Elizabeth Bolden

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Elizabeth Bolden (born August 15, 1890 in Somerville , Tennessee as Elizabeth Jones , † December 11, 2006 in Memphis , Tennessee) was an American supercentenarian and from August 27, 2006 until her death, the oldest living person.

Life

Elizabeth Jones was born in Tennessee in 1890 as the daughter of freed African American slaves. She married Lewis Bolden in 1908, and their first child, son Ezell, was born on September 21, 1909. They had two sons and four daughters and grew cotton and self-catering on a farm near Memphis until the 1950s . Her husband died in 1955.

In 1999, at the age of 109, Bolden moved into a retirement home. On her 113th birthday in 2003, she asked a newspaper why she was living so long, but she said she didn't know. The journalist suspected that she was not in the mood to speak that day. When her daughter tried several times to cover her up, however, she warned: "If you weren't my child, I would lay you over your knee and beat the [swear word] out of you." In early 2005 she was photographed for two magazines, Jet magazine in May and Memphis Commercial Appeal in June 2005. On her 116th birthday, new photos of her were published for the first time in nearly a year. Her family said they were looking forward to their big day.

Her memory is said to have been sharp until the end. Bolden loved ice cream and lollipops throughout her life. She was a member of the Missionary Baptist church and was highly regarded as Momma Lizzie in her New Wright chapel . Her family attributed her longevity to her quiet life; she drank little and mostly stayed at home. However, she consumed snuff and chewing tobacco and used to smoke a pipe. In addition, she was a good cook and loved vegetables, said her grandson Tommy Bolden.

According to her family, Bolden could no longer communicate the last years of her life. After a stroke in 2004, she spoke very little. The family limited media visits and interviews. As the oldest living person in the world, she was rarely seen in public. She died on December 11, 2006 at one-thirty in the morning at the age of 116 years and 118 days in her retirement home in Memphis.

On her 116th birthday, Elizabeth Bolden had 7 children, 40 grandchildren, 75 great-grandchildren, 150 great-great-grandchildren, 220 great-great-great-grandchildren and 75 great-great-great-grandchildren. She had one of the largest offspring during her lifetime. Only two of their children survived: Esther Rhodes died in 2007 at the age of 90 and Mamie Brittmon in 2009 at the age of 86. Their oldest son died in 1990 and their youngest daughter Annie in 1999.

Age records

With the death of Emma Verona Johnston on December 1, 2004, Bolden became the oldest living person in the United States. This was confirmed in April; she held the title for 2 years and 10 days. She has been one of the 30 oldest people of all time since February 13, 2005, and one of the 20 oldest since March 23, 2005. On February 24, 2006, she passed Margaret Skeete's age and entered the top 10. At the time of her death, she was ranked 6th.

Since December 1, 2004, Bolden has been one of the three oldest living people; on August 30, 2005, with the death of Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, she became the second oldest. She held the title of "oldest living person in the world" since the death of María Capovilla on August 27, 2006. She had supposedly already held it from August 30 to December 9, 2005, when Capovilla's age was authenticated. After her death, Emiliano Mercado del Toro became the oldest living person and Julie Winnefred Bertrand became the oldest living woman.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/16/usa.edpilkington Memphis mourns Lizzie Bolden, daughter of slaves, born the year Sitting Bull died , in: The Guardian . December 16, 2006.
  2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070107130846/http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/bolden1212 Elizabeth Bolden, America's Oldest Woman and Daughter of Freed Slaves, Dies at 116 , on blackamericaweb .com (archived). December 12, 2006.
  3. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/obituaries/12bolden.html Elizabeth Bolden, 116, Dies , in: The New York Times . December 12, 2006.
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Bolden on Find a Grave
personal data
SURNAME Bolden, Elizabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jones, Elizabeth (maiden name); Bolden, Lizzie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American age record holder
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Somerville , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 2006
Place of death Memphis , Tennessee