Private, Battery D, 115th (Heavy) Field Artillery, 55th Field Artillery Brigade, 30th "Old Hickory" Division
French Legion of Honor Recipient. United States Army veteran of World War I. Died at the age of 112. At the time of his death, he was recognized by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as the oldest United States veteran. He was a recipient of the Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor given by the French Government in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in 1998.
He was almost certainly the age that he claimed to be since his 1900 US Census entry says that he was born in September 1888 and since his World War I draft registration card (from the late 1910s) gives a September 20, 1888 birth date for him:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/L17B-YKT
His Veterans Administration Master Index record from 1919 also gives a September 20, 1888 birth date for him.
Some other records (his 1910 and 1920 US Census entries) imply a later birth year for him, but if he really was born in September as he claimed and as his records show, then the timings of the births of his siblings would rule out a birth in September 1887, September 1889, September 1890, and September 1891 for him. So, he'd either have to be born in September 1886 or earlier, in September 1888 (as he himself claimed and his earliest record, his 1900 US Census entry, also implies), or in September 1892 or later.
Private, Battery D, 115th (Heavy) Field Artillery, 55th Field Artillery Brigade, 30th "Old Hickory" Division
French Legion of Honor Recipient. United States Army veteran of World War I. Died at the age of 112. At the time of his death, he was recognized by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as the oldest United States veteran. He was a recipient of the Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor given by the French Government in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in 1998.
He was almost certainly the age that he claimed to be since his 1900 US Census entry says that he was born in September 1888 and since his World War I draft registration card (from the late 1910s) gives a September 20, 1888 birth date for him:
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/L17B-YKT
His Veterans Administration Master Index record from 1919 also gives a September 20, 1888 birth date for him.
Some other records (his 1910 and 1920 US Census entries) imply a later birth year for him, but if he really was born in September as he claimed and as his records show, then the timings of the births of his siblings would rule out a birth in September 1887, September 1889, September 1890, and September 1891 for him. So, he'd either have to be born in September 1886 or earlier, in September 1888 (as he himself claimed and his earliest record, his 1900 US Census entry, also implies), or in September 1892 or later.
Family Members
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Harley Lee Painter
1887–1984
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Maggie Dee Painter Carter
1890–1993
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Sarah Catherine Painter Spivey
1891–1987
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Mary E. Painter Crowder
1893–1989
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Mary Liz Painter
1895–1931
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Stella Mae Painter Botts
1899–2004
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Loren Zachariah Painter
1902–1995
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Rosa B. Painter Watson
1903–1995
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Gilbert Newton Painter
1905–1992
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