Osage City's 'longest-lived human'
by Jenny Smith, Historic City of Jefferson Aug. 7 2021 @ 12:25am

OSAGE CITY, KANSAS— The local legend in Osage City tells of an ancient local Black man who lived to be 142 years old, spanning three different centuries.

His name was Richard Hoops. Living in a hut on the banks of the Osage River, he made his living fishing and doing odd jobs.

In an interview reported in the Kansas City Star in 1894, he put his birth year at 1770. He was apparently born to a slave woman belonging to the John Haeden family in Chatham County, North Carolina. The Haeden family moved with their slaves to Missouri sometime in the early part of the 19th century where Richard was sold to the George Hoops family near Vienna.

When Richard was emancipated, he took the Hoops surname and moved first to Westphalia then in around 1875 to Osage City. He died in 1913 at an age reported to be 142 years. Newspapers all over the county in 1894 reported the phenomenon of this aged man from Osage City.

"In appearance Hoops resembles a mummy. His skin is like parchment, he is toothless and hairless, but his step is remarkedly firm and eyes bright and clear."

As evidence of his age, Hoops recalled some events in the 18th century that included witnessing the surrender of British General Cornwallis to George Washington in 1781 in Yorktown, Virginia. He also recalled holding the reins of a horse belonging to Revolutionary War hero Gen. Nathanael Greene. Greene, who died in 1786, did live in Chatham County, North Carolina, but the Cornwallis surrender was 250 miles away from Chatham County.

In 1912, he was "on exhibit" at the state fair in Sedalia as the oldest person in the world.
News of Hoops's death in 1913 again caused a flurry of reports in national newspapers. An Indianapolis Star story reported that "John Wendler and Phillip Deidel of Osage City, both three score and ten years (70) have lived all their lives near Osage City. They say when they were boys Hoops was regarded as an old man even then."

Many born into slavery had uncertain birth years, let alone birthdays. Did Hoops reckon his age from the events he lived through? Trying to confirm his birth in 1770 is nearly impossible, because records of slave births are rare. The census slave schedules, at best records only the numbers of slaves, their gender and age under a given head of household.

There was one John Haeden living in Chatham County in 1790 and 1800 who owned 10 slaves. Was Richard one of them? The census in that decade did not list the age or gender of the slaves.

There was a George Hoops in the Maries County census in 1850 that owned five slaves. Maybe one of those was Richard?

As a slave at the Hoops farm near Vienna, Richard apparently fathered two children. The 1870 census is the earliest record of Hoops, this being the first census in which former slaves would have been listed by name. His age is given at 55 and there are two sons listed, Isaac, 9, and Richard Jr., 9.

They are living in Osage County. In the 1880 census, they are living in Cole County (Osage City). It lists Richard's age as 65, Isaac, 18 and Richard Jr. 16. The given ages of the sons don't match and often names are misspelled (Haeden or Hayden?). What we learn from this is that these early hand-written census records are sometimes wrong.

On Oct. 12, 1880, Richard Hoops married Julia McMahan in Osage City by the justice of the peace in the presence of two witnesses, Henry and Sarah Smith. There is no trace of Julia before or thereafter. Did she marry a 110-year-old man? Or was this a marriage of his son Richard Jr.?

Hoops' death certificate dated Sept. 3, 1913, gives his birthplace as Pittsboro, North Carolina; his father was "Wm Hayden;" his mother was listed as unknown. His birthday is given as Dec. 28, 1770, and that he was "widowed." There is no death certificate of Julia in Cole County.

Hoops's son Isaac stayed in the Osage City area all his life and died in 1950 at the age of 99. Isaac married Mary Ellen Thomas with whom he had a son, George. There are no records of Isaac's brother Richard after the 1880 census.

Most longevity claims around the world, and there are a fair number, come without solid proof of the birth year. Birth certificates were not a common thing until after 1900. Maybe the next human to reach the age of 145 will have an official birth certificate.

Richard Hoops was buried in Osage City, but there are no grave markers for him. There is a "negro cemetery" on private land near Osage City. Hopefully, he lies there in peace in one of those unmarked graves.

Source: https://www.newstribune.com/.../cole-county.../882659/