Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Female Ancestors' Age at Death

I'm accepting Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun mission, "Female Ancestors Age at Death", as follows:

1. Review your Pedigree Chart (either on paper or in your genealogy management software program) and determine the age at death of your female ancestors back at least five generations (and more if you want to).
2. Tell us the lifespan years for each of these ancestors.  Which of your female ancestors in this group lived the longest?  Which lived the shortest?   

Like Randy, I used Ahnentafel numbers to identify my female ancestors:

Mother:
3. Kathleen Marie (Murphy) Kirk (1921-1993) – 71 years

Grandmothers:
5. Mary Milliken (Hodsdon) Kirk (1882-1965) – 83 years
7. Glenna Marie (Rabideau) Murphy (1899- 1968) – 68 years

Great-Grandmothers:
9. Sarah C. (Sukeforth) Kirk (1838-1905) – 67 years
11. Kate Maria (Rand) Hodsdon (1855-1940) – 85 years
13. Rose Ann (McIntyre) Murphy (1862-1937) – 74 years
15. Eva May (Woodward) Rabdieau (1871-1953) – 82 years

2nd Great-Grandmothers:
17. Abigail (Faulkner) Kirkpatrick (1808-1891) – 82 years
19. Jane (Miller) Sukeforth (1810-1879) – 68 years
21. Abigail (Greene) Hodsdon (1814-1878) – 64 years
23. Dolly C. (Brister) Rand (1818-1904) – 86 years
25. Flora Ann (McDonald) Murphy (1832-1911) – 78 years
27. Mary Ann (McLellan) McIntyre (1817-1896) – 78 years
29. Marie Celina (Cloutier) Rabideau (ca 1849-1881) – abt 32 years
31. Mary A. (Washburn) Woodward (1831-1917) – 86 years

3rd Great-Grandmothers:
33. Nancy (Starrett) Kirkpatrick (1777-1834) – 57 years
35. Margaret (Morrison) Faulkner – unknown
37. Polly (Miller) Sukeforth (1775-bet 1850-60) – >75 years
39. Unknown
41. Sally (Huston) Hodsdon (1785-bet 1860-70) – >75 years
43. Hannah R. (Gould) Green (ca 1787-aft 1879) – >92 years
45. Elizabeth (Rand) Rand (1773-1857) – 84 years
47. Sarah (Chamberlain) Brister (ca 1790 - 1881) – abt 91 years
49. Magdelen (Morison) Murphy (ca 1800-bet 1861-81) – >61 years
51. Flora (Wilson) McDonald – unknown
53. Ann (Gillis) McIntyre (est 1789-aft 1851) – >62 years
55. Sally (McCormick) McLellan (est 1785-????) – unknown
57. Marie (Deshaies-St. Cyr) Robidas (1829-1895) – 65 years
59. Unknown
61. Mary Hawley (Sawyer) Woodward (1816-1880) – 64 years
63. Mary (Palmateer) Washburn (1812-1879) – 67 years

Unfortunately, my third great-grandmothers list is incomplete; for two I don't even have names, and for three more the name is about all I do have. So I didn't bother to go back another generation, because I'd have had too many "unknowns."

For those I have at least reasonably good dates for, the longest-lived is probably 3rd great-grandmother Hannah (Gould) Green, at least 92, though her contemporary Sarah (Chamberlain) Brister is a close contender at about 91. Since I don't have an exact birth year for either of them, I'd consider them effectively tied. The youngest was 2nd great-grandmother Marie Celina (Cloutier) Rabideau, who was at most only 32 when she died. (She may have been as young as 29.)

The average age at death for the 26 female ancestors for whom I have data is about 73, with a range of 32-92. Leaving out Celina (Cloutier) Rabideau, whose early death is obviously atypical, the average for the remaining 25 women is almost 75. Averages and ranges by generation:

1. Mother: 71 years.
2. Grandmothers: average 75.5 years (68-83).
3. Great-grandmothers: average 77 years (67-85).
4. Second great-grandmothers: average about 72 years (32-86). Again, leaving out Celina, the average for the other seven is 77 years.
5. Third great-grandmothers (11 out of 16): average about 72 years (57-92); Given that in several cases the actual year of death is known only to within a range of 10 or 20 years (died between censuses), the actual average may well be as high as 75 or 76.