| Delphia Welford | |
 Welford in her centenarian years | |
| Birth: | 9 September 1875 Okolona, Mississippi, USA |
| Death: | 14 November 1992 Humboldt, Tennessee, USA |
| Age: | 117 years, 66 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Validated | |
Delphia S. Welford (9 September 1875 – 14 November 1992) was an American supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography
Delphia Welford claimed to have been born on 9 September 1881; however, the research conducted by the Gerontology Research Group between the years 2016–2023 determined that she was actually born in 1875, and that she was born in Okolona, Mississippi, USA.
Welford's parents were Richard and Heddie Welford. The family moved to Humboldt, Gibson, Tennessee when she was still a child. She had one son, Leo Mathis, in the late 1890s. Welford never married and spent the rest of her life in Humboldt. She was a homemaker and a member of the Lane Chapel C.M.E Church.
Welford died at Parkview Manor Health Care Center in Humboldt, Tennessee, USA on 14 November 1992 at the age of 117 years, 66 days.
Longevity Records
Welford was the oldest validated living person in the United States from 7 July 1990 (following the death of Easter Wiggins) to her own death. She was also the second-oldest validated living person in the world (behind Jeanne Calment of France), and is also the oldest person on record to never become the world's oldest living person and the only non-World's Oldest Living Person Titleholders who has lived until 117. She is currently the eleventh-oldest validated person ever.
Welford remained the oldest validated person ever from the United States, having surpassed the age of Easter Wiggins on 16 October 1991, until her age was later surpassed by Sarah Knauss on 30 November 1997.
On 9 September 1992, Welford became the first validated person from the USA to reach the age of 117, and the second validated person overall to reach the age of 117 (after Jeanne Calment 6 months before). She is also one of only three validated people from North America to reach the age of 117 (the others being Marie-Louise Meilleur and Sarah Knauss), and one of only two validated people from the USA to reach the age of 117 (the other being Knauss). She was the penultimate survivor born in 1875 (the last being Calment died in 1997).
Welford is currently the oldest validated person ever born in the U.S. state of Mississippi, the oldest validated person ever to have died in the U.S. state of Tennessee, the oldest validated African-American and the only African-American to reach the age of 117. She's also the second-oldest validated person ever to reside in the United States, behind Sarah Knauss, and the third-oldest person ever to have been born in the United States, behind Knauss and Maria Branyas Morera.
Age Validation
Welford's age was verified by the SSA study (led by Bert Kestenbaum and B. Renee Ferguson), Robert Young, Waclaw Jan Kroczek, Delphia Boykin, Ilias Leivaditis, Jimmy Lindberg, Daniel Gonik and Oliver Trim, and (posthumously) validated by the GRG on 1 May 2023. The validation was announced on the World Supercentenarian Forum.
Gallery
References
- Historical validations by the Gerontology Research Group (2023 announcements) Gerontology Research Group
- Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1875 Gerontology Research Group
- Death mention The Jackson Sun, Jackson, Tennessee 17 Nov 1992, Tue • Page 5
- Delphia Welford (1881 - 1992) AncientFaces
- The Gerontology Research Group validates 117-year old Delphia Welford (1875-1992) of Humboldt, Tennessee, as the African-American Longevity Recordholder of the United States of America. World Supercentenarian Forum, New GRG validations, 30 April 2023
- 1880 Census Ancestry. Shows her siblings names and parents names along with their (estimated) birth dates.