Sarah Knauss

Sarah Knauss on her 115th birthday in 1995.

**Sarah Knauss** (24 September 1880 – 30 December 1999) was an American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person in the world from the death of Marie-Louise Meilleur on 16 April 1998 until her own death on 30 December 1999 at the age of 119 years, 97 days. She was the second-oldest validated person in history, behind only Jeanne Calment, who was over 3 years older than her,until Kane Tanaka surpassed her age by ten days in 2022. Her age was validated by scholars and is accepted by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).

## Biography

Sarah DeRemer Clark was born in Hollywood, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, USA, a "mining patch" community that no longer exists, at a time when the now-famous Hollywood, California did not yet exist. Her parents were Walter (1849–1934) and Emelia Clark (1857-1926).

She married Abraham Lincoln Knauss (1878–1965) in 1901. Their only child was Kathryn Sullivan (17 November 1903 – 21 January 2005).

There was a history of longevity in her family: her paternal grandmother lived to be 98, and her cousin Minnie Kresge (2 October 1893 – 24 February 1999) lived to be 105. In addition, her daughter Kathryn Sullivan lived to the age of 101.

At the age of 96, Knauss started living with her daughter. At the time of her 100th birthday, she was reported to be in remarkable health for her age. In an article published on her 106th birthday, she was reportedly still healthy, lucid, and active, although she could no longer walk. She moved into a nursing home at the age of 111. At age 118, despite having very poor hearing, Knauss was still able to have conversations with her daughter, but in the last six months of her life,it has been reported she was no longer responsive,though it was also claimed at the time of her death that she had been exchanging New Year's greetings with her hairdresser that morning.

Knauss died rather abruptly while sitting in her chair on the afternoon of 30 December 1999, survived by five generations of descendants. She died 33 hours before the year 2000. Some of her organs were bequeathed to the New England Centenarian Study, which did an autopsy.

## Longevity Records

Knauss's longevity first came to light internationally after the death of Jeanne Calment in 1997, when she and Marie-Louise Meilleur were first authenticated, although her age was frequently reported on in her hometown, with the local newspaper writing articles on her as early as the 1950s.

Knauss was the seventh validated person to reach the age of 115, the fourth to reach 116, the third to reach 117, the second to reach 118, and 119. She remains the only person from the United States to reach the ages of 117, 118, and 119.

## Age Verification

Born in Pennsylvania in an era before birth registration was mandatory in the state, Knauss did not possess a birth certificate. As such, her age was subsequently verified by her entry in the 1900 United States Federal Census. Her name and age were also enumerated in the 1890 Federal Census, although it was presumed lost after the records were destroyed in the 1930s. However, it was later discovered that, in 1891, Joseph H. Werner made an index of the 1890 census records for the area of Northampton County, which included Bethlehem, where the Clark family lived, meaning that Sarah's 1890 census entry - which lists her age as "10" - was preserved.