Sarah Knauss

Sarah DeRemer (Clark) Knauss (September 24, 1880 - December 30, 1999) is the longest-lived person in the history of the United States, and was the oldest in the world from April 1998 until her death. She is the second-oldest verified person, and woman in history, behind only Jeanne Calment.

She was born in Hollywood, Pennsylvania, a "mining patch" community that no longer exists, at a time when the now-famous Hollywood, California did not yet exist. She lived much of her life in Allentown, where she brought up her daughter Kathryn (1903-2005).

Her longevity first came to light after the death of Madame Calment in 1997, when she and Marie-Louise Meilleur were first authenticated (previously, Mary Bidwell (1881-1996) had been believed to be the oldest American).

She died rather abruptly sitting in her chair on the afternoon of December 30th 1999, survived by five generations of descendants. Some of her organs were bequeathed to the New England Centenarian Study,which did an autopsy.