Centenarians

As one of America’s first cities, Philadelphia is a city of firsts in hundreds of ways. One of the lesser known facts is that it was home to the first…

Among the advantages of living for a century or more is seeing how the family continues to grow in number. When Annie died at age 104, she had the impressive…

“Lizzie” was how she was known as a girl, and that probably remained with her the rest of her life as was the common practice in those days. She was…

“I made it this long by living a good clean life. I’ve never been in any trouble, no drinking, I worked hard.” Those were the reasons Ed Gosha (pronounced go-shay)…

As the second of ten children to live in the Scott household, Laura gained practical experience in child-raising. She was 20 when the youngest was born, and she saw all…

The nation celebrated its 100th birthday on July 4, 1876, as did formerly enslaved people in the South. It was an occasion to recognize their freedom, particularly for one couple…

As with other centenarians, different claims were made about Mary’s date of birth. Newspapers at the time of her death ran with the idea that she was 102 when she…

The notion that Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag was propagated most vocally by her descendants nearly 40 years after she died. (Historians consider it family lore and without…

Ethel’s life is noteworthy for living more than 100 years, but she also happened to be the last person buried in Section 131, which was owned by the Philadelphia Conference…