Emmanuel Rodriguez, LongeviQuest
In 1909, William Taft replaced Theodore Roosevelt as president of the United States, women couldn't yet vote in the US, and Elizabeth Francis, now the oldest living American, was born.
She claimed the title from Edie Ceccarelli, who died at the age of 116 years and 17 days on February 22, from an unknown cause.
Francis, 114 years and 217 days old at the time of writing, was born in Louisiana but moved to Texas in 1920.
She has lived with her 94-year-old daughter, Dorothy Williams, since 1999, although caregivers visit daily, TODAY.com reported last summer.
She started using a wheelchair in 2017, at the age of 108, the Washington Post reported, and was bedbound when the outlet interviewed her in August 2023.
Francis also has some memory problems, but she's mentally alert and recognizes her family, Williams told TODAY.com. When researchers from LongeviQuest, an organization that verifies the ages of supercentenarians, went to visit her for her 114th birthday in July 2023, she was able to hold court for visitors for four hours.
Although Francis doesn't have a secret for living to 114, she credits her longevity to God. She told TODAY.com last summer, "It's not my secret. It's the good Lord's good blessing. I just thank God I'm here."
But her family thinks a few lifestyle factors have contributed to her living so long.
Francis has always tried to take care of her health, including by walking regularly until her 90s, and never smoking or drinking alcohol, her granddaughter, Ethel Harrison, told TODAY.com.
She always cooked using vegetables that she grew in her garden, such as collard greens, mustard greens, carrots, and okra, according to TODAY.com.
Harrison told ABC13 that she has never seen her grandmother eat fast food.
"Whenever you went to her house, I don't care what day of the week, she was cooking. So, I just think that had a lot to do with it," she said of her grandmother's longevity.
Dietitians typically recommend people center their diets around whole foods, with one study suggesting that eating more plants and less processed food could add a decade to a person's life.
Francis also spends a lot of time with her family: Harrison visits her mother and grandmother at their house most days, and she told TODAY.com that they are "always doing things together as a family unit."
Research suggests having strong relationships and socializing are associated with a longer, healthier life.
Francis also worked hard to support her family as a single mother and stayed active even when she retired. "She was a hard worker. That's what I remember most about her. Even when she retired, she still would work. She did domestic work, but she was always working," Harrison said.
LongeviQuest researchers previously told BI that working for as long as possible is common among the supercentenarians they have met, while a 2016 study showed that retiring early increases the risk of death.
