721 Years Strong: Meet the Black Family That Just Set the Record for Oldest Living Siblings

721 years. Eight siblings. One unbelievable world record. The Davis family from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has officially achieved what few families in human history ever could, setting a Guinness World Record for a combined age exceeding seven centuries among eight living brothers and sisters.

The Davis siblings: Nathaniel, Minnie, Eddie Mae, Edward, Lonnie, Mildred, Thomas and Deloris, have a combined age of more than 721 years, the highest of eight living siblings, according to Guinness World Records. Nathaniel, the oldest, was born on Aug. 30, 1928, while the youngest, Deloris, was born on July 22, 1946. Twins Eddie Mae and Edward were born on Nov. 14, 1932.

Raised near William Carey University by a father who retired from Hercules Powder Company and a stay-at-home mother, the Davis family was the first to “receive electricity, electric lights, in our neighborhood,” according to Edward Davis, 93.

Growing up, each Davis sibling graduated from DePriest Consolidated High School, the first consolidated school for African American students in Forrest County. The institution, a historically significant segregated school located in the Palmer’s Crossing community of Hattiesburg, educated prominent local figures and activists, including civil rights leader Victoria Gray Adams.

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The Davises said that although they grew up during a difficult period of history, their parents maintained high standards.

“There was no wonder if you were going to school or not,” Deloris Davis, 80, told local news channel WDAM 7. “That was not our decision. […] Anything that happened community-wise, school-wise, otherwise, we were a part of it.”

The siblings grew up during the Great Depression. As crop prices plummeted, Black workers were routinely the last hired and first fired, forced to stretch every meal and every dime.

Yet the family managed an unbreakable resilience against systemic hardship, forging a collective strength that carried all eight siblings through the years and sustained them across a history-making seven centuries of life.

Several of the Davises, born between 1928 and 1946, are now veterans and are still active in their communities, according to WDAM 7. They all agree that the Guinness World Record is just a part of the plan they created a century ago, and a legacy they hope to continue.

Nathaniel Davis, currently five days shy of his 98th birthday, declared: “What we have going as a family will continue for generations.”