| Sylvia Hoover | |
 Hoover celebrating her claimed 115th birthday in 1940 | |
| Birth: | 28 September 1825? Tennessee, USA |
| Death: | 3 June 1941 Alameda, California, USA |
| Age: | 115 years, 248 days? |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Longevity claimant | |
Sylvia Hoover (née Buck; 28 September 1825? – 3 June 1941) was an American longevity claimant whose age is currently unvalidated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography[]
Sylvia Hoover claimed to have been born into slavery on the U. H. Buck cotton plantation near Jackson, Tennessee, on 28 September 1825. She later moved to Lexington, Mississippi, where she worked as a maid. In 1840, when William Henry Harrison ran for president, she recalled marching in a campaign parade.
In 1856, she married Benjamin Hoover, while the two were still slaves. During the first seven years of their marriage, they were separated as they didn't live on the same plantation, but after that, they were freed by Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
Some time after her husband's death, Hoover moved to Alameda, California in 1913, where she resided for the rest of her life. During her last years, she was blind, but was still able to keep up with the news, sew a little, and repeat the words from the 23rd Psalm.
Sylvia Hoover died from a stomach illness on 3 June 1941, at the claimed age of 115 years, 248 days. At the time of her death, she had 12 children, 37 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
References[]
- Sylvia Buck Hoover Ancestry
- Sylvia Hoover in the 1940 Census Ancestry
- Sylvia Buck Hoover Find A Grave
- Sylvia Buck Hoover Collection University of Southern Mississippi McCain Library & Archives