Stephen Joice
From Kook Science
Stephen Joice: "I always use Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey which I find serves as a superb tonic and general renovator."
Stephen Joice was a resident of Waco, Texas, who, in 1904, was reported to have made an affidavit claiming to have been born in the Louisiana Province in 1756 (making him 148 years old, a super-centenarian) in order to receive a poll tax exemption from W. L. Tucker, tax collector in McLennan County.
Contemporary Accounts
Newspapers
- "Swears He Is 148 Years Old", New York Times, 1904-01-21, https://www.nytimes.com/1904/01/21/archives/swears-he-is-148-years-old.html
- "Stephen Joice, (col.) of Waco, is declared to be the oldest person in the world, so far as known.", Cherokee County Banner (Jacksonville, Texas) 17 (28): 4, 1904-01-22, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth507896/m1/4/?q=%22Stephen+Joice%22
- "OLDEST MAN IN THE WORLD. Stephen Joice, Colored, of Waco, is 148 Years of Age — Secured Poll Tax Exemption", The Democrat (McKinney, Texas) 20 (52): 1, 1904-01-28, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth192209/m1/1
- "Stephen Joice note", Palo Pinto County Star 28 (32): 2, 1904-01-29, https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1018086/m1/2/zoom/?q=%22Stephen%20Joice%22&resolution=3&lat=3659.8764658472155&lon=2131.6631934341294, "Tax Collector of McClennen county recently issued a poll tax exemption certificate to Stephen Joice, a colored man, whose age was put down as 1480 years, according to which he is the oldest man in the world."
Advertising
- "The Oldest Man in the World, Stephen Joice, 148 Years of Age, Kept Vigorous and Well by Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey", Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey: Medicine for All Mankind, Being a Short Treatise On How to Acquire And Preserve Health, Together With Endorsements From Those Who Have Used This Marvelous Curative Agent, Rochester, N.Y.: Medical Department, Duffy Malt Whiskey Company, 1904, p. 31, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175035665135;view=1up;seq=33
- "OLDEST LIVING MEN AND WOMEN SAY Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey PROLONGED THEIR LIVES And Has Kept Them Hale, Hearty and Vigorous Beyond the Century Mark", New York Evening World, 1904-03-24, https://hatch.kookscience.com/wiki/File:Duffy%27s_Pure_Malt_Whiskey_-_New_York_Evening_World_(p._3)_-_1904-03-23.jpg
_-_1904-03-23.jpg){kind=link}