Sylvester Magee Last American Slave and Last Union Veteran's Autograph

Yesterday the world’s oldest living man died.  He was Walter Breuning born 21 Sept 1896 and he was 114.  But I want to talk about a man who was even older and covered more territory.

This man’s name was Sylvester Magee and he was born in 1841 and died in 1971.  Yes that right, he was 130 years old.  Born a slave and worked on a plantation in Mississippi, he escaped to freedom and joined the Union army, in 1863. Although he had no documentation of his war service, he was admitted to the VA hospital in Jackson in 1966 for pneumonia and later discharged.

Records in the probate division of the Chancery Court in Covington County, Mississippi, dated February 1859, show Magee and his father, Ephriam were owned by slave-owner Hugh Magee. Magee insists May 29, 1841, was his birth date and that he was sold to Hugh Magee’s father who died in 1859. Magee said he obtained freedom after the fall of Vicksburg and served with Union troops.

He wasn’t totally forgotten; President Lyndon Johnson sent him special greetings for his 124th birthday in 1965.   He remained obscure until an article Jet Magazine, 11 May, 1967 was published and then Time Magazine, wrote an article about him and other long-lived individuals in their Friday, Jul. 14, 1967 issue. 

I recently acquired Sylvester Magee’s autograph along with a cover letter from his friend and lawyer.  The second sheet was an affidavit, signed and sealed that the enclosed was indeed, Mr Magee’s signature.  There it was in red ink as bold and clear as you could ask.  A fine red X.  Yes, Sylvester Magee was illiterate but clear of mind.  His mind was so clear that the VA admitted him as a Union veteran and the VA representative was astounded as to the clarity of his memory of the Civil War.

Normally I wouldn’t trust an inscribed X on a document, but this one was written just before Mr Magee became famous and came with impeccable documentation.  The title of World’s Oldest man is passed from one to another, never held for long and the holder always passes it on to the next.

Magee held several titles simultaneously:  Worlds Oldest Man, Oldest Union Veteran, and Oldest Living Ex-Slave   One additional oldest might possibly be Oldest Confederate Veteran.  He had been a Confederate conscript according to the book Black Confederates by Barrow, Segars and Rosenburg, published in 2001.

Sylvester Magee passed away in 15 October 1971 and his obituary was carried in local newspapers as well as Jet Magazine, 11 May 1971.