https://longeviquest.com/2025/02/a-union-that-lasts-a-lifetime/

A Union That Lasts A Lifetime

Most humans live between 75-90 years and get married in their 20s or 30s, meaning that it isn’t uncommon for married couples to celebrate 40 or even 50 years of marriage. However, this does not happen for everyone as some die young and divorces are becoming more common nowadays. Add to this that some couples who marry at younger ages split up as they mature and grow apart, meaning that few of the people who have the potential to have extraordinarily long marriages “achieve” that potential. Still, some people do live to be (super)centenarians and in rare instances both partners live past 100. Take “Steel Grandpa” and his wife who lived to 101 and 104. They were married for a whopping 77 years!

When I read about longevity-related records as a child and teenager the longest “verified” marriage that I knew of was between Daniel Bakerman and his wife Susan who claimed to have been married for 91 years and 12 days, having married as children in 1772 and their marriage ending in 1863 when Susan died at the alleged age of 105. Daniel Bakerman died six years later at the supposed age of 109. Research made by myself and others has cast doubts on this claim, especially as Bakerman and his wife were listed as being several years younger in the US censuses and having displayed age-inflation throughout the census record. Bakerman also claimed to be a veteran of the American revolutionary war but this hasn’t been substantiated.

Ok, these people married young and were allegedly married for a very long time, but it can’t be proven since the documentation doesn’t exist. There’s also another example of two people having married young and being married for quite a long time. Karam and Kartari Chand from India and later the UK claimed a marriage that lasted almost 91 years, with Karam having been 20 and Kartari 13 at the time of marriage. Both lived to be centenarians and Karam Chand even claimed to be a supercentenarian when he died, but there’s no proof of these claims. The ethics of children marrying could also be discussed as these relationships rarely are based on two consenting individuals who are knowledgeable about everything that a marriage entails.

Perhaps 90+ years of marriage is pushing it a bit then, but what about 75+ years? This has happened several times, in fact I am aware of two supercentenarians that were married for this long. Delio Venturotti (1909-2022) and his wife Dulcina married in 1946 and remained married until his death in June 2022.  William Fullingim (1855-1965) of Texas/Oklahoma married Nancy Watson (1860-1964) on 11 August 1879 and their marriage stretched until 25 April 1964 for a full 84 years, 258 days.

Did the marriage between Jacob and Sarah Hiller really last for almost 89 years? Source: The Bucyrus Evening Telegraph. 23 Jan 1897

When I started writing this editorial I was sure that Fullingim’s marriage at one point would have been the longest marriage of all time, but it appears that a couple of Canadian-Americans born in the 1700s have them beat. Jacob Hiller (1789?-1899) and his wife Sarah (1792?-1898) are verified by Guinness as having been married from 23 April 1809 to 8 April 1898, meaning a marriage length of 88 years, 349 days. 

I was curious about this case as this would have made Jacob Hiller the world’s oldest living person at the time of his death, so I decided to trace them in the documentation.

The 1880 census isn’t exactly promising for proving that this claim is accurate as Jacob Hiller is listed as being 82 years old and Sarah 79 years old, which would indicate that he was born in 1797 and she in 1801. Furthermore, they have a son, Ira, listed as being 32 years old at the time, indicating that he was born in 1847/48 and Sarah would thus have been in her mid-50s when he was born.

The 1870 census is even less encouraging as Jacob is 66 years old and Sarah 64, indicating births in 1803 and 1806. Ira and his older brother John are 22 and 28 years old, respectively.

The 1861 Canada census also suggests that Jacob and Sarah were younger. Jacob is listed as being 56 and Sarah 54, with John being 22, Ira 17 and a few other children (Jessie and Susanna) being even younger. I’m not sure that this is the correct match, however.

The 1851 census match continues to imply age-inflation in later life as Jacob and Sarah are now 47 and 44 (indicating 1803 and 1807) with their children Abraham (24), Jacob (22), Eliza (19), Huldah (17), John (14), Marg (10), Ira (8), Jessie (6), Susanna (4), and Henry (2). Having children born in the late 1840s heavily indicates that at least Sarah exaggerated her age.

So I am quite suspicious about the veracity of this claim given this information. I have also checked through the list of marriages of Ernestown, Ontario, where Jacob and Sarah allegedly married in 1809 and can’t find any proof of them having married in 1809 or later for that matter either. In fact, contemporary reports note that they were wed by Robert McDowall in Ernestown but a compilation of  marriages performed by McDowall does not include one between Jacob Hiller and Sarah Davey. There is a marriage in 1802 between a Jacob Hiller and Elizabeth Boise that took place in Ernestown but it might be Jacob’s father’s marriage (could this indicate that “our” Jacob wasn’t even born yet at this time?). Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place?

Looking at what evidence there is in support of this claim I can’t really find any, other than the death records which support them having been advanced centenarians. There’s also an alleged family bible that I can’t find any proof of still existing… Their reported ages also vary tremendously in the news reports, with Sarah being 104 in one report and 106 in another and Jacob apparently being 115 years old and in good health in mid-1899? And some reports indicated that they were celebrating their 87th marriage anniversary in 1897, which would indicate that they married in 1810? Then there are reports that Jacob’s father lived to be 106 and several relatives also having lived extraordinarily long lives. But where’s the proof? It appears that their marriage length was verified based on the death record of Sarah Hiller saying that she married at “18,” which she very well could have but there is little evidence supporting that she made it to 106.

But I digress. It’s possible that the Hillers have documentation supporting their extreme claim but I cannot find it. But I am more sure of the claim of Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher who were married between 1924 and 2010, for 86 years, 290 days. At least I can find proof of their marriage actually having taken place on 13 May 1924… So I’ll go with recognizing this pair as the longest verifiably married couple, at least for now.

And we also have several current marriages that have lasted a really long time. Manoel Angelim Dino and Maria de Sousa Dino were recently recognized by us at LongeviQuest as having the longest known marriage, and they got married on 20 November 1940!

Take home message

Many marriages are purported to have lasted way longer than they actually did. Marriage length inflation appears to be common in some instances and there’s a need to verify the length of marriages just like it is necessary to validate exceptional longevity. Some marriages see both spouses turning 100 and the marriage length extending beyond the average lifespan. These instances are, however, rare. If you want to have a chance of setting a record for longest marriage you and your partner have to marry at a very young age and live to be close to supercentenarian ages. And 85+ years of marriage require that you have to be able to stand one another too!