Skip to main content


Move over ancestry.com. One Virginia home finds six generations of daughters living under the same roof

From 111-year-old matriarch to newborn baby girl, family has six generations of girls

Mother's Day has special meaning to one Virginia family. They can boast of a 111-year-old great-great-great-grandmother and a new 16-year-old mom. From the family's matriarch Mollie Wood, who celebrated her 111th birthday last month, to 7-week-old Braylin Higgins, the child of Wood's great-great-granddaughter, the family has an amazing six generations of daughters.

According to the family, their 'ornery' disposition and self-sufficiency has bolstered the family's longevity. 'They're just all tough old birds,' Dan Goodman, husband of 70-year-old Bette Goodson, Mollie Wood's granddaughter says.

According to the family, their 'ornery' disposition and self-sufficiency has bolstered the family's longevity. 'They're just all tough old birds,' Dan Goodman, husband of 70-year-old Bette Goodson, Mollie Wood's granddaughter says.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the family, their "ornery" disposition and self-sufficiency has bolstered the family's longevity. "They're just all tough old birds," Dan Goodman, husband of 70-year-old Bette Goodson, Mollie Wood's granddaughter says. "I'm not talking about being mean, but they can take on a challenge, and surprise you."

This family trait has been passed down to Savannah Shifflett, the 16-year-old mother of baby Braylin.

"My daughter has not asked for help," Marlo Shifflett, Savannah's mother and Wood's great-granddaughter, said. "And I thought, 'Where does she get that from?' And I realized we're all that way."

While the family said they were devastated when they found out that Savannah was going to have a child, the women say the baby has made them even closer.

"She definitely wasn't planned, but she's my world," Savannah, who is engaged to Braylin's father, said.

All six generations were at the family home last month to celebrate Wood's 111th birthday.

Debaun, who has lived next to Wood's 88-year-old daughter Louise Minter for more than a decade, said the super-centenarian, who is the oldest resident of Charlottesville, Virginia is a "wonderful woman" who is still "sharp eyed" and "keenly aware of the people around her.

"There has not been a mother-daughter picture taken of the two of them in I think 20, 30 years. So the ultimate purpose was to go over and photograph the two of them together," he said.

"May we all be so lucky someday," he wrote in his Facebook album featuring Wood and her family.

A super centenarian is someone who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in a thousand centenarians.

There are estimated to be 300 - 450 living super centenarians in the world, though only some individual verified living super centenarians are known. A study conducted in 2010 showed that the countries with most super centenarians were United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Italy.

The first verified super centenarians in human history died in the late 19th century. Until the 1980s, the maximal age to be attained by super centenarians was 114, but this has now been surpassed. To date, there are seven undisputed cases of people who have lived to 116 years of age or older. The oldest verified person ever is Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years 164 days.

© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention:
The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Super centennarian, family, generations, baby, Virginia

NEWSLETTERS »

E-mail:       Zip Code: (ex. 90001)
Today's Headlines

Sign up for a roundup of the day's top stories. 5 days / week. See Sample

Rate This Article

Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 1 of 1 Comments

  1. Brian
    1 year ago

    Very cool! But I fail to see what any of it has to do with Ancestry.com?????

Leave a Comment

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment


Newsletter Sign Up

Daily Readings

Reading 1, Sirach 17:1-15
The Lord fashioned human beings from the earth, to consign them ... Read More

Psalm, Psalms 103:13-14, 15-16, 17-18
As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats ... Read More

Gospel, Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch ... Read More

Saint of the Day

May 25 Saint of the Day

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
May 25: It would be easy to concentrate on the mystical experiences God ... Read More