Charlie Smith was noted for claiming to be the oldest person in the United States, although his claim has been debunked. Smith stated that he had been born in Liberia in 1842 and came to the United States as a slave. Later research indicated that he had been born circa 1874 or even later. In particular, his marriage certificate, issued January 8, 1910, listed him as being 35 years old at the time. Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Charlie Smith. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Smith_%28centenarian%29
How old can a man be? Consider Charlie Smith, who last week celebrated what he calculated to be his 125th birthday in Bartow, Fla. A spry ex-slave, Charlie runs a small cold-drink and candy shop and... www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,899657,00.html