| Susannah Maxwell | |
 Susanna Maxwell, circa 1880s | |
| Birth: | 10 March 1805? Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Death: | 11 February 1923 Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada |
| Age: | 117 years, 338 days? |
| Country: |  USA CAN
|
| Longevity claimant | |
Susannah Augusta Maxwell, (née Stokes; 10 March 1805? – 11 February 1923) was an American-born Canadian longevity claimant who, if validated, would have been the oldest person in the world at the time of her death. If validated, she would be the oldest Canadian ever (surpassing the validated Marie-Louise Meilleur by 108 days).
Biography[]
Susannah Stokes claimed to have been born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States on 10 March 1805, to free black parents. At an early age, she was orphaned, and became an indentured servant to a white family. Stokes learned to read and write, evidence that the family sent her to school. As an adult, Stokes married Henry Maxwell, and the couple made their home in Lancaster (possibly in Christiana, a local village.)
Pennsylvania had become a haven for freed and runaway slaves, but the passage in 1850 of the Fugitive Slave Act encouraged "slave-hunters", who made the area unsafe for black residents. In September 1851, the Maxwells' village was invaded by a gang of slave-hunters - believed to be the Christiana Riot, where a slave-owner attempted to recapture his runaway slaves. The community successfully resisted, killing the slave-owner, but many blacks ended up leaving the state, in fear of being arrested.
Susannah and her husband were living in upstate New York in 1855, where their daughter, Charlotte Matilda (Tillie), was born. Eventually, the Maxwells ended up in Upper Canada, having arrived via the Underground Railroad. They spent some time in Toronto, where at least two more of their children were born, and in 1871, moved north to Richmond Hill, as one of the only black families in town. Susannah and her daughters, Mary and Tillie, ran a laundry business in their home. Not long after moving to Richmond Hill, Henry, who had been working as a stoker, died, leaving Susannah as the sold breadwinner for the family. She started working in Markham, where wages were higher, walking the seven miles each way. One evening, during a snowstorm, she ended up falling unconscious on her way home. Her life was saved when a dog found her and alerted the residents. Susannah was active in the local Presbyterian Church.
In 1905, the village celebrated Susannah's supposed 100th birthday. Susannah Maxwell died in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada on 11 February 1923, allegedly at the age of 117 years, 338 days, having outlived all of her children. Her obituaries claimed she was the oldest resident of Canada.[1][2] Her funeral was conducted by Richard Amos Ball, a minister of the British Methodist Episcopal Church church and the son of fugitive slaves who had also used the Underground Railroad to reach Canada.
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