NEW YORK -- Susannah Mushatt Jones, the world's oldest person, has died in New York at age 116.

Robert Young, a senior consultant for the Gerontology Research Group, said Jones died at a senior home in Brooklyn Thursday night. He said she had been ill for the past 10 days.

Jones was born in a small farm town near Montgomery, Alabama, in 1899. She was one of 11 siblings and attended a special school for young black girls. Family members have credited her long life to love of family and generosity to others.

Jones became Guinness World Records' official oldest person when 117-year-old Misao Okawa died in Tokyo last year.

Young said 116-year-old Emma Morano, of Italy, just a few months younger than Jones, is now the unofficial world's oldest person. (AP)