List of the earliest-born people to be photographed

When photography became widespread in 1839, there were several centenarians and supercentenarians who had their photographs taken. The oldest subjected with a confirmed dated photograph was John Adams who was 100 when he was photographed in 1845. However, the oldest unconfirmed photograph was Caesar, who was either 113 or 114, which if confirmed would make him one of the oldest Americans to ever live. +ImageNameAge when photographedDOBDescriptionSourceCaesar113-114 (?)1737/40 (?)Caesar was a slave who worked for 3 or 4 generations of the Nicoll family in New York. He retired in 1817, and was given his freedom in 1841. 1850 United States CensusJohn OwenAbout 100 or overApril 16, 1735/1741 (?)John Owen was a veteran of both the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Date of birth uncertain. Baptized on September 2, 1744.1843 Jamestown Journal ObituaryConnecticut, Vital Records, 1768

United States, Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1848John Adams 100February 1, 1744 or 1745John Adams was a shoemaker, veteran of the Revolutionary War and a widow. He was photographed in 1845 on his 100th birthday.Taylor, M. (2013). The Last Muster Volume 2; Faces of the American Revolution. The Kent State University Press. .

Ian Ker, John Henry Newman. A Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 137.Hannah Stilley Gorby94 (?)1746 (?)Hannah was born in 1746 to Swedish immigrants in Delaware. The subject of this photo is doubted to be her, and there is no evidence that Gorby lived into the age of photography.Delaware, Vital Records, 1770 Maine, Church Records, 1770

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Marriage Records, 1770Dr. Ezra Green101June 23, 1746Dr. Green was a Harvard University alumni, a surgeon during the American Revolutionary War, Member of the Constitutional Convention, and a deacon for a congregational church. His original photograph is lost but a pencil sketch was made of it after his death.Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1746 Massachusetts, State Vital Records, 1875

New Hampshire, Marriages, 1778Baltus Stone99June 7, 1747Baltus was a Revolutionary War veteran who fought at Battle of Long Island and married a Native American woman after the war.Mary Munroe Sanderson104October 10, 1748Mary was born in Lexington, to Scottish immigrants. In October of 1772, Mary married Samuel Sanderson who worked as a cabinetmaker and later a corporal in the Continental Army. During the war, Mary begrudgingly took care of a wounded British soldier who she discovered in her bed. Massachusetts, Births and Christenings, 1740 Massachusetts, State Vital Records, 1772

Massachusetts, State Vital Records, 1852Margaret Moser102July 5, 1750Originally known as Aunty Moser, she has since been identified as Margaret Moser. The photograph was taken when she was 102.Samuel Sprague89December 22, 1753Samuel was a mason, father of Charles Sprague, and took part in the Boston Tea Party in 1773 at the age of 19 and fought in the Revolutionary War and saw combat at the siege of Boston and fought at Trenton and Princeton.Conrad Heyer103April 10, 1749/1753Conrad Heyer was an American farmer, veteran of the American Revolutionary War, who allegedly took part in the crossing of the Delaware River. In 1852, he posed for a daguerreotype at the age of 103.Taylor, Maureen (2010). The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation. The Kent State University Press. pp. 76–77. .Dr. Joseph Souberbielle91March 18, 1754Joseph Souberbielle was a French surgeon who served as chief surgeon for the victors of the Bastille (1789) and in 1793, he was a juror of the Revolutionary Tribunal. The photograph is believed to be of him or French doctor François-Victor Bally.Samuel Hahnemann86April 10, 1755Hahnemann was a German medical doctor and the creator of homeopathy, a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine.Martin Routh99September 18, 1755Martin Routh was an English scholar and was President of Magdalen College, Oxford from 1791-1854.Middleton, p. 124.

R. W. Church, The Oxford Movement. Twelve Years: 1833–1845 (University of Chicago Press, 1970), p. 207Ralph Farnham102July 7, 1756Ralph was a Revolutionary veteran who was supposed to participate in the Battle of Bunker Hill but arrived later due to an error in his colonel's orders.United States, Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1831Abraham Wheelwright93July 26, 1757Captain Abraham Wheelwright was a soldier in the Revolutionary War who was present at the Battle of Trenton and later at Princeton, finally wintering at Morristown before his discharge in 1777.Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1780

United States, Census, 1850Lemuel Cook105September 10, 1759Lemuel was a farmer who fathered 10 children and fought at Brandywine and in the Virginian campaign, and was wounded several times. He was present at Charles Cornwallis' surrender in October 1781.Reverend E.B. Hillard, The Last Men of the Revolution (1864), republished 1968 with additional notes by Wendell Garrett.

Don N. Hagist, "The Revolution's Last Men: The Soldiers Behind the Photographs, Hardcover – April 6, 2015Daniel F. Bakeman109October 9, 1759Daniel was a farmer, fathered 8 children, and was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and possibly fought at the Battle of Johnston.Reverend E.B. Hillard, The Last Men of the Revolution (1864), republished 1968 with additional notes by Wendell Garrett.

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