The 1940 census is out. Updates on Sonny Listons age?

[rothnroll]

The 2012 /1940 census is out. Does anyone have any updates on Sonny Liston's real age? Let's put this to rest.

[yancey]

The 2012 /1940 census is out. Does anyone have any updates on Sonny Liston's real age? Let's put this to rest.

Sonny was around 58 years of age when he lost to Ali.

[Brute]

The 2012 /1940 census is out. Does anyone have any updates on Sonny Liston's real age? Let's put this to rest.

Sonny was around 58 years of age when he lost to Ali.

Liston did not live to be that old.

[Chuck1052]

Much of the 1940 U.S. Census hasn't been indexed yet, so you may have to know exactly where Sonny Liston lived at the time.

- Chuck Johnston

[rothnroll]

There are people that found his family on the 1930 census.
I am thinking the same area?

[yancey]

The 2012 /1940 census is out. Does anyone have any updates on Sonny Liston's real age? Let's put this to rest.

Sonny was around 58 years of age when he lost to Ali.

Liston did not live to be that old.

Quite the sense of humour you have, bud.

[Syntax Error]

The 2012 /1940 census is out. Does anyone have any updates on Sonny Liston's real age? Let's put this to rest.

Sonny was around 58 years of age when he lost to Ali.

Are you sure?

I swear he didn't look a day older than 57!!!

[wouter]

The 1940 census shows the Liston household residing in Smith Township, Cross Co., Arkansas and reports Charles's year of birth as 1930.

[SolomonDeedes]

The 1940 census shows the Liston household residing in Smith Township, Cross Co., Arkansas and reports Charles's year of birth as 1930.

So it does. Sounds plausible.

[Bricks]

Great work wouter and solomon deeds

[Chuck1052]

I took a look at Sonny Liston's family in both the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census. My observations are as follows:

1. Charles/Charlie/Sonny Liston was not in the 1930 U.S. Census. However, Liston's brother, Curtis, was listed as being six months old. The Liston family, living in St. Francis, Arkansas, was enumerated in the 1930 U.S. Census on April 8, 1930.

2. One Charlie Liston, a ten-year-old black male born in Arkansas, was living with his family in Smith, Arkansas during 1940. His brother, Curtis, was listed as being eleven years old, but it appears that the census taker felt that a mistake was made in regards to Curtis's age because the number "12" is crossed out and the number "11" was entered. The Liston family was enumerated on April 23, 1940.

3. If the 1930 U.S. Census information on the Liston family is accurate, it is probable that Curtis Liston was only about ten-and-a-half years old and Charles/Charlie/Sonny Liston was not yet ten years old by April 1940. Moreover, I seriously doubt that Sonny Liston could have been born before July 1930 if Curtis was born about October 1929.

4. According to the 1940 U.S. Census, the educational level of the Liston family was appallingly minimal at best. There wasn't one member of the family who had more than a third grade education, including the children.

5. Compared to other American families during 1940, the Listons were extremely poor.
However, they remained relatively intact from 1930 to 1940.

- Chuck Johnston

[Controversial]

So Liston was about 33 when he first fought Ali, isn't that younger than some people claimed he was?

[Giancarlo]

So Liston was about 33 when he first fought Ali, isn't that younger than some people claimed he was?

People like granberry and his son Nancy are not gonna let facts get in the way of a good story.

[bobmee]

I'd hoped the release of the 1940 census would give us something specific about Liston's age butsadly not. To add a thought or two to those above.
Curtis Liston, the child immediately above Sonny in the list of his brothers and sisters, was born on 15 October 1929 which confirms the information in the 1930 census that Curtis was six months old in April 1930. That means he was 10 years old by the 1940 census, not 11 or the crossed out 12. Unfortunately with poor, uneducated, rural families like the Listons, where little or nothing was written down, sometimes as the seasons and years went by the ages of the family appeared to become hazy, and the information given verbally to the census taker was no more than a reasonable guess. All we can do with this information is calculate as best we can. There is nothing in any of the books or articles I've seen that suggests Charles (Sonny) was a premature baby, so given the date we have for Curtis, the earliest Sonny could have been born was around August or September 1930. The census might have his age wrong but it does suggest Sonny was between one and two years younger than Curtis, so somewhere around the winter of 1930-31 seems most likely. Helen Liston, his mother, said he was born in January - she remembered it as January 1932, but if she was a year out, January 1931 would fit the gap between Curtis and Sonny on the census.
The point of this is that Liston's official birth date of May 1932 might be, as has been long suspected, inaccurate - but isn't that far out. And therefore the cynicism that surrounded Liston's age was misplaced. He was probably 33 in the first fight, 34 by the second - on the old side, but not ancient. that, unfortunately, is about the best we can do.

[Rocky Balboa]

The 2012 /1940 census is out. Does anyone have any updates on Sonny Liston's real age? Let's put this to rest.

Sonny was around 58 years of age when he lost to Ali.

I would'nt bet against him being 40 or there abouts when he first fought Ali. He was much older than the reported 32, that's for sure. Liston didn't even have a prime.

[Chuck1052]

I'd hoped the release of the 1940 census would give us something specific about Liston's age butsadly not. To add a thought or two to those above.
Curtis Liston, the child immediately above Sonny in the list of his brothers and sisters, was born on 15 October 1929 which confirms the information in the 1930 census that Curtis was six months old in April 1930. That means he was 10 years old by the 1940 census, not 11 or the crossed out 12. Unfortunately with poor, uneducated, rural families like the Listons, where little or nothing was written down, sometimes as the seasons and years went by the ages of the family appeared to become hazy, and the information given verbally to the census taker was no more than a reasonable guess. All we can do with this information is calculate as best we can. There is nothing in any of the books or articles I've seen that suggests Charles (Sonny) was a premature baby, so given the date we have for Curtis, the earliest Sonny could have been born was around August or September 1930. The census might have his age wrong but it does suggest Sonny was between one and two years younger than Curtis, so somewhere around the winter of 1930-31 seems most likely. Helen Liston, his mother, said he was born in January - she remembered it as January 1932, but if she was a year out, January 1931 would fit the gap between Curtis and Sonny on the census.
The point of this is that Liston's official birth date of May 1932 might be, as has been long suspected, inaccurate - but isn't that far out. And therefore the cynicism that surrounded Liston's age was misplaced. He was probably 33 in the first fight, 34 by the second - on the old side, but not ancient. that, unfortunately, is about the best we can do.

It isn't unusual to have difficulty to pin down the ages of old-time fighters, but it is usually much easier to do so when fighters were born after 1910 or 1920, a period when there was a concerted effort starting to be made to document birthdates in the form of birth certificates. With that in mind, Liston's case is unusual in that he was born in the United States at a time when birth certificates were very common.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

It looks like Tobe/Tobin Liston, Sonny's father, was enumerated in the U.S. Census during 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940. Moreover, results of some genealogical research done on Tobe/Tobin and his family are on Ancestry.com website.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

It looks like Tobe/Tobin Liston, Sonny's father, was enumerated in the U.S. Census during 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940. Moreover, results of some genealogical research done on Tobe/Tobin and his family are on Ancestry.com website.

- Chuck Johnston

[Chuck1052]

It looks like Tobe/Tobin Liston, Sonny's father, was enumerated in the U.S. Census during 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940. Moreover, results of some genealogical research done on Tobe/Tobin and his family are on Ancestry.com website.

- Chuck Johnston

[bobmee]

I analysed Liston's family history on the paternal and maternal side - excluding 1940, of course - in my book Liston & Ali. That's not a plug, just a notice that if anyone wants to refer to that section I'm happy to type it out and send it by email. It would be too long to put on a post here. Also, if a child was born at home in the 20s and 30s, especially in the case of black Americans in rural areas, birth certificates were not routinely filled out. We have to delve into census returns, military records, etc. but they aren't always accurate for the simple reason people don't always tell the truth, even if they know it. My own family history on the public record is a nightmare mesh of changed names and ages. As to Liston, I suppose it's about what we expected.

[p4p1]

Found this article on Liston and his age http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/art ... nny-liston