Talk:Mary Ramsey Wood

Age

The age claimed, 120 in 1908, is far outside the proven ages of the time. The 'world record' then was only 110.Ryoung122 05:50, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

This article isn't trying to "rewrite history"--it was written in good faith, by a reliable editor who is experienced in historical research, using cited sources. If the sources are wrong, then other sources need to be provided. Katr67 06:09, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

How about the 1880 census, which lists Mary Wood, age 69, living in Hillsboro, Oregon, daughter of Catherine, and her parents born in England?

U.S. Census > 1880 United States Federal Census > Oregon > Washington > Hillsboro > District 129

'Faith' is not enough when the age claimed is so far outside the realm of believability.Ryoung122 06:20, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Excellent, do you have a hyperlink to that info so it can be added to the article? Since none of us are experts in gerontology as you are, it's possible we didn't realize the 120 figure is outside the realm of believability. Try assuming good faith on the part of your fellow editors, please. Katr67 06:29, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Look, I assumed a bit of naivete, not bad faith. Age 120 has been reached only once in proven history (and that was in 1997). The record in 1908 was then age 110. Note that it appears this woman was about 97 years old. You can check it out at Ancestry.com

Run a search for "Mary Wood"+Oregon and then check the list of candidates, and you'll see only one in the town she's supposed to be in, and she's listed with her daugther Catherine. This is, however, a subscription-based service so you'll have to sign up, at least for a 'trial' if you don't have it already: [1]

Sincerely

Robert Young

Ryoung122 08:03, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Complete Fabrication?

Ugh! This is worse than I thought:

• 1860 United States Federal Census
• about Mary Wood
• Name: Mary Wood
• Age in 1860: 30
• Birth Year: abt 1830
• Birthplace: Tennessee
• Home in 1860: Washington, Oregon
• Gender: Female
• Post Office: Hillsboro
• Value of real estate: View image
• Household Members: Name Age
• John Wood 71
• Mary Wood 30

• Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: , Washington, Oregon; Roll: M653_1056; Page: 627; Image: 502.

The 1860 census lists Mary Wood as age '30'! If accurate, she would have been only 77 years old. Given her husband's age (71) it's possible that she inflated her age later to make it look like the age discrepancy with her second husband wasn't so bad. Or it's possible that the 1860 understates her age (women do tend to understate in the middle years). Note this is the only Mary Wood in the town and her husband's name is John.Ryoung122 08:28, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

This is all great. One huge problem, it is all 100% original reasearch. That means, you need to go get it published in a reliable source, then you can quote and use it. Till then, wikipedia guidelines do not allow for it inclusion. And by the way you obviously did assume bad faith per the message left on my talk page about being a relative. Don't kid yourself or try to fool others. These actions you have taken, along with the large amounts of complaints on your talk page, could eily lead to an RFC. I suggest you tone down your actions. Aboutmovies 18:52, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

No, it's NOT original research...I posted it already to my

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Worlds_Oldest_People/

which, by the way, happens to be the #1 hit when searching Yahoo for 'oldest people'. Yahoo has 60+ million users in the US alone. I hardly consider being the world's leading expert not a reliable source. Further, your response to FACTS has been an appeal to emotion. I suggest you apologize for this comment:

I suggest you tone down your actions.

Since when are FACTS a problem? It's like getting mad because your favorite cyclist tests positive for drugs in the Tour de France. Don't blame the drug testers, blame the cheaters. If this family didn't make up a ficticious story, she would never have been famous in the first place. Should we reward that?

Unlike YOU (who DELETES unwanted diatribes) I haven't changed my talk page in quite some time.

Also, I'm not sure what THIS means:

"eily lead to an RFC".Ryoung122 19:30, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Age controversy

If age 120, Mary Ramsey Wood would have been the world's oldest person and would still, even today, hold the record as "oldest living American". However, a cursory reading of the many longevity myths shows that age exaggeration is quite common and that few claims to age 115 or above turn out to be true.

In this case, the Mary Ramsey Wood story is suspected to be a family myth. Note the claim that her mother also lived to be 110. Yet upon looking for evidence of age, we find a "testimonial fallacy" ("the Bible entry said so, but we lost it").

On July 29 2007, supercentenarian researcher Robert Young located what appears to be Mary Wood in the 1880 census, suggesting a birthdate of 1811 and thus an age of 97 years old at her death. Not only did the town match, but the daughter's name and birthplace of her parents matched as well. Conversely, there were no "Mary Wood"s in the state of Oregon anywhere near the age claimed in the 1880 or 1900 census. Today, the Mary Wood story can serve as a typical example of the "familial longevity" myth—the claim that one's ancestors are long-lived, which is typically exaggerated beyond reality by fifteen to twenty-five years or more.