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Last Person to Receive a Civil War Pension Has Passed


DocWard

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8382349/Last-citizen-receiving-Civil-War-pension-dies-North-Carolina.html

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The last American citizen receiving a Civil War pension has died in North Carolina at the age of 90. 

Irene Triplett, whose father fought for the Union Army between 1863 and 1865, passed away Sunday in Wilkesboro from complications following surgery. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Alpo said:

One would expect the English to know English.

 

"He defected..."

 

The correct term is DESERTED.

 

I had to look that one up. Typically I consider someone who deserts to do so for cowardly reasons, while a defector goes to the opposite side.

 

Per the Cambridge Dictionary:

Defect: to leave a country, political party, etc., especially in order to join an opposing one

 

Desert: to leave the armed forces without permission and with no intention of returning

Technically both could be correct, but I think "defect" is the better choice.

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9 hours ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said:

I guess $73.13 went a lot farther back in the 1950's.


It was enough for a house payment for a lot of people.

 

Cat Brules

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The last widow passed in 2004

http://www.southeastsun.com/home/article_165fee05-7381-5c24-ad4e-48560ff5b9d8.html

The final chapter of a bygone era came to a close Saturday. As Confederate gray-clad soldiers marched down a country road near Elba to lay to rest the last surviving Civil War widow Alberta Martin, onlookers lined the last half-mile of the Dixie road to catch a glimpse of the Confederate flag-draped casket placed on top of the mule-drawn wagon. Confederate re-enactors from the 1st Confederate Legion and the Alabama Division, Sons of the Confederate Veterans from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas walked in front and behind the wagon. Members of The Order of the Confederate Rose and Daughters of the Confederate Veterans, dressed in black antebellum hoop-skirts and funeral attire made the walk from behind the soldiers. Born on a frosty morning Dec. 4, 1906, near Danley's Crossroads in Coffee County, Alberta Stewart Martin was hailed as the "last known living widow of a War Between the States veteran." "Mz. Alberta," as she was affectionately called, wed Pvt. William Jasper Martin, who at 18 years old joined the Confederate Army in May 1864. In 1927, at age 81, the former soldier asked a young Alberta, 21, to marry him. The couple had one son, Willie, who resides in Elba. Martin died four and a half years later on July 8, 1932. Two months passed and Ms. Alberta married Charlie Martin, the grandson of William Jasper, on Sept. 8, 1932. The couple lived happily for more than 50 years. The famous widow requested she be buried next to "the love of her life" Charlie and her mother and infant brother at the New Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery in the Curtis community, near the fields where she grew up. Mrs. Martin died on Memorial Day, May 31, and her body lay in state at the First White House of the Confederacy June 10 and 11 before the June 12 funeral. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley visited the casket placed in the parlor and issued a resolution of memoriam for Mrs. Martin requesting all Alabamians to honor her life and memory. Many memories of the Confederate widow will never be forgotten by those who came and mourned. Friends, family and history buffs came from far and wide to witness the historical event. Robert D. Powell from Blountville, Tenn., came to pay his last respects to the lady he had met several years ago. A member of the Tennessee Sons of the Confederate Veterans and dressed in a gray Confederate uniform, Powell said he met Mz. Alberta at a Confederate flag rally in Montgomery on the courthouse steps. He shook her hand, he said, and she looked out over a row of flying Confederate flags and said, "ain't all those flags purty." Powell said he would never forget meeting her in person and how congenial she was. Jim Maddox from Virginia also came to be a part of the service, escorting Mrs. Martin's body from the First Baptist Church to the First Assembly of God Church for the service. "I remember meeting her and what a fine Southern lady she was," he said. "She'll always be part of our organization in our hearts and minds because she was something we could actually touch as part of our past." A local Elba native, Sue Grimes Mitchum exited the First Baptist Church in Elba where Mrs. Martin's casket was placed for viewing before her funeral. "She grew up at Danley's Crossroads on my grandfather's farm. She even lived in my grandfather's old house when her family was sharecroppers," Mrs. Mitchum said. "I just had to come today and witness the funeral because I feel we all knew her personally." Edie Crook, from the North Carolina Order of the Confederate Rose, waited outside the church in line to view Mz. Alberta for the last time. Several from the order, dressed in antebellum southern funeral black, sat on the front rows of the church with heads bowed in mourning for the widow. Mrs. Martin was dressed in Confederate red holding a Confederate Rose. Two Confederate re-enactor soldiers flanked both sides of the casket while outside, two soldiers stood at attention outside the doorway of the church, opening doors for the mourners. Kay Renes, a member of more than 1,000 worldwide participating members of the Confederate Prisoners of War Society, also stood in line to pay her last respects of the widow. A group of three from Coosa County, Danny Burnett said, came to represent the League of the South and the county's Sons of Confederate Veterans. "We came because she's the last link of the chain that binds us to the Civil War," he said. "Now, the chapter is closed." Near noon, the casket was moved to the First Assembly of God church where almost 400 people inside waited to see the casket and funeral of the widow. The flag that draped the wooden casket was made by Chuck Linderman of Daleville, himself a re-enactor in the 15th Alabama Regiment, whose members stood guard at the casket at the church. Making historic flags is a hobby of Linderman's and he said he is proud that Mz. Alberta enjoyed the one he made for her. "She used it as a lap blanket to keep her warm; she really loved it," he said Saturday. "Now it's really eerie to know that she's lying under it, but it's also an honor." The Olde Towne Brass Confederate Band from Huntsville played favorites of Mrs. Martin, "Dixie," and "The Bonnie Blue Flag," per her funeral request. Berk Blackmon from Bay Minette was dressed in a Confederate captain's uniform. "This is actually the uniform of my grandfather's cousin who was captain of the 45th Virginia Infantry Division in 1863," he said. "Mrs. Martin was a super woman and we're all proud to be here today to honor her." The Confederate flag-draped casket was brought into the church by six Confederate dressed soldiers, including Dr. Ken Chancey, Mrs. Martin's long-time caretaker and friend. Other pallbearers were Ethan Gallo of Daleville, from the 7th Connecticut (Irish) Volunteers, Page Whatley, representing the 15th Alabama, and Jerry Hicks, both of Dothan, Wyatt Willis of Prattville and Russell Darden from Virginia. Honor guard members included members of the 15th Alabama, Chuck Linderman, Capt Steve Lowery, Dallas Hudson, Joe Rich, Lee Tingey, Jessie Garcia, Allan Grooms, Charles Zeigler and Chris Seaton, whose participation had more to do with Mrs. Martin than just his interests in history and re-enacting. Mrs. Martin was Seaton's great aunt and his great great grandmother. His great uncle was Charlie Martin and great grandfather was the Confederate veteran William Jasper. Seaton knew Mrs. Martin as "Aunt Bert" and he remembered her as a loving person, who especially cared for children. "She was a good woman," he said, adding that he was glad to be able to serve in the re-enacting part for the services. At the services at First Assembly, the band slowly played Southern church hymnal favorites. Floral tributes surrounded the casket decorated in Southern images of Confederate flags, cotton bolls and magnolias. In oil painting of Mrs. Martin, a photograph of Chancey and Martin, and a photo of Mrs. Martin in front of a Confederate States seal were placed on each side of the casket. Ellen Williams sung a cappella to "Beyond the Sunset," a funeral request that was made by Mrs. Martin. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Alabama Society, Order of Confederate Rose, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Children of the Confederacy, League of the South and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, were represented as each spoke a tribute to the last known widow of the War Between the States. "It almost seems impossible that we're honoring a widow today that was connected to veterans in a war almost 140 years ago," said Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander and Chief Ron Wilson. "My lasting memory of Mz. Alberta will be the many conventions she attended because when she entered, everyone stood to their feet. She really brought to light the Confederate flag in the right way and she'll always be remembered for that." President of the Alabama Order of Confederate Rose Melinda Holloway said Mrs. Martin was "a living chain that bonded us to our heritage. We'll remember her love of the Confederate flag." A United Daughters of the Confederacy representative said "something beautiful has vanished," and the Tennessee Chapter representative of the Sons of the Union Veterans said he "would remember her dignity. She was a symbol of an Army that has vanished in the midst of time. I saw her hold and cherish a small Confederate flag in her hand one time and I looked at how she held it, so honorably, so dignified. She will be remembered by those whose heritage was both the boys who wore the Blue and the Gray." Dr. Charles Baker, past Sons of Confederate Veterans Chaplain-in-Chief and pastor of Center Point and pastor of Center Point Independent Church, presented the sermon farewell to what he called "a gracious lady of the South who will be remembered for her dignity and faith." Mrs. Martin's close friend Russell Darden and Chancey both presented eulogies to their "beloved friend." Darden said it was June 1996, the 100th anniversary of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, when he met Mrs. Martin. "We promised Dr. Chancey the day we met her that we would help take care of her and thanks to the many Sons of Confederate Veterans and Orders of Confederate Rose, the promise we made was kept." Chancey said Mrs. Martin was 85 years old when she converted to the Christian faith. "She told me she had always attended church but now she knew she had accepted Christ inside her heart," he said. "She used all the country slang, but she knew respect and the value of being gentle but outspoken. She loved cheese puffs, lemon drops, anything red and her dolls. She also loved her family and her friends." Mrs. Martin's words to Chancey, while standing on the balcony of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Library during its dedication May 30, 1998, were, "I want people to be happy at my funeral. I don't just want sadness." Chancey said when he asked Mrs. Martin how she would like to be remembered, she simply replied, "as a simple Christian woman." As the wagon carried the Confederate widow to her final resting place during the hot sweltering summer afternoon, ceremonial canon fire and smoke rose from underneath one nearby oak. A funeral procession made up of Confederate color guard, mounted escort and marching honor guard gave observers a glimpse of the past as it passed flat Southern fields of green not far from where Mrs. Martin was born. The Kay and Phillip Mixon family, who owns property around the church and helped to provide parking space for the funeral-goers and spectators, came to witness the funeral parade and reflect upon the family's connection to Mrs. Martin. Mrs. Mixon said her husband's grandfather,Dr. Clarence William Mixon was the country doctor who delivered Mrs. Martin. The Mixon family members, including possibly the youngest spectator in the crowd, 3-week old Cole, were impressed by the re-enactors' authenticity and detailed depiction of history. "It's just remarkable how they have kept the legend alive," said Vicki Hudson. Jack Thompson of Charleston, S.C., was one of the realistic re-enactors who came to the Wiregrass as part of Knibb's Cannon Battery from Richmond, Va. The cannoneers fired two 2.25-inch bore Tredegar Mountain Rifles three times to signal the beginning of the funeral parade. Thompson said the commemoration services for Mrs. Martin not only honored her but those who served during the War Between the States. "It's important to remember that these men fought for their state and their community against an invading force and their sacrifice should be remembered," he said. At the cemetery, the 33rd Alabama Regiment fired a 21-gun salute and Baker dedicated the monument at Mrs. Martin's gravesite commemorating her distinction as the last known Civil War widow. As the service came to an end, the black-veiled members of the Order of the Black rose filed by Mrs. Martin's casket, gently placing their black roses on the Confederate flag. Bill Rambo of Millbrook, commander of the 1st Confederate Legion and the leader of the mounted unit, helped Chancey with the funeral arrangements. He said the day went well and he was honored to have been a part of it. "This is only going to happen once," he said.

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15 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Thanks for posting this. 

 

Points up again how recent that conflict was and how young our republic is. 

I was always amazed that my dad saw Geronimo when he (Dad) was fifteen years old.  Dad lived long enough to pass this story on to my son and daughter.

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