Mary Royster | |
Birth: | 15 April 1875 Mecklenburg County, Virginia, USA |
Death: | 28 December 1989 Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina, USA |
Age: | 114 years, 257 days |
Country: | USA |
Validated |
Mary Royster (née Manning; 15 April 1875 – 28 December 1989) was an American supercentenarian whose age is validated by Gerontology Research Group (GRG). At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest known living person in the United States, after Easter Wiggins.
Biography[]
Mary Royster was born as Mary Manning in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, USA on 15 April 1875 (claimed 1870) as the eldest daughter to Charles Manning and Julia Royster. She married her first husband, farmer Frank Winckler in 1895, and after his death, remarried to John Royster in 1910. She had nine children in total. Throughout her life, she was a devout Christian. She retired from her work as a cook at the age of 85.
In April 1985, she celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian. Although Royster claimed to have been born in 1870, which would have made her 119 years old at the time of her death, subsequent GRG validation processes indicated that she was more likely five years younger.
She became the oldest living person in the United States, following the death of 114-year-old Florence Knapp on 11 January 1988.
Mary Royster died in a Rocky Mount hospital in Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina, USA on 28 December 1989 at the age of 114 years, 257 days.
References[]
- 2019 validations Gerontology Research Group