Full Name Margaret Seward Nationality American | Name Margaret Skeete Spouse Renn Skeete | |
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Born October 27, 1878 Rockport, Texas, United States Other names Mattie Seward, Mattie Skeete, Martha Skeete Known for Oldest living American from 1993 to 1994 Parent(s) R.H. Seward
Margaret Seward Died May 7, 1994, Radford, Virginia, United States Children Verne Skeete, Charles Skeete, Seward Skeete People also search for Renn Skeete, Verne Skeete, Charles Skeete, Seward Skeete | ||
Margaret Skeete née Seward (October 27, 1878 – May 7, 1994) of Radford, Virginia was an American supercentenarian, who from 1993 to 1994, was declared the oldest living person in the United States. The 1993 and 1994 Guinness Book of World Records identified her as the oldest documented living American. They said there were other Americans older than she, but they didn't have the paperwork at the time to back up their claim. She was 115 years, 192 days of age when she died.
According to her eldest daughter, Verne Taylor, Skeete was listed in the 1880 U.S. Census as a two-year-old. Human longevity researcher Robert Young found a two-year-old "Mattie Seward", of Rockport, Texas, recorded in that census. In addition to being the oldest living American, Skeete is also the oldest person ever from Texas.
She was married to Renn Skeete, with whom she had three children; two of which died before Skeete did. After Renn Skeete's death in 1953, she moved from Texas to Virginia to live with Taylor and Taylor's family. She was survived by her daughter, Verne (January 31, 1909 - February 4, 2009), who lived to be a centenarian herself.