Oldest American celebrates her 116th birthday on the 4th of July

There's not very many people alive today who were born in the 19th century. This lady was born in 1898, and she turned 116 years old today.

I hope she enjoys the fireworks and has a happy birthday.

At 116, Arkansas woman named oldest American

A south Arkansas woman celebrated her 116th birthday Friday with cake, a party and a new title — she's now officially the oldest confirmed living American and second-oldest person in the world, the Gerontology Research Group said.

Gertrude Weaver spent her birthday at home at Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation in Camden, about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock. This year's festivities included the new award from the Gerontology Research Group, which analyzed U.S. Census records to determine that Weaver is the oldest living American, rather than 115-year-old Jeralean Talley, who was born in 1899.

The research group, which consults with the Guinness Book of World Records, found that the 1900 Census listed Weaver as 2 years old — putting her birthday in 1898, said Robert Young, the research group's database administrator and senior consultant for Guinness.

World's oldest person dies at age 116 in Arkansas

Just days after becoming the world's oldest documented person, 116-year-old Gertrude Weaver died Monday in Arkansas.

Weaver became the oldest person in the world after the death of a 117-year-old Japanese woman last week, according to records kept by the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. Weaver was born in 1898.

Camden Mayor Marie Trisollini chatted with Weaver last week when the supercentenarian's roommate celebrated her 100th birthday.

"She was a really sweet lady. She was relatively perky and coherent when I talked with her before the party," Trisollini said. "When you asked for advice on how to live a long life she would say, 'Use a lot of skin moisturizer, treat everyone nice, love your neighbor and eat your own cooking. Don't eat at fast food places.'"