Emma Tillman
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Emma Fanchon Faust Tillman | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 22, 1892 |
| Died | January 28, 2007 |
| Occupation(s) | baker, caterer |
Emma Fanchon Faust Tillman (Gibsonville, North Carolina, November 22, 1892 - East Hartford, Connecticut, 28 January, 2007) was, at age 114, the oldest validated living person in the world. Since August 12, 2006 she was officially the only living person left who was born in 1892. However, though the last person from 1892, she was not the oldest one, since Frenchwoman Camille Loiseau made it to 114 years 180 days.
Emma was born in 1892 to former slaves on the Faust Plantation. Alphonso, Emma`s father, was the son of a female slave and the plantation owner, Cane Faust, and, as was common in those days, he took Faust as his last name. Emma`s mother, Martha Gibson Faust, of Native American heritage, was also born into slavery.
The family moved to Connecticut in 1900. Tillman ran her own baking and catering service whose regular customers included Dr. Thomas Hepburn, a noted Hartford Hospital urologist and father to actress Katharine Hepburn.
Emma was one of 23 children, some of whom died at birth or in their early years. But four of Emma`s siblings lived past 100, including a sister, Ava, who died at 102 in 1983, and a brother, Eugene, who died at 108 in 1996. Another sister died at 105 in 2005, and another one at 102 in the 1980s.
By February 16, 2006 the passings of several older persons (including Gladys Swetland, Bettie Wilson and Susie Gibson) had moved Emma up to second-oldest in the 50 US states, and she became the oldest following the December 2006 death of the then world's oldest person Elizabeth Bolden. By then she was also among the 60 longest living ever. On January 18, 2007, she became the oldest living woman following the death of 115-year-old Canadian Julie Winnefred Bertrand. On January 24, 2007, she became the world's oldest living person with the death of Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who was also 115.
Tillman resided at an assisted living center in East Hartford. Her death on around 10:10PM EST means that her title reign of just four days was the shortest ever, breaking the dubious distinction of 13 days held by Mitoyo Kawate of Japan. Her likely successor is Yone Minagawa, also of Japan.