Gertrude Baines

Gertrude Baines
Birth:	6 April 1894 Shellman, Georgia, USA
Death:	11 September 2009 Los Angeles, California, USA
Age:	115 years, 158 days
Country:	USA
Validated

Gertrude Baines (6 April 1894 – 11 September 2009) was an American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the world from the death of Maria de Jesus on 2 January 2009 until her own death on 11 September 2009.

Born in Shellman, Georgia, she recalled that her first memory was that of being in a car ride to Canada. She later married Sam Conly at a "very young age" and had a daughter, Annabelle, who died of typhoid fever at age 18. Baines lived at the Western Convalescent Home in Jefferson Park, Los Angeles when she died.^[1] She lived on her own until she was 105. When she was 112 said she had never had a seriously sick day in her life but, in July 2009, she was hospitalized.

When asked what she credited to her longevity, she answered, "God. Ask him... I took good care of myself, the way he wanted me to."^[2]

Baines, a daughter of former slaves, cast a vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 US presidental elections. The only time she voted before was for John F. Kennedy.^[3]

On 11 November 2008, Baines surpassed Carrie Lazenby's (1882–1996) record of (114 years, 218 days), to become the oldest person ever who was born in the state of Georgia.

Baines was the last living person verified to have been born in 1894, and one of the 30 longest-lived persons ever.

She became the oldest living African American following the death of Arbella Ewing on 22 March 2008, and the oldest living person in the United States following the death of Edna Parker on 26 November 2008.

References

• Gerontology Research Group

World's Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)

Betsy Baker • Jennie Howell • Marie Carstenson • Nancy Ryan • Christina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • William Fullingim • Hannah Smith • John Mosley Turner • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Mathew Beard • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Yukichi Chuganji • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Emiliano Mercado del Toro • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Jiroemon Kimura • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet Brown • Nabi Tajima • Chiyo Miyako • Kane Tanaka

World's Oldest Living Woman Titleholders (V • E)

Betsy Baker • Jennie Howell • Marie Carstenson • Nancy Ryan • Christina Karnebeek-Backs • Marie Olsen • Mary Kelly • Elizabeth Kensley • Auguste Pahl • Hannah Smith • Yoshigiku Ito • Johanna Booysen • Marie Bernatkova • Ada Roe • Josefa Salas Mateo • Alice Stevenson • Elizabeth Watkins • Mito Umeta • Niwa Kawamoto • Sophia DeMuth • Marie-Virginie Duhem • Fannie Thomas • Augustine Tessier • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Anna Eliza Williams • Florence Knapp • Jeanne Calment • Marie-Louise Meilleur • Sarah Knauss • Eva Morris • Marie Bremont • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mitoyo Kawate • Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan • Maria Capovilla • Elizabeth Bolden • Julie Winnefred Bertrand • Emma Tillman • Yone Minagawa • Edna Parker • Maria de Jesus • Gertrude Baines • Kama Chinen • Eugenie Blanchard • Maria Gomes Valentim • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Koto Okubo • Misao Okawa • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Emma Morano • Violet Brown • Nabi Tajima • Chiyo Miyako • Kane Tanaka

United States' Oldest Living Person Titleholders (V • E)

Clarida Roy • Mary Bittlebrun • Sophia DeMuth • Fannie Thomas • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Mathew Beard • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Florence Knapp • Lucy Hannah • Margaret Skeete • Wilhelmina Kott • Sarah Knauss • Myrtle Dorsey • Maud Farris-Luse • Grace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mary Christian • Elena Slough • Charlotte Benkner • Emma Verona Johnston • Elizabeth Bolden • Emma Tillman • Corinne Dixon Taylor • Edna Parker • Gertrude Baines • Mary Josephine Ray • Neva Morris • Eunice Sanborn • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Goldie Michelson • Adele Dunlap • Delphine Gibson • Lessie Brown • Alelia Murphy • Hester Ford