Earliest I know for sure is a great aunt we sometimes visited when I was young who was born in 1886 and lived to be 99.
I was shocked that some of the posters had met people who were born in the 1870s and 1880s until I remembered my great-grandfather who died when I was 5, and was born in 1865. So that’s my entry.
My great-grandfather was born in 1863 and died in 1960, when I was six. He used to drum his fingers at the dinner table and drive my grandmother crazy. I have a photo of the building he worked in until he was 86 as my wallpaper. He set up the printing presses for long sheets that were used for railroad car routing.
One thing I envy my brother and sister, who are 6 and 8 years older than me, is that they can remember (though very dimly) our great-grandmother who lived from 1863-1963. She raised my father (her grandson) who was basically her baby, thus his children were more special to her than her other grandchildren/great-grandchildren, and she was still going strong enough to change their diapers and babysit them for brief periods of time in her late '90s.
My grandfather, who died in 1981 was born on November 7, 1902. He had been born before the Wright Brothers’ first flight. He was a large part of my life. I was very close to him and usually visited him once a week. I had moved from our hometown in Pennsylvania to Tucson shortly before he died.
Moved to MPSIMS from Cafe Society.
When I was six, I met my great-grandmother, who was born in 1871. My great-grandmother lived long enough to see the birth of a g-g-g-granddaughter, with all six generations living (but not from the line from which I am descended).
I’m 46. All of my great-grandparents died long before I was born; my oldest grandparent (my paternal grandfather, who died when I was 5) was born in the late 1890s.
When I was in high school, I was a member of the Key Club (junior Kiwanis)…we did a lot of service activities, one of which was visiting nursing homes. There was one woman in particular whom we loved to visit, because she was very sweet, and told great stories about her childhood. She was 102 when I graduated from high school, so that’d put her birth around 1881. That’s undoubtedly the winner for me.
When i was a young teen I met a man in San Francisco who talked about having been throught the big quake, which was in 1906. From his story I’d guess he was vintage 1885 or so.
Just about the same for me: I knew my great-grandfather, who was born in 1865 and lived to be 99 or 100.
I just don’t know. I know my grandmother was born in 1897. There was an old woman who lived down the street and must have have been older than that, but she passed away when I was 5, and I never actually conversed with her. Some of my relatives may have been a little older than my grandmother, but they also passed away when I was young. Though there were opportunities, I don’t think I actually conversed with anyone born before the 1890s.
In the late 1990s I did some work for a professorat the local university who was born 15 Aug 1902.
My great-grandfather was born in 1864, and died in 1960. We used to visit him at his house.
In three days, my mother-in-law turns 97.
Regards,
Shodan
My paternal grandfather was born in 1903, and was a somewhat aloof but interesting gentleman. He could ride horseback with aplomb, knew everything about the flora and fauna of the Ohio woods, loved history and raised a great son, my dad.
My great grandmother was born in 1892, and died in 1980. I’ve been told that I met her husband, who was a good bit older, but I have no memory of him.
That would be my grandmother, who was born in 1882 in Kentucky. She died in 1975 at the age of 93. Next oldest would be the guy who taught my Russian history class. The guy was born in Russia in 1905 and was 80 when he taught the course.
Off-hand, the oldest person I remember meeting was born in 1887, my great uncle. My brother has his WWI medals including a Silver Star.
My great-grandmother Laura died aged 96, in 1985, and it was a few days after her birthday. That means she was born in 1881. I remember her as this black-clad little ancient mummy who was deaf as a post, scarier than a dog with rabies and who would snatch food morsels from the table (which she presided) while it was still being set.
My great-grandmother Martina was a similar vintage and I did meet her, but my memories of her are a lot more vague. I remember that she was round and cozy; one of those rare adults who can make a little kid feel at home right away.
That would be my great-grandfather. Born 1875. A tough old bastard; miner, lumberjack, sheep rancher. Fathered about 18 kids by three wives and outlived them all (wives that is). Died just before Christmas, 1965 at age 90.
I remember that he didn’t care much for sheep jokes 
SS
My grandparents were all born in the late 1870s and early 1880s, though I knew only two of them.