ikai,Utagawa,Miyanaga,Takii,Matsunaga,Akino,Ishisaki,Hongo,
and Fujii are accepted by Japanese authorities but have not appeared in
a Guinness edition that I have read.
Batariu was accepted by Romanian authorities;
Vellard,Dumaine,Bremont by French;
Svehaug and Svisdal by Norwegian authorities.
Van Dam is accepted by the Dutch authorities,
as are Hendrikse,van Dommelen,Roelinga,and Flower,
who unlike other Dutch listees apparently never even
made Dutch editions of Guinness.
Jones is accepted by the Georgia Centenarian Study.
Grahn,Lindahl,Moberg,E. Johansson are accepted
by the Swedish authorities,specifically respected by Guinness.
Holcomb was submitted to the list maintainer by a family member,
and the asserted documentation appears adequate.
Annie Jennings is said to have been accepted by UK authorities
and (although unpublished) by Guinness.
The 1994 UK edition of the Guinness Book mentioned a Janetta Thomas,
without exact dates,who was born in 1869(almost certainly December by
arithmetic) and died 112 years 35 days later in 1982(almost certainly
January,likewise).
================================================
RANKED BY AGE
Years Days Born Died
Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
Sarah (Clark) Knauss 119 97 September 24,1880 December 30,1999
Marie Louise Febronie
(Chasse) Meilleur 117 230 August 29,1880 April 16,1998
Estella Jones 117 229 November 10,1881 June 27,1999
[Certification only by Georgia Centenarian Study]
Tane Ikai 116 175 January 18,1879 July 12,1995
Carrie C. (Joyner)
White 116 88 November 18,1874 February 14,1991
Janina Izykowska 116 + February 27,1882 STILL ALIVE 2/98
[Certification apparently only by Warsaw authorities]
Christian Mortensen 115 252 August 16,1882 April 25,1998
Charlotte(Milburn)
Hughes 115 229 August 1,1877 March 17,1993
Margaret (Seward)
Skeete 115 192 October 27,1878 May 7,1994
Wilhelmina (Geringer)
Kott 115 183 March 7,1879 September 6,1994
Anicuta Batariu 115 157 June 17,1882 November 21,1997
[Certification apparently only by Romanian authorities]
Annie Jennings 115 8 November 12,1884 November 20,1999
Mary Electa Bidwell 114 352 May 9,1881 April 25,1996
Anna Eliza (Davies)
Williams 114 208 June 2,1873 December 27,1987
Tase Matsunaga 114 191 May 11,1884 November 18,1998
Lydie Vellard 114 183 March 18,1875 September 17,1989
Martha Graham 114 c. 180 December 1844 June 25,1959
Ettie Mae (Thomas)
Greene 114 171 September 8,1877 February 26,1992
Asa Takii 114 94 April 28,1884 July 31,1998
Florence Knapp 114 93 October 10,1873 January 11,1988
Lucy Askew 114 92 Sept 8,1883 December 9,1997
Waka Shirahama 114 85 March 23,1878 June 16,1992
Suekiku Miyanaga 114 77 April 4,1884 June 20, 1998
Minnie Ward 114 13 November 19,1885 December 2,1999
[authentication by New England Centenarian Study]
Yasu Akino 113 348 March 1,1885 February 12,1999
Fannie Thomas 113 273 April 24,1867 January 22,1981
Mary McKinney 113 248 May 30,1873 February 2,1987
Delina (Ecker) Filkins 113 214 May 4,1815 December 4,1928
Mamie Eva (Walter)
Keith 113 182 March 22,1873 September 20,1986
Daisy Adams 113 163 June 28,1880 December 8,1993
Pierre Joubert 113 124 July 15,1701 November 16,1814
Sue Utagawa 113 105 January 19,1884 May 4,1997
Annie Scott 113 37 March 15,1883 April 21,1996
John B. Salling 113 1 March 15,1846 March 16,1959
Marie Bremont 113 + April 25,1886 ALIVE 4/1999
Birdie May (Musser)
Vogt 112 354 August 3,1876 July 23,1989
Rebecca Hewison 112 338 October 19,1881 September 22,1994
Caroline Maud Mockridge 112 330 December 11,1874 November 6,1987
Jeanne Dumaine 112 298 March 11,1886 January 3, 1999
John Evans 112 295 August 19,1877 June 10,1990
[Guinness inexplicably miscounts as 292 days]
Orpha Nussbaum 112 230 August 13,1875 March 30,1988
Josefa Salas Mateo 112 228 July 14,1860 February 27,1973
Denzo Ishisaki 112 191 October 20,1886 April 29,1999
Alphaeus Cole 112 136 July 12,1876 November 25,1988
[not in Guinness,but a known artist before old age]
Hulda Johansson 112 105 February 24,1882 June 9th 1994
Augustine Teissier
(Sister Julia) 112 66 January 2,1869 March 9,1981
Mito Umeta 112 65 March 27,1863 May 31,1975
Maren Bolette Torp 112 61 December 21,1876 February 20,1989
Catharina Angenieta
"Kaatje" (Groeneveld)
Van Dam 112 42+ November 20,1887 ALIVE 1/1/2000
Alice Stevenson 112 39 July 10,1861 August 18,1973
Rozwlia Mielzcarak 112 +?? 1868 January 7,1981
El Hadj Mohammed El
Mokri 112 +?? 1844 September 16,1957
[Gunther's INSIDE AFRICA claims he was younger,1851 or so]
Lempi Maria Maija
(Sparfven) Rothovius 112 + October 2,1887 ALIVE 10/99
Kamato Hongo 111 364+ September 16,1887 ALIVE 9/15/99
Thomas Peters 111 354 April 6,1745 March 26,1857
Ada (Giddings) Rowe 111 339 February 6,1858 January 11,1970
Hon. Katherine Plunket 111 327 November 22,1820 October 14,1932
Jean Michael Reskens 111 241 May 11,1878 January 7,1990
Nellie (Hardman) Eby 111 241 May 17,1881 January 13,1993
Kate Begbie 111 240 January 9,1877 September 5,1988
Jane Piercy 111 235 September 2,1869 May 3,1981
James Henry Brett Jr. 111 220 July 25,1849 February 10,1961
Virginie Duhem 111 c. 210 August 1866 May 1,1978
Maria Corba 111 190+ August 15,1878 alive March 1990
Johanna Booyson 111 151 January 17,1857 June 16,1968
Kayo Fujii 111 147 March 12,1888 August 6,1999
Anne Kathrine
Matthiesen 111 114 November 26,1884 March 19th 1996
Laura Hansine Svehaug 111 107 November 19,1886 March 6,1998
Chelidonia Merosi 111 100+ October 11,1883 alive February 1995
Wilhelmine Sande 111 89 October 24,1874 January 21,1986
Christina (Hoogakker)
Van Druten 111 18 November 20,1876 December 8,1987
[1991 Guinness INCORRECTLY says born January 20 1876,aged 111yr 322d]
Domenico Minervo 111 11 May 10,1880 May 21,1991
Johanna Francina
Zandstra-Giezen 111 9 September 9,1882 September 16,1993
Marie Bernatkova 111 + October 22,1857 alive October 1968
Fanny Matilda Nystrom 110 335 September 30,1878 August 31,1989
Margaret Ann (Harvey)
Neve 110 321 May 18,1792 April 4,1903
Teresia Lindahl 110 265 June 10,1888 March 2,1999
Elizabeth Watkins 110 234 March 10,1863 October 31,1973
Cornelia Louisa
Christina (Maas)
Hendrikse 110 226 December 2,1885 July 15, 1996
Benjamin Harrison
Holcomb 110 200+ July 3,1889 ALIVE 1/19/2000
Johanna (Hamer)
van Dommelen 110 200 October 20, 1885 May 7, 1996
Katharine (Hardman)
Davenport 110 182 March 31,1883 September 29,1993
Petronella Maria
(Verstallen) Ribbens 110 170 February 2,1873 July 22,1983
Margaretha Eijken 110 170 November 12,1875 May 1,1986
[Previously listed as born December 11,1875 and died
January 5,1986 with same lifespan(which does not work out),
citing a Dutch Guinness edition as source]
Ellen Johansson 110 164 January 23,1887 July 6,1997
Elsa Moberg 110 153+ June 30,1889 ALIVE 11/30/99
Demetrius Philipovitch 110 150+ March 9,1818 alive August 1928
Gerarda (Bosgoed)
Hurenkamp 110 141 January 5,1870 May 25,1980
[Guinness spells her name Gerada]
Geert Adrians
Boomgaard 110 135 September 21,1788 February 3,1899
[Guinness dates birth to September 23,miscounts as 113 days?]
Yoshigiku Ito 110 114 August 3,1856 November 26,1966
Andrei Akaki Kuznetsoff 110 106 October 17,1873 January 31,1984
[Guinness has INCORRECT death date April 17 1983]
Geertje (de Groot)
Roelinga 110 46 June 29, 1887 August 14,1997
Frederika Louiza
(Benkemper)
Van Asselt 110 41 November 16,1874 December 27,1984
Ada Sharp 110 39 April 6,1861 May 15,1971
Ann Jemimia Flower 110 32 July 8, 1885 August 9,1995
Asne Hustveit 110 20? December 2,1879 December 1989
Wilhlmina Cammel 110 16 January 8,1871 January 24,1981
Hilda Grahn 110 14 June 10,1888 June 24,1998
Baks Karnebeek 110 5 October 2,1849 October 7,1959
Diminia Sette 110 +?? 1874 February 25,1985
Lambrini Tsiatoura 110 +?? 1870 February 19,1981
Khasako Dzugayev 110 + August 7,1860 alive August 1970
Karen Svisdal 110 + December 16,1889 ALIVE 12/1999
CHRONOLOGICAL OLDEST LIVING LISTED PERSONS
(Since 1959)
Years Days Born Died
Martha Graham 114 c. 180 December 1844 June 25,1959
James Henry Brett Jr. 111 220 July 25,1849 February 10,1961
Yoshigiku Ito 110 114 August 3,1856 November 26,1966
Johanna Booyson 111 151 January 17,1857 June 16,1968
Marie Bernatkova 111 + October 22,1857 alive October 1968
Ada (Giddings) Rowe 111 339 February 6,1858 January 11,1970
Josefa Salas Mateo 112 228 July 14,1860 February 27,1973
Alice Stevenson 112 39 July 10,1861 August 18,1973
Elizabeth Watkins 110 234 March 10,1863 October 31,1973
Mito Umeta 112 65 March 27,1863 May 31,1975
Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
Mamie Eva (Walter)
Keith 113 182 March 22,1873 September 20,1986
Mary McKinney 113 248 May 30,1873 February 2,1987
Anna Eliza (Davies)
Williams 114 208 June 2,1873 December 27,1987
Florence Knapp 114 93 October 10,1873 January 11,1988
Carrie C. (Joyner)
White 116 88 November 18,1874 February 14,1991
Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
Marie Louise Febronie
(Chasse) Meilleur 117 230 August 29,1880 April 16,1998
Sarah (Clark) Knauss 119 97 September 24,1880 December 30,1999
PROGRESSIVE LIST OF RECORDHOLDERS
(After eventual authentication,not as published initially)
Years Days Born Died
Pierre Joubert 113 124 July 15,1701 November 16,1814
Delina (Ecker) Filkins 113 214 May 4,1815 December 4,1928
Martha Graham 114 c. 180 December 1844 June 25,1959
Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
The Avocado Avenger
l...@put.com (Louis Epstein) writes:
> RANKED BY AGE
> Years Days Born Died
>Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
>Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
>Sarah (Clark) Knauss 119 97 September 24,1880 December 30,1999
[snip]
Do you (or anyone else) know of the man who was listed in Guiness back
in the late-1970s as being 126 or something equally impressive? I believe
he was an American and the picture I remember seeing of him showed him in
a cowboy hat. What was his name, and what was his actual age?
Stacia * The Avocado Avenger * Life is a tale told by an idiot;
http://www.io.com/~stacia/ * Full of sound and fury,
There is no guacamole anywhere. * Signifying nothing.
Brad Ferguson
<sta...@io.com> wrote:
> l...@put.com (Louis Epstein) writes:
>
> > RANKED BY AGE
> > Years Days Born Died
> >Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
> >Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
> >Sarah (Clark) Knauss 119 97 September 24,1880 December 30,1999
> [snip]
>
> Do you (or anyone else) know of the man who was listed in Guiness back
> in the late-1970s as being 126 or something equally impressive? I believe
> he was an American and the picture I remember seeing of him showed him in
> a cowboy hat. What was his name, and what was his actual age?
I think you might be talking about Charlie Smith, who claimed to be an
ex-slave and a gunslinger in the Old West. Charlie gained fame during
the U.S. Bicentennial for having been born in 1842 or thereabouts, but
Guinness had documentation (from Charlie himself -- a wedding license
application, I think) placing his birth decades later than that, and so
Guinness never accepted his claim. Charlie was old, but not _that_
old. (There was some anecdotal evidence supporting his claim to being
in his 130s.) He died in 1979, I think, and his autopsy put his age at
somewhere around 105. He had a son who was 77 in 1976, and I don't
know if he's still around. Both father and son were very dark-skinned
but had bright blue eyes -- not impossible, even among native west
coastal Africans (as Charlie was supposed to have been), but unusual.
IIRC, the Charlie Smith story came to public notice with a Robert Sam
Anson article in New Times magazine in 1976.
Louis Epstein
: In article <86eh1r$uh$1...@fnord.io.com>, The Avocado Avenger: >
: > > RANKED BY AGE
: > > Years Days Born Died
: > >Jeanne Calment 122 164 February 21,1875 August 4,1997
: > >Shigechiyo Izumi 120 237 June 29,1865 February 21,1986
: > >Sarah (Clark) Knauss 119 97 September 24,1880 December 30,1999
: >
: > Do you (or anyone else) know of the man who was listed in Guiness back
: > in the late-1970s as being 126 or something equally impressive? I believe
: > he was an American and the picture I remember seeing of him showed him in
: > a cowboy hat. What was his name, and what was his actual age?
:
:
: I think you might be talking about Charlie Smith, who claimed to be an
: ex-slave and a gunslinger in the Old West. Charlie gained fame during
: the U.S. Bicentennial for having been born in 1842 or thereabouts, but
: Guinness had documentation (from Charlie himself -- a wedding license
: application, I think) placing his birth decades later than that, and so
: Guinness never accepted his claim. Charlie was old, but not _that_
Wedding application in 1910 said he was 35.
: old. (There was some anecdotal evidence supporting his claim to being
: in his 130s.) He died in 1979, I think, and his autopsy put his age at
: somewhere around 105. He had a son who was 77 in 1976, and I don't
: know if he's still around. Both father and son were very dark-skinned
: but had bright blue eyes -- not impossible, even among native west
: coastal Africans (as Charlie was supposed to have been), but unusual.
:
: IIRC, the Charlie Smith story came to public notice with a Robert Sam
: Anson article in New Times magazine in 1976.
I first became aware of him in 1972,a little feature on him in Life
magazine(they revisited him in the year-end issue that was the last of
that incarnation of the magazine).
He had claimed to have been born in 1842 at least since he applied for
Social Security in 1955,and I wonder if he was the happy 126-year-old
my mother told me she had heard on the radio in the latter 1960s,which
more than anything sparked my interest in supercentenarians.
Guinness cited Smith as an unsubstantiated claim for years,first saying
there was no evidence,then uncovering(and giving volume and page number
references to) the 1910 claim to be 35,then citing,variously,census
research and post-mortem analysis of his bones as saying he was really
two months short of 100 when he died in 1979.
For a long time Guinness said that Pierre Joubert(1701-1814) was the
oldest person who ever lived,and John B. Salling(1846-1959) the oldest
American.However,subsequent authentication of Delina Filkins(1815-1928)
dethroned Joubert from the world record,Marie-Louise Meilleur(1880-1998)
convincingly took the Canadian record...and modern scholars have indicated
that Joubert(who I retain on my lists until Guinness disavows him) was,
for all their claim that the proofs in an 1870 investigation were
"indisputable",in fact a confusion of a father born 1701 and a son who
died in 1814.(The legendary "Old Parr" is a publicity-minded conflation
of a grandfather born 1483 and a grandson died 1635;the claim that Henry
Jenkins lived to be 169 has all the makings of a conspiracy at perjury,
two men who said they were 100 and had known Jenkins all their lives
testified to let him testify about events a century before a case was
tried).Ex-slave Martha Graham (1844-1959) was subsequently authenticated
to retroactively nullify Salling's ever having had the American record,and
render the pious pre-1980 Guinness assertions that no one had ever
been proven to reach 114 untrue...though the man 1980 and later editions
treat as having reached 114,Shigechiyo Izumi,is now doubted by some
scholars though their grounds for doubt seem strained.
Calment at any event seems proven beyond doubt.As persons born in more
documented times reach record-setting ages,record-keeping will be easier!
The Avocado Avenger
><sta...@io.com> wrote:
>> Do you (or anyone else) know of the man who was listed in Guiness back
>> in the late-1970s as being 126 or something equally impressive?
>I think you might be talking about Charlie Smith, who claimed to be an
>ex-slave and a gunslinger in the Old West. Charlie gained fame during
>the U.S. Bicentennial for having been born in 1842 or thereabouts, but
>Guinness had documentation (from Charlie himself -- a wedding license
>application, I think) placing his birth decades later than that, and so
>Guinness never accepted his claim.
The only reason I think this might not be the guy is that the pic I
remember of him was in Guiness, and if his claim was not supported,
Guiness probably wouldn't have had his picture in there. Also, I'm almost
positive he was white, or at least looked to be in his picture.
Louis Epstein
: Brad Ferguson <thir...@frXOXed.net> writes:
: ><sta...@io.com> wrote:
:
: >> Do you (or anyone else) know of the man who was listed in Guiness back
: >> in the late-1970s as being 126 or something equally impressive?
:
: >I think you might be talking about Charlie Smith, who claimed to be an
: >ex-slave and a gunslinger in the Old West. Charlie gained fame during
: >the U.S. Bicentennial for having been born in 1842 or thereabouts, but
: >Guinness had documentation (from Charlie himself -- a wedding license
: >application, I think) placing his birth decades later than that, and so
: >Guinness never accepted his claim.
:
: The only reason I think this might not be the guy is that the pic I
: remember of him was in Guiness, and if his claim was not supported,
: Guiness probably wouldn't have had his picture in there. Also, I'm almost
: positive he was white, or at least looked to be in his picture.
Guinness very definitely had a picture of Charlie Smith in a cowboy
hat,in front of a flag,with the caption "OLD BEFORE HIS TIME...",
for years...as an illustration of an article in which his claim was
rejected before they moved on to more substantiated claims.
But he never looked white!
I can go through my collection and tell you just which years and with
what variations in the caption that photo appeared,if you like.