Sarah Knauss - The oldest American person ever

A video about the life of Sarah Knauss - the oldest American ever and the third verified oldest person ever.

Sarah DeRemer Clark was born on September 24, 1880, to Walter Clark and his wife Amelia, the daughter of German immigrants, in Hollywood, Pennsylvania, a small coal mining community in the Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. She was the third of her parents' seven children, but three of her brothers died in infancy and childhood.

Her family later moved to South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state.

In 1901, at roughly 21 years old, she married Abraham Lincoln Knauss (1878–1965). Abraham was a tanner who later became a prominent Republican leader and the recorder of deeds in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, serving as the county's recorder of deeds from 1937 until his retirement in 1951. Abraham died in 1965, at the age of 86. They had one child Kathryn (1903-2005) who lived to be 101. Through most of her life, Knauss acted as a housewife. She enjoyed knitting, crocheting, and sewing.

Before Knauss' death, there were six living generations in her family. In February 1999, Life magazine photographed Knauss with a member from each of these generations, up to her newborn great-great-great-grandchild.

It was not until Knauss reached 111 years old that she took up residency at a nursing home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, due to her frailness and failing eyesight. In 1995, Knauss remarked that she enjoyed her life because she still had her health and could "do things". At 117 years old, Knauss underwent a blood transfusion due to having low hemoglobin, and she continued to take heart medication for the rest of her life. Those around her believed her to be of sound mind up until her death. Within the last year of her life, she still had conversations with her daughter Kathryn. Eventually, she struggled to recognize her daughter; however, this may have been due to her failing hearing and eyesight rather than a failing mind.

When asked how she had survived to her great age, Knauss responded that one should “keep yourself busy, work hard, and not worry about how old you are.” She was a non-smoker and was never considered obese at any point in her life. She did have a fondness for sweets, however, and her great-granddaughter claimed that Knauss "hated vegetables". A member of the staff at Knauss' nursing home claimed that she was the friendliest of all residents at the home, and her relatives failed to remember a point in her life that she scolded anyone or even appeared stressed.

Knauss died of natural causes on December 30, 1999 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. An autopsy was performed on her body, but the results were never made public; however, she was not known to have been suffering from any illness at the time of her death. After her death, Ella Miller (1884–2000) became the world's oldest living person.

Knauss remained the second oldest known validated person until Kane Tanaka outlived her by 10 days in April 2022.

Source: Wikipedia