Grave of World's Oldest Man and "Last Surviving American Slave"
Foxworth, Mississippi
Sylvester MaGee said he was 130 years old when he died in 1971. He also said he'd been enslaved, and that he'd fought for both the Federal and Rebel sides during the Civil War (his Confederate service was involuntary).
MaGee's claims could never be verified, which perhaps explains why he was buried in an unmarked grave until 2012. That's when the county historical society rediscovered the long-dead local celebrity, and placed a one-ton granite slab over his final resting place. A tall headstone, the biggest in its small churchyard cemetery, now marks the spot. Its lengthy text includes the caveat that "few records exist to support his life's claim" but adds that "the clarity and detail with which he recounted his life's experiences would have been impossible without having experienced it first-hand."