Florence Knapp

Florence Knapp
Birth:	10 October 1873 Lansdale, Pennsylvania, USA
Death:	11 January 1988 Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania, USA
Age:	114 years, 93 days
Country:	USA
Validated

Florence Knapp (10 October 1873 – 11 January 1988) was American Supercentenarian, whose age has been validated by Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

Biography

Florence Knapp was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, USA, on 10 October 1873. She lived in nearby Montgomery Square much of her life and came from a large and long-lived family, eight of her siblings dying in their 80s and 90s and one sister reaching age 108. She was never married.

In 1983, she was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest time to live in the same residence, having lived in the same house been with born for 110 years, before moving to a nursing home.

By October 1987, when she was honored by the Pennsylvania legislature, she was recognized by Guinness as the oldest person in the United States, and the death of Anna Eliza Williams on 27 December 1987, meant that Knapp became the oldest verified recognized living person. Her death, aged 114 years, 93 days, just 15 days after meant that she never appeared in a Guinness Book as the oldest living person.

Her death caused some confusion as to who her successor was, with Guinness recognition and press publicity alighting first on Orpha Nusbaum (1875–1988), who died before the 1989 edition's deadline, then Birdie May Vogt (1876–1989), who appeared in the 1989 edition's main text, then Jeanne Calment, mentioned in the addenda section, and finally in November 1988 on Carrie C. White, whose claim to birth in November 1874 was accepted, but White's case is no longer accepted, so her successor was Jeanne Calment.

For the last two weeks of her life, Knapp was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person in the world.

Knapp died in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania, USA, on 11 January 1988 at the age of 114 years, 93 days.

Gallery

Knapp at the age of 105.

Knapp on her 113th birthday.

References

• Florence Knapp, 114 Photo Gallery, Gerontology Research Group
• Longest time to live in the same residence Guinness World Records
• Altoona Mirror, November 26, 1986
• Huntingdon Daily News, October 14, 1987
• Altoona Mirror, January 13, 1988
• Montgomery Township Historical Society: The Knapp Farm
• Florence Knapp (1873 - 1988) FamilySearch

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 • 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 • Lucile Randon • Maria Branyas Morera

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 • Lucile Randon • Maria Branyas Morera

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

Clarida Roy • Mary Bittlebrun • Sophia DeMuth • Fannie Thomas • Nellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Florence Knapp • Orpha Nusbaum • Delphia Welford • Margaret Skeete • Wilhelmina Kott • Georgia Ella Jordan • 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 • Ophelia Burks • Lessie Brown • Alelia Murphy • Hester Ford • Thelma Sutcliffe • Bessie Hendricks • Edie Ceccarelli • Elizabeth Francis