The Last Civil War Widow Died in 2020
When the Civil War ended in 1865, it left thousands of women as widows when their husbands died in combat. However, for women who were married to veterans, they are still considered a “civil war widow”. That’s how we end up with this crazy loophole of a woman named Helen Viola Jackson, who was technically the last living Civil War widow when she died in 2020.
When Helen was 17 years old, she married a 93-year old Civil War veteran named James Bolin. This marriage was actually a secret, because he was a widower who needed a housekeeper. So he hired Helen to clean for him, and promised her his Civil War pension when he died. But the only way to get that pension was to marry him. Helen lived to be nearly 100 years old.
