A North Carolina woman, who reportedly was the oldest living American, passed away Saturday at the age of 116.
Hester Ford was born Aug. 15, 1905, in Lancaster County, South Carolina, ABC 11 reported. She lived through 21 U.S. presidential administrations, from Theodore Roosevelt to Joe Biden, and through both the Spanish flu and COVID-19 pandemics.
Hester McCardell Ford, the oldest living American, passed away at the age of 116 on Saturday.
Ford had at least 12 children, 48 grandchildren and more than 200 great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.https://t.co/ouUjnHXGBH
— KOKH FOX 25 (@OKCFOX) April 19, 2021
Ford was born on a farm in South Carolina, where she spent her formative years plowing and picking cotton, The Charlotte Observer reported. She got married to John Ford at 14 and gave birth to the couple’s first child at the age of 15.
Ford had 12 children, 48 grandchildren and more than 200 great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, ABC 11 reported. (RELATED: Europe’s Oldest Person, A French Nun, Recovers From COVID-19 In Time For 117th Birthday)
“She not only represented the advancement of our family but of the Black African American race and culture in our country. She was a reminder of how far we have come as people on this earth. She has been celebrated all over the world by local governments, community leaders, social media, foreign dignities and Presidents as a cherished jewel of society for holding the honor of being the oldest living person in America,” her family said in a Facebook post.