Which of the people whose photographs have survived and reached our days were born the earliest? (10 photos)

While looking through old family photo albums, you may come across pictures of your ancestors born in the early 1900s. If you're lucky, you might even find a few photos from the early 19th century.





That means some of the earliest photographs most people have are of ancestors born in the 1800s. So who was the very first person to be photographed? There are several contenders for that title.

Hannah Stilley (Gorby)



The woman was most likely a housewife and farmer. She lived in Delaware. Stilley (married name Gorby) was born in 1746. She died in 1839 at the ripe old age of 93. The photograph was taken that same year.

Conrad Heyer





Conrad Heyer is often credited as being the first person ever to be photographed. However, his year of birth is disputed. Heyer was born in Waldoboro, then part of Massachusetts Bay. His birth year is generally accepted to be 1749, but documents from before 1850 indicate that he was born around 1753. One such document is Heyer's pension application from 1820, where he states his age as 67, implying that he was born in 1753. Heyer's parents emigrated to the United States in 1752.

Mary Munroe Sanderson



Mary Munroe Sanderson was born in 1748 in Lexington, Massachusetts Bay Colony. She died in 1852 at the age of 104.

Auntie Moser



This photo of Auntie Moser was taken in 1852, when she was reportedly 103 years old, making her one of the oldest people ever photographed. If her age is correct, she was born in 1749.

Ezra Greene



Ezra Greene Jr. was born in 1746 in Malden, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College and became an army surgeon. He died in 1847 at the age of 101.

John Adams



John was born in Worcester in 1744. He served in the army and later became a shoemaker. According to locals, Adams had excellent hearing and could read without glasses two years before his death. Adams posed for a daguerreotype portrait on his 100th birthday. He died in 1848 at the age of 104.

Balthus Stone



Balthus Stone, a veteran of George Washington's army, was born in 1747. He posed for this photograph when he was 103 years old. He died shortly thereafter.

John Owen



John Owen was born in 1735 in Salisbury, making him one of the strongest contenders for the title of the very first person to be photographed. Owen lived to the ripe old age of 107.

Caesar



Caesar was an African slave, believed to have been born in 1737, although the exact year of his birth is unknown. The only evidence of Caesar's age during his lifetime is the 1850 census, which lists him as 110 years old.

Caesar's supposed birthplace was Bethlehem, New York, and he was owned by Rensselaer Nichol. During his lifetime, Caesar outlived three or four generations of owners who lived on the Nichol estate in Bethlehem. In 1817, at the ripe old age of 80, he was retired and spent the rest of his life with the Nichol family until his death.

In 1851, the son of his last employer persuaded Caesar to pose for a daguerreotype portrait, one of the earliest photographs of a black person. He died in 1852. He was 115 years old at the time of his death.