Career
Coincidentally, Mary Josephine Ray, who had held the title of being the oldest living person in the United States and second oldest in the world, died just a few hours before Bailey. Bailey was born in Wilson County, Tennessee in 1896 to Frances and Fannie Flowers. She had 3 sisters; Myrtle, Pearl, and Gertie.
Bailey, then aged just 14, married 20-year-old Will Ready in 1910.
Ready died in the 1930s. Bailey worked on a plantation and did housework and cutting wood.
After living in Wilson County all of her life, she moved to Pontiac, Michigan in 1943. In the 1990s, Bailey moved in with her 73-year-old granddaughter Helen Arnold, and lived in Detroit, Michigan, till her death.
She credited her longevity to always praying, loving, forgiving, and eating vegetables.
Bailey died 23 days short of her 114th birthday on March 7, 2010 at the age of 113 years and 342 days. The cause of death was reported as organ failure. The death left Mississippi Winn as the verified oldest living African American until her death on January 14, 2011.
