Amanda R. Jones | Daughter of slave, 110

Amanda Roberts Jones, 110, a slave's daughter who voted for the country's first African American president, died in her sleep Thursday in Austin, Texas.

Ms. Jones became a local celebrity after she mailed in her ballot for President-elect Barack Obama in late October. When word of her vote spread, Ms. Jones was profiled on National Public Radio and ABC News. More than 200 people signed an online petition to send her to Obama's inauguration.

Her granddaughter Brenda Baker said Ms. Jones had recently been hospitalized, but she was still preparing for a standing-room-only birthday party this afternoon. She celebrated her birthday Dec. 16.

Ms. Jones' life touched three centuries, during which she worked as a maid and a stay-at-home mother of 10, Baker said. Ms. Jones had voted actively for more than 70 years, even when it meant picking cotton to save money to pay a poll tax.

- AP