Age validation of Mary Freeman (1868-1979)

The GRG is delighted to announce the age validation of Mary Freeman.

Mary Ann Michael was born August 31 1868 in Brunswick County, Virginia, USA, to parents James and Julia Michael. She had at least three siblings. On February 1 1888, Mary married Frank Hite in Brunswick County, Virginia and they went on to have one child together, James Hite. Shortly after marrying, Mary and Frank moved to Connecticut, where they stayed until the 1930’s. She then moved to Westchester County, New York, living in various places, before moving to a care home in Croton on Hudson in 1976. During her life she had worked as a domestic and a nanny.

Mary passed away on January 13 1979 in a hospital in Westchester County, aged 110 years, 135 days. She had attributed her longevity to a drop of whiskey before dinner. Mary had also reportedly smoked cigarettes in her life, but had given up some years before her death, having moved to using snuff instead.

Validation

Mary claimed at least two different dates of birth during her life – May 31 1867 and May 8 1869. An original, handwritten birth record was found from 1868 which shows Mary was actually born in August 1868 (no specific day of the month given). To err on the side of caution, it has been decided to use August 31 (the last day of August), given that no specific day is given.

Having collected many records from throughout Mary’s life, documents match the life story given by her during her later years.

It is not known why Mary gave herself the surname Freeman, as there are no marriage records that would indicate she married a man with the surname Freeman. However – Totaro, Virginia, where Mary is seen living with her family in 1870 and 1880, was renamed to Freeman at some point, honoring freed slaves who had settled there. It is thought she adopted this as her surname in honor of this.

Mary Freeman’s age was accepted as validated by the GRG today; January 27 2025.