So, it is possible that Helen Jackson is actually the "Last" of the Last Widows.
In 2004, Alberta Martin, a sharecropper's daughter who lived in poverty most of her life, died in Alabama at age 97. She married Confederate veteran William Jasper Martin in the 1920s. "Miz Alberta" loved the attention she got from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who would take her to conventions and rallies.
When I found out about her, I talked with my class about the marriage with the widely different ages. All my female students could say was "Oooooohhhh."
In 2008, Maudie White Hopkins, who enjoyed making fried peach pies and applesauce cakes died at 93. When she was 19 in 19345, she married Confederate veteran William Cantrell who was 67 years her senior. Hopkins said that Cantrell supported her with his Arkansas state pension of "$25 every two or three months" and left her his home when he died in 1937.
Helen Jackson's husband left her his Bible and eyeglasses and a bullet he kept during the wat along with memories.
--Old Secesh
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