No early life evidence and you consider it to be the strongest case for a 116+ man ever...

Posted by: @aquanaut

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I conclude that with certainty, Mr. Goddard Ezekiel Dodge Diamond lived 118 years. I am not a professional researcher and my research may be wrong, and there may be documentation out there that I am not aware of which debunks his case [...]

These two sentences sound a bit contradictory, don't they?

A bit of critical thinking wouldn't go amiss here. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Sure, the "65 year old" man in the 1862 census might well be the same person as the "118 year old" man who died in 1914, but age inflation can happen very early on - for various reasons (such as claiming a pension or other benefits, or even just not really being sure and taking a guess). You can't account for any of his life before the age of "65", and you're willing to accept this as case as being the oldest man ever?

Let's investigate... He says in his book "The secret of long life : or, how to live in three centuries" that his parents were Joseph Diamond and Mahala Allen and that he was born in Plymouth, MA, USA in 1796.

Luckily he had siblings.

Sylvanus Damon (1817? - 1905)

Death Record

Father's Name Joseph Damon
Mother's Name Mahala Allen
Death Date 14 Dec 1905
Age 88
Event Place Buckfield, , Maine, United States

Chandler Damon (1818? - 1900)

Death Record

Father's Name Joseph Damon
Mother's Name Mahala Allen
Death Date 17 Mar 1900
Age 82
Event Place Sumner, , Maine, United States

Sarah Frances McKenney (1823? - 1924) 

1847 Marriage

Name Sarah F. Damon
Spouse's Age 22
Spouse's Father's Name Joseph Damon
Spouse's Mother's Name Mahala Damon
Marriage Date 14 Oct 1847

Death Record

Birthplace Sumner, Maine
Father's Name Joseph Damon
Mother's Name Mahala Allen
Death Date 7 May 1924
Age 101
Event Place Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Judith Given (1825? - 1910)

Death Record

Father's Name Joseph Damon
Mother's Name Mahala Allan
Death Date 28 Dec 1910
Age 85
Event Place Atkinson, New Hampshire

Samuel A Damon (1831? - 1920)

Death Record

Father's Name Joseph Damon
Mother's Name Mahaba Allen
Death Date 16 Jan 1920
Age 89
Event Place Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

Josua A Damon (1840? - 1920)

Death Record
Father's Name Joseph Damon
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Mahala Allan
Death Date 27 Dec 1920
Age 80
Event Place Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

So he claimed to have been born 20 years earlier than his siblings. Make what you wish from that.

Oh, and here is the 1850 US Census

Joseph Damon Male 56 Maine
Mahala Damon Female 54 Maine
  Jason Damon Male 19 Maine 
  Abigail Damon Female 17 Maine
  Joseph B Damon Male 15 Maine
  Joshua Damon Male 12 Maine

So his parents were born in the 1790s.

So a woman who had her first child in 1796, and her last in 1840. Even being extremely generous and assuming she had her first child at 16, that means she'd have given birth to Josua at...age 60. Hmm.

@024tomi I was just saying that I personally conclude, unless further evidence came to light which I now see under your comment.

@ell He had no reason to lie in the January 1862 census, but he could have inflated his age earlier on. The picture of 65 year old Diamond in 1861 does not look like a man in his 40s or 50s but rather a man much older.

Here's the entire family. He was born in 1819.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS65-WWWN-4?cat=349876

Strongest case ever....

@aquanaut_chalk There are plenty of reasons why people lie about their age. It can be intentionally (such as wanting to claim a pension), or unintentionally (they aren't sure themselves).

@930310 you have a good point here, but the surname does not match. I mean yeah the parent's names match and everything but there's no evidence I found that Goddard ever switched his Surname from Damon to Diamond. However, I have not read his book, as it requires a subscription. Does he mention in his book going by the Surname Damon and then switching it? From the research that I found, the only unmarried Goddard Diamond comes from 1796. Besides if the Joseph and Mahala Damon were born in the 1790s, then that proves there's no way he could be related to them. Who do you think is the strongest case for a man older than Kimura? (Besides Alves). I think Diamond's is extremely strong because of the records of a 1796 born Diamond. 

Are you trolling or just ignorant? "Damon" and "Diamond" sound pretty much the same when you say them out loud. This man wasn't even a centenarian when he died. Case closed.

@930310 There's no need to be an stuck up arrogant jerk. I honestly thought I had made a major breakthrough with this case. I'm always willing to admit I'm wrong. I never said that he was a validated SC. All I said was that he was strongest case I had found so far. And it was in my opinion that he was indeed 118. Honestly you make a good case. I do see it now, that the odds of a Goddard Ezekiel Dodge Diamond and a Goddard Ezekiel Dodge Dammon/Damon are strikingly low. I retract my early statement where I said I was certain he was 118. I honestly believed it when I made it, as I had no idea the contents of his book or that the record you sent in the picture even existed.

This is a very good lesson in "if something seems too good to be true, it almost always is". This is why it is so good to have LQ, which is extremely thorough with cases and has exceptionally talented researchers to make sure every case is watertight.

 I would like to say that I was wrong in Diamond's case. I did not read his book, and I did not look up the names of his siblings or parents. I truly believed his case was much stronger, but it turns out that it wasn't. I still find it odd that with his birthdate of 1819, that would mean he was only 41/42 in the picture above. To me, that does not look like a man in his early 40s. Perhaps the picture is of his father? Or the website and source I got my information mislabeled him as someone else? I really don't know what to think, but I doubt that is a 41 or 42 year old man. Anyways, I apologize if I wasted people's time. 

@aquanaut_chalk It's not a waste of time as long as people are able to learn from it.

@aquanaut_chalk remember that it was he himself that claimed that the picture was taken in the 1860s. I believe that it’s from the late 1880s.

Posted by: @aquanaut

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@930310 There's no need to be an stuck up arrogant jerk.

There's no need for such strong language, thank you very much.

As for your eagerness to validate cases: good to see! However, perhaps it's a good idea to see what standards / procedures / protocols validation organisations have/follow (e.g. GRG, MPIDR, IDL, LQ, ESO, etc) and try and copy such a strategy too --> such as crossreferencing familial information and the likes. Good luck with your future endeavours in this! 😊