According to the Guinness World Records' website, Besse was certified as the "world's oldest person" in January 2011, but she had to relinquish the title for a few months when it was discovered that Maria Gomes Valentim was 48 days older.
However, she was reinstated when Valentim died in June 2011; and Robert Young, senior consultant of gerontology for Guinness World Records, presented her with another plaque at her birthday party on Sunday.
The website also said that a bridge on New Hope Church Road was dedicated in her honour.
Her birthday was marked with the a ribbon cutting ceremony dedicating a recently completed bridge on New Hope Church Road in her honour.
Born in Tennessee in 1896, Besse moved to Monroe, during World War I in search of work as a teacher.
She married her husband Luther in 1924, and they had four children. Today, she has 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, Luther died in 1963.
Besse, who was born in Tennessee, moved to Georgia during World War I to find employment as a teacher.
Speaking at the bridge ceremony, Besse's son, Sidney, said "The older she has gotten the more wittier she has gotten."
Besse told Guinness World Records that the secret to her long life was abstinence from junk food and said: "I mind my own business."
