What is Gertrude Baines?
{{Infobox Person | name = Gertrude Baines | image = Gertude Baines turns 115.JPG | caption = Baines on her 115th birthday on April 6, 2009 | birth_date = April 6, 1894 | birth_place = [[Shellman, Georgia|Shellman]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States]] | death_date = September 11, 2009<br>(aged 115 years, 158 days) | death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], United States | nationality = [[African-American]] | known_for = Oldest verified person in the world (2 January 2009 – 11 September 2009)<ref name=grg /> | website = }} '''Gertrude Baines''' (April 6, 1894 – September 11, 2009<ref name=grg />) was an [[Americans|American]] [[supercentenarian]] who was the oldest person in the world from January 2, 2009 until her death on September 11, 2009.<ref name=grg>[https://grg.org/Adams/C.HTM Table C - World's Oldest Person (WOP) Titleholders Since 1955] Gerontology Research Group</ref> She was the last person known to have been born in 1894.<ref name=grg /> == Personal history == Gertrude Baines married Sam Conley at a very young age and had one daughter who died of [[typhoid fever]] at the age of 18. Baines was known to have been living in [[Hartford, Connecticut]] before moving to Ohio, where she worked as a maid at the [[Ohio State University]]. She later moved to California, where she lived on her own until age 105. She spent her final years at the Western Convalescent Center in Jefferson Park, Los Angeles. == Longevity == * March 2, 2006 – Marion Higgins died, Baines became the oldest person in California. * November 11, 2008 – Baines became the oldest ever person to be born in the state of Georgia. (This record was later surpassed by [[Jeralean Talley]].) * November 26, 2008 – [[Edna Parker]] died, Baines became the oldest living American. * December 6, 2008 – Catherine Hagel died, Baines became the last known person to have been born in 1894. * January 2, 2009 – Maria de Jesus died, Baines became