Elizabeth Bolden
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Elizabeth Bolden (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Jones; August 15, 1890 – December 11, 2006) was an American
supercentenarian A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases u ...
who, at the time of her death at age 116 years, 118 days, was recognized by
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as the then- world's oldest living person.Table C - World's Oldest Person (WOP) Titleholders Since 1955
Gerontology Research Group The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) based in Los Angeles, California, USA, is a global social science organization of researchers in various fields of gerontology, primarily concerned with verifying and recording supercentenarians status (peop ...


Biography

Elizabeth Jones was born in 1890 in
Somerville, Tennessee Somerville is a town in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area. The population was 3,415 at the 2020 census, up from 3,094 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County. History The to ...
, the daughter of freed slaves. She married Louis Bolden (1892–1955) in 1908, and their first child, a son, Ezell, was born on September 21, 1909. Elizabeth and Louis Bolden had three sons and four daughters and raised cotton and subsistence crops on farmland near
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
until the 1950s. Only two daughters were living at the time of Bolden's death in 2006; they were Queen Esther Rhodes, who died in 2007 at age 90, and Mamie Brittmon. At the time of her 116th birthday in August 2006, Bolden also had 40 grandchildren, 75 great-grandchildren, 150 great-great-grandchildren, 220 great-great-great-grandchildren and 75 great-great-great-great-grandchildren, for a total of 562 living, direct descendants.


Later life

In her final years, Bolden resided in a Memphis nursing home that she had lived in since she was 109, and was described by her family as unable to communicate. They requested that media attention (such as interviews and visits) be limited. While she was the world's oldest person Bolden was rarely seen in public. She was photographed for two different books in early 2005, and was featured in '' Jet'' magazine in May 2005 and the Memphis ''
Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...
'' in June 2005. For her 116th birthday, new photographs were released for the first time in almost a year, and her family said that she was looking forward to her birthday.


Age records

Elizabeth Bolden was verified in April 2005 as being the oldest documented resident of the United States since the death of Emma Verona Johnston the previous December. Prior to this, Bettie Wilson, had been the oldest known American. After the death of Hendrikje van Andel on August 30, 2005, she was thought to be the world's oldest living person until December 9, 2005, when
María Capovilla María Esther Heredia Lecaro de Capovilla, known internationally as María Capovilla (14 September 1889 – 27 August 2006), was an Ecuadorian supercentenarian, and, at the time of her death at age 116 years, 347 days, was recognized by Guinne ...
was authenticated as older. She became the oldest living person following Capovilla's death on August 27, 2006.
This was officially confirmed on September 17, 2006, by Guinness World Records. At the time of her death aged 116 years 118 days she was the sixth-oldest undisputed person ever documented. After her death,
Emiliano Mercado del Toro Emiliano Mercado del Toro (August 21, 1891 – January 24, 2007) was a Puerto Rican supercentenarian and military veteran who was, at age 115, the world's oldest person following the death of 116-year-old Elizabeth Bolden on December 11, 2006 ...
became the world's oldest person and Julie Winnefred Bertrand became the world's oldest woman.


See also

*
List of the verified oldest people These are lists of the 100 known verified oldest people sorted in descending order by age in years and days. The oldest person ever whose age has been independently verified is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who lived to the age of 12 ...
* 100 oldest American people ever


References


External links

*
CBS News – Memphis Woman Turns 116

The Associated Press – Memphis woman listed as world's oldest dies at 116

CNN – Oldest woman dies at age 116

Sun-Sentinel – Memphis woman listed as world's oldest dies at age 116

Blackamericaweb – Elizabeth Bolden, America's oldest woman and daughter of freed slaves, dies at 116
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolden, Elizabeth 1890 births 2006 deaths People from Memphis, Tennessee American supercentenarians African-American centenarians Women supercentenarians African-American Christians People from Somerville, Tennessee