Talk:Conrad Heyer

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This article is incorrect regarding the earliest born person to be photographed. That person was John Adams, a shoemaker from Massachusetts who was born 22 January 1745 and died 26 February 1849. A photographic copy of the original Adams daguerreotype is held by the Susquehannah Historical Society. Conrad Heyer was indeed one of the oldest surviving Revolutionary War soldiers but he was not the earliest born person to be photographed. http://benbeck.co.uk/firsts/2_The_Human_Subject/photo1h.htm#Taylor2

I wish I had known about Adams before writing this. On the other hand, the source listed seems to be a personal website and therefore not covered under the reliable source guidelines. That said, I'd be very interested in uncovering the truth of this, as that was what led me to learn about Heyer in the first place. Do you have any other sources concerning Adams? Maltice (talk) 06:34, 8 February 2016 (UTC)


 * A biography of him was written in Taylor, M. (2013) The Last Muster Volume 2: Faces of the American Revolution, which cites several sources on Adams. John Adams was born on (commonly written as January 21, 1744/45), and died on March (not February) 26, 1849, aged 104, in Harford, Pennsylvania. He was photographed on his 100th birthday in Ashburnham. The most recent publication on Adams is Vol. 32, No. 1&2 of the Susquehanna County Historical Society of Genealogy & Local History.
 * Another plausible contender is Dr. Ezra Green (June 28, 1746 [Old Style June 17, 1746] - July 25, 1847). He graduated from Harvard in 1765 and served as a surgeon during the revolution. A daguerreotype was made of him when he was 100 years old. Only an engraving and a poor photographic copy survive.
 * See Taylor, M. (2010) The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation, Sibley, John Landon & Shipton, Clifford (1972) Biographical sketches of graduates of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; v. 16, (p. 161-169) and Preble, H. & Green, W. (1875) Diary of Ezra Green, M.D. from November 1, 1777, to September 27, 1778. Cesias7 (talk) 18:18, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Conrad Heyer did not cross the Delaware
Heyer was discharged in Fishkill, New York, a place along the Hudson River (called the North River during the American Revolution) in mid-December 1776. Even if he had reenlisted, it is nearly impossible that he could have traveled from Fish Kill to join Washington’s army in Pennsylvania by December 25, in time to participate in the crossing of the Delaware that night.

https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/02/conrad-heyer-did-not-cross-the-delaware/

Age?
The given birth and death dates make him 117 years old at death, but the oldest verified man is Jiroemon Kimura who lived to 116 years and 54 days old. Conrad's given birth year must be wrong, meaning he is younger than 117 and is unlikely to be earliest-born person to be photographed.

Is there any independent verification of his age? 86.149.145.107 (talk) 10:38, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

1856-1749=107. Maltice (talk) 09:34, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Style
"Earliest-born known human photographed... Only known photographed person to have crossed the Delaware with George Washington"

Someone needs to learn how to write more elegant English. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.78.197.70 (talk) 00:20, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Fix it then, there's no need to be a jerk.Pilpips (talk) 21:30, 27 September 2021 (UTC)

Better Photo
There is a much better photo of him here: https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/13423 I have enhanced that image even further using AI techniques: https://ibb.co/ySNGjWS Dmitry Kamenetsky — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:44B8:272:5700:9891:E2C5:5618:B6A7 (talk) 15:56, 5 April 2022 (UTC)

Doubts about age
Heyer's birth date of 1749 is mentioned no earlier than in the 1850 census. Prior to that, the only documents that give his age indicate a birth date of around 1753, including his 1820 Revolutionary War pension (self-reported age 67, i.e. born 1752/53), the 1830 census (self-reported age 60-70, i.e. born between June 1749 and 1760), and the 1840 census (self-reported age 88, i.e. born 1751/52).

See Old Broad Bay Bund and Blatt Vol. 1 No. 2 Feb. 1992, which additionally states that immigrants from the Rhineland, including Heyers parents, arrived in Broad Bay in October 1752, not 1748, further supporting a 1753 birth year. M. Taylor (2010) The Last Muster: Images of the Revolutionary War Generation also assumes a birth date of 1753.

So it appears that not only his military service, but also his age was exaggerated during his later life. Cesias7 (talk) 18:08, 3 May 2023 (UTC)