Ex-Slave, 125, Seeks Divorce
HATTIESBURG. Miss. (UPI) — Sylvester Magee, a former Negro slave who claims to be the oldest living Civil War veteran, has filed for a divorce at the age of 125.
Magee, who lives in a small two-room house here, filed the papers in Forrest County Chancery Court, asking to be divorced from his wife Marie. He charged desertion.
No age was given for Mrs. Magee who now lives in Poughkeepsie, NY. Court records show Magee and his wife were married in 1949. They have one child, a girl born in 1950.
Magee says he celebrated his 125th birthday last May 29 and was born on the J.J. Shanks plantation in Carpet, NC, in 1841.
He attributes everything he has ever had, including his long life, to the "good Lord above."
Documented records support Magee's story that he was sold on the slave market to Hugh Magee in 1860, supposedly at the age of 19.
Columbia Daily Herald 12 Dec 1966
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Ex-Slave, 128 'Ready To Go' When Called
COLUMBIA, Miss. (UPI) — He admits his memory "ain't real good" these days, but Sylvester (Slave) Magee, age 128, still is alert and ready to talk about war, women and "the good Lord above."
He'd forgotten Thursday was his birthday — there was no celebration or cake this year — until an inquisitive newsman decided to check in on the aged, white-crowned Negro who may be the oldest person in the United States.
His voice was low, but he spoke clearly and distinctly through his four remaining teeth, one broken off at the gums.
The simple secret of his long life, he said, is "the good Lord above ... He's smiling down on me.
"I'll be ready to go when the Lord is ready to take me. He's took care of me a long time, when He calls I'm going to be ready. I ain't scared," the old man said.
Magee has been living with a daughter and her family in a ramshackle house in this little south Mississippi town off and on for the past three years.
Mostly he sits in a wooden chair chewing tobacco and smoking a few cigarettes.
But he can still walk around in the yard.
He has no records to prove his age, but local historians, who looked into his story four years ago, were convinced he was telling the truth.
Magee claims he was born a slave on a North Carolina plantation May 29, 1841, and was sold on the slave market at Enterprise, Miss., in 1858. He adopted the name "Magee" at that time, using the last name of the plantation owner who purchased him.
Columbia Daily Herald 30 May 1969
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Sylvester Magee's obituary proclaimed him to be "The Last American Slave." According to oral histories, Sylvester Magee was born in North Carolina on May 29, 1841 and sold at Enterprise, Mississippi. He was present at the Vicksburg siege and pressed into service in the Union army. Another source relates that Magee also had duties as a gravedigger in the Vicksburg burial details. By the mid-1960s, due to his advanced age, Sylvester Magee became nationally famous. On his 124th birthday the citizens of Collins, Mississippi threw him a party and Magee was sent a letter of congratulations from President Lyndon Johnson. Governor Paul Johnson even declared the day "Sylvester Magee Day." Magee took his first flight to New York for a television appearance and later flew to Philadelphia to appear on the Mike Douglas Show. He appeared in the March 1967 issue of Jet magazine, and was noted by President Richard Nixon as probably the oldest citizen of the United States, having been identified as the nation's oldest living person by a life insurance company. When asked why he had lived so long, he simply stated that the Lord had been good to him. Reportedly, his last words were "Lord have mercy." Sylvester Magee was likely the last living human being who possessed any firsthand memory of the trials of the Civil War or institutionalized slavery.
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GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011, dated 17 Oct 1971, has Sylvester McGee (died 8 Oct 1971) with the children listed as: daughters Catherine Magee and Mrs Nathaniel Connerly, and son Mayo Magee. The newspaper quoted is the Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
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1870 Census, taken 28 Jul 1870, has Frank Hosmer, 33, farmer, married to Sarah, 23, living in Franklinton, Washington Parish, LA. Children are: Thomas, m, 10; Elizabeth, f, 9; Ida, f, 6; and Jasper, m, 4. Also in the household are: Sylvester Magee, 22, m, farm laborer, and Violet Birkham, f, 17, farm laborer.
VA Master Index has Sylvester McGee of Hattiesburg, MS, born 29 May 1841. Veteran of Civil War. Date of claim 4 Apr 1966.
Ex-Slave, 125, Seeks Divorce
HATTIESBURG. Miss. (UPI) — Sylvester Magee, a former Negro slave who claims to be the oldest living Civil War veteran, has filed for a divorce at the age of 125.
Magee, who lives in a small two-room house here, filed the papers in Forrest County Chancery Court, asking to be divorced from his wife Marie. He charged desertion.
No age was given for Mrs. Magee who now lives in Poughkeepsie, NY. Court records show Magee and his wife were married in 1949. They have one child, a girl born in 1950.
Magee says he celebrated his 125th birthday last May 29 and was born on the J.J. Shanks plantation in Carpet, NC, in 1841.
He attributes everything he has ever had, including his long life, to the "good Lord above."
Documented records support Magee's story that he was sold on the slave market to Hugh Magee in 1860, supposedly at the age of 19.
Columbia Daily Herald 12 Dec 1966
---
Ex-Slave, 128 'Ready To Go' When Called
COLUMBIA, Miss. (UPI) — He admits his memory "ain't real good" these days, but Sylvester (Slave) Magee, age 128, still is alert and ready to talk about war, women and "the good Lord above."
He'd forgotten Thursday was his birthday — there was no celebration or cake this year — until an inquisitive newsman decided to check in on the aged, white-crowned Negro who may be the oldest person in the United States.
His voice was low, but he spoke clearly and distinctly through his four remaining teeth, one broken off at the gums.
The simple secret of his long life, he said, is "the good Lord above ... He's smiling down on me.
"I'll be ready to go when the Lord is ready to take me. He's took care of me a long time, when He calls I'm going to be ready. I ain't scared," the old man said.
Magee has been living with a daughter and her family in a ramshackle house in this little south Mississippi town off and on for the past three years.
Mostly he sits in a wooden chair chewing tobacco and smoking a few cigarettes.
But he can still walk around in the yard.
He has no records to prove his age, but local historians, who looked into his story four years ago, were convinced he was telling the truth.
Magee claims he was born a slave on a North Carolina plantation May 29, 1841, and was sold on the slave market at Enterprise, Miss., in 1858. He adopted the name "Magee" at that time, using the last name of the plantation owner who purchased him.
Columbia Daily Herald 30 May 1969
---
Sylvester Magee's obituary proclaimed him to be "The Last American Slave." According to oral histories, Sylvester Magee was born in North Carolina on May 29, 1841 and sold at Enterprise, Mississippi. He was present at the Vicksburg siege and pressed into service in the Union army. Another source relates that Magee also had duties as a gravedigger in the Vicksburg burial details. By the mid-1960s, due to his advanced age, Sylvester Magee became nationally famous. On his 124th birthday the citizens of Collins, Mississippi threw him a party and Magee was sent a letter of congratulations from President Lyndon Johnson. Governor Paul Johnson even declared the day "Sylvester Magee Day." Magee took his first flight to New York for a television appearance and later flew to Philadelphia to appear on the Mike Douglas Show. He appeared in the March 1967 issue of Jet magazine, and was noted by President Richard Nixon as probably the oldest citizen of the United States, having been identified as the nation's oldest living person by a life insurance company. When asked why he had lived so long, he simply stated that the Lord had been good to him. Reportedly, his last words were "Lord have mercy." Sylvester Magee was likely the last living human being who possessed any firsthand memory of the trials of the Civil War or institutionalized slavery.
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GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011, dated 17 Oct 1971, has Sylvester McGee (died 8 Oct 1971) with the children listed as: daughters Catherine Magee and Mrs Nathaniel Connerly, and son Mayo Magee. The newspaper quoted is the Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
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1870 Census, taken 28 Jul 1870, has Frank Hosmer, 33, farmer, married to Sarah, 23, living in Franklinton, Washington Parish, LA. Children are: Thomas, m, 10; Elizabeth, f, 9; Ida, f, 6; and Jasper, m, 4. Also in the household are: Sylvester Magee, 22, m, farm laborer, and Violet Birkham, f, 17, farm laborer.
VA Master Index has Sylvester McGee of Hattiesburg, MS, born 29 May 1841. Veteran of Civil War. Date of claim 4 Apr 1966.
