Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1880,
as of August 17, 2019.
Aged 106:
Aged 107:
Photos courtesy of The Brattleboro Reformer.
June 9, 2019; Florence Brownell was born in New York, United States on March 13, 1880 and died in Vermont, United States on September 10, 1990 at the age of 110 years, 181 days.
Aged 93:
February 2, 2016; Lillie Dorough was born in Georgia, United States on September 12, 1880 and died in the same state on March 6, 1992 at the age of 111 years, 176 days.
February 26, 2017; Frederick Frazier was born in Mobile, Alabama, United States on January 27, 1880 and died in Alabama on June 14, 1993 at the age of 113 years, 138 days. On October 16, 1991, he became the oldest living man in the world, following the death of James Wiggins. On January 27, 1993, he became the only the second man ever verified to reach the age of 113. At the time of his death, he was the oldest person ever from Alabama. Although this record was broken by Susie Gibson in 2004, he remains the oldest man ever from Alabama.
On her 108th birthday:
On her 110th birthday:
Photos sourced from The Cincinnati Enquirer.
June 28, 2017; Antoinette Huber was born in Ohio, United States on January 22, 1880 and died in the same state on March 1, 1992 at the age of 112 years, 39 days.
Aged 35:
In her later years:
Photos sourced from The Sydney Morning Herald.
June 28, 2017; Mary Hurley was born in New South Wales, Australia on May 4, 1880 and died in the same state on November 16, 1990 at the age of 110 years, 196 days. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living person in Australia.
Sarah Knauss in 1897:
Aged 100:
Aged 106:
Aged 107:
Aged 111:
Aged 113:
Aged 114:
Aged 115:
Aged 117:
With her great-great-great grandson Bradley Patton, also at age 117:
Aged 119:
May 19, 2015; Sarah DeRemer Knauss was born in Hollywood, Pennsylvania, United States on September 24, 1880 and died in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States on December 30, 1999 at the remarkable age of 119 years, 97 days. She became the oldest verified person in America on September 6, 1994, following the death of Wilhelmina Kott. On April 16, 1998, she became the oldest verified living person in the world, following the death of Marie-Louise Meilleur. On May 31, 1998, she surpassed the final age of Lucy Hannah to become the oldest verified North American person ever. On September 24, 1998, and September 24, 1999, Knauss became just the second validated person in history to reach the ages of 118 and 119 respectively (after Jeanne Calment in 1993 and 1994). Knauss remains the oldest person ever from North America and the second oldest verified person ever, after Jeanne Calment. She was the last verified living person born before 1885. In the 15 years since her death, Knauss' age has not been seriously approached.
Knauss was born as Sarah DeRemer Clark. After learning to sew at the age of just 4, she became a skilled seamstress and enjoyed making tablecloths and her own clothes. She married Abraham Lincoln Knauss, in 1901; making her own wedding dress (a striking gown of French linen) for the occasion. Prior to her marriage, Knauss had worked for a couple of years as an insurance office manager; upon her marriage, she became a homemaker. Their only child, Kathryn, was born in 1903. Knauss was a very short woman of just 4ft 7in (1.40m). Her husband, originally a tanner, was circulation manager for The Morning Call for about 25 years from 1910, and then the recorder of deeds in Lehigh County from about 1937 until his retirement in 1951.
After 64 years of marriage, her husband died in 1965 at the age of 86. In the summer of 1966, at the age of 85, she travelled across the United States by car, going to California and back. She continued to sew much of her daughter's wardrobe well into her centenarian years. Her last quilt, a Dresden, was made when she was 107 years old. At the age of 104, she moved in with her daughter, Kathryn Knauss Sullivan. At the age of 106, she was no longer able to walk and got about via wheelchair.
As a supercentenarian, her hobbies included watching golf on television, doing needlepoint, attending bible classes, attending weekly hairdressing appointments, and nibbling on milk chocolate turtles and cashews. At the age of 115, when asked if she enjoyed her long life, Knauss said "I enjoy it because I have my health and I can do things." At the age of 115, she became a great-great-great grandmother. She remained in relatively good health well into her 119th year, except for being almost totally deaf. After being congratulated on her 119th birthday, Knauss said "A hundred nineteen? I just can't be 119."
On December 30, 1999, Knauss died peacefully in her sleep, while sitting in the chair in her room. Although she had been in declining health for several months, her death was considered by close relatives to be a surprise. In the words of state senator Charles Dent "Mrs. Knauss was an extraordinary woman who pushed the outer limits of longevity. This is a sad occasion, but she certainly had an eventful life."
Her daughter, Kathryn Knauss Sullivan, once explained Knauss' longevity as follows: "She's a very tranquil person and nothing fazes her. That's why she's living this long." A nursing aide added "She has an attitude of live and let go. She has a real serenity. She's also very kind. She's very grateful."
On her wedding day in 1899, aged 19:
Aged about 40:
In her final years:
Photos courtesy of The Lutheran and Chicago Tribune.
March 4, 2017; Wilhelmina Kott was born in Peru, Illinois, United States on March 7, 1880 and died in Chicago, Illinois, United States on September 6, 1994 at the age of 114 years, 183 days. On December 16, 1993, she passed the final age of Fannie Thomas and became the oldest person ever from Illinois. On May 7, 1994, she became the oldest living person in the United States, following the death of Margaret Skeete. Her Illinois longevity record was broken by Carrie Lazenby in 1996, but she remains the oldest person ever born in Illinois.
Born as Wilhemina Geringer, she was one of 16 children. The family moved to Chicago in 1881, where she was to remain for the rest of her life. She married Charles Kott, a furniture company manager, in 1899, and had one daughter. After her husband died in 1964, Kott lived with her daughter and son-in-law. By 1987, both of them had passed away, and despite being 107 years old, she subsequently lived independently.
Her grandson remembered her work at church, quilting, and cooking for dinners. Until her last days, Kott was considered an expert on family history and distant relatives came from far afield to learn names, dates and residencies of family members from long ago. "She delights in talking," said her pastor, the Rev. Richard Ramirez, when Kott was 112, "I standback in awe at her ability to be engaged in whatever is going on." She neither drank nor smoked.
January 17, 2016; Caroline May was born in Virginia, United States on September 4, 1880 and died in West Virginia, United States on October 16, 1990 at the age of 110 years, 42 days.
Marie-Louise Meilleur in her garden:
Aged 56 and 114:
Aged 95:
Aged 98:
Aged 117:
May 20, 2015; Marie-Louise Meilleur was born in Kamouraska, Quebec, Canada on August 29, 1880 and died in Ontario, Canada, April 16, 1998 at the incredible age of 117 years, 230 days. She became the oldest verified person in Canada on March 20, 1993, following the death of Lillian Ross. On March 27, 1994, she passed the final age of Lillian Ross to become the oldest Canadian person ever. On August 4, 1997, she became the oldest verified living person in the world, following the death of Jeanne Calment. Meilleur remains the oldest person ever from Canada and the fourth oldest verified person ever.
Born as Marie-Louise Febronie Chasse, Meilleur married her first husband, Etienne Leclerc, in 1900. Soon after their marriage, they moved from Kamouraska to Rapides-des-Joachims. They were to have six children (two of whom died in infancy) before his death in 1911. In 1913, after both of Meilleur's parents had also died, she moved to the Ontario border with her children to help support her sister, whose children were sick with diphtheria. Meilleur married her second husband, Hector Meilleur, in 1915. She had six further children with him and subsequently spent much of her life caring for her many children. She kept cows, pigs, and chickens in a large garden that provided a winter supply of fruits and vegetables. Meilleur was a member of a local choir for 40 years and loved music. A vegetarian who never drank alcohol, she was also an avid cigarette smoker until well into her 90s. Meilleur was always quick to tell everyone that her grandfather once sat on Napoleon Bonaparte's knee.
Only once, in 1939, did she return to the Quebec area. By 1942, all her children had moved out. Her second husband, Hector, died in 1972. Meilleur then moved to Deep River to live with her youngest daughter. In 1986, when asked for the secret to her longevity, she said "Hard work. Hard work never kills a person." In 1988, at the age of 107, she moved into a nursing home at Corbeil. At the age of 110, Meilleur could still walk without assistance and was able to talk at length when she wanted to. She also slept well and had a good appetite. At the age of 112, when she bacame the oldest person in Canada, she quipped "Poor Canada!" At the age of 115, a nursing home staff member said "Some days she is very alert and sometimes she is back in her early days."
After the death of Jeanne Calment in August 1997, Meilleur was too weak to talk, generally unaware of her surroundings, and didn't really understand that she had been recognized as the world's oldest person. By this time, a combination of frailty and blindness keep her confined to her bedroom most days, and she could only hear when people shouted directly into her right ear. In the words of her youngest daughter "She is like a baby. All she does is eat and sleep." When she died of a blood clot at age 117 in April 1998, one of her sons was also living in the same nursing home, and her oldest living daughter, Gabrielle Vaughan, was 90 years old. At the time of her death, she had 85 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren, 57 great-great-grandchildren, and four great-great-great-grandchildren.
In the words of her youngest daughter, Rita Gutzman, "She was a wonderful mother and she loved her family. She worked hard. She used to bake bread twice a week. Even in the summer, in a wooden oven." Another daughter described her as "a good-hearted woman who was always helping others." A grandson added "(She was) a pious woman with a lot of character. She wasn't someone you could push around, not a submissive woman at all."
May 19, 2015; Domenico Minervino was born in San Sosti, Calabria, Italy on May 10, 1880 and died in the same town on May 22, 1991 at the age of 111 years, 12 days. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living person in Italy and the oldest living man in Europe. He remains the oldest man ever from Calabria region.
Aged 111:
October 8, 2017; Ada Van Natta was born in Illinois, United States on November 30, 1880 and died in the same state on November 14, 1992 at the age of 111 years, 350 days.
At age 100:
At age 113:
January 2, 2017; Hide Ohira was born in Wakayama, Japan on September 15, 1880 and died in the same prefecture on May 9, 1995 at the age of 114 years, 236 days. Ohira married in Tanabe City at the age of 18 and had 11 children. She is the oldest person ever from Wakayama prefecture.
The second photo was sourced from her Find a Grave page.
Adeline Robeson was born in Iowa, United States on September 20, 1880 and died in Illinois, United States on August 18, 1992 at the age of 111 years, 333 days.
Aged 95:
July 26, 2017; Maude Ross was born in Ohio, United States on January 13, 1880 and died in Missouri, United States on June 9, 1992 at the age of 112 years, 148 days.
Aged 25:
Second left, aged 109:
Anna Lou Shively was born in Center, Howard, Indiana, United States on May 14, 1880 and died in Neffsville, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States on June 7, 1992 at the age of 112 years, 24 days.
Born as Anna Rivers, she married Charles Shively in 1905 and subsequently moved to the Phillippines. A talented musician, she taught music at the same school in which her husband was the Principal. Shively had two children and was widowed in 1958.
Photo sourced from an ancestry family tree.
March 3, 2019; Frances Spickard was born in Nebraska, United States on April 5, 1880 and died in Colorado, United States on May 14, 1990 at the age of 110 years, 39 days.
Aged 100:
Zora Wriggle was born in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, United States on February 22, 1880 and died in Lycoming, Pennsylvania, United States on November 7, 1993 at the age of 113 years, 256 days. At the time of her death, she was the second oldest living person in the United States.
Born as Zora Gray, she married David Wriggle at the age of 20 and had four children. She worked as a homemaker and dressmaker.
Here ends the Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in 1880. Click on a link below to view our Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in another year.