>Pensions were also paid to the widows of disabled Union veterans >(and the degree of disability could be very slight) even if the >marriage did not take place until long after the war was over. Some >Civil War widows pensions were still being paid in the 1940s. >Don Aitken <don-aitken@freeuk.com> ================ May 23, 2003 Gathered in various places around the Internet: Gertrude Grubb Janeway, age 93, the last known living widow of a Union soldier, died Friday, January 19, 2003, more than six decades after the passing of the love of her life, John Janeway, who married her when he was 81 and she was barely 18. An honorary member of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Mrs. Janeway was the last recognized Union widow. She received a $70 check each month from the Veterans Administration. Mrs. Janeway was born 44 years after the Civil War ended. Mrs. Daisy Anderson, the last known living widow of a Black Union soldier, died in September 1998, at the age of 97. Still living is 96-year-old Alberta Martin of Enterprise, Alabama. In 1927, she became the third wife of William Jasper Martin, an 81-year-old former private in the Confederate army. He died in 1932, and today she is the sole surviving Civil War widow. "In the book "THE SOUTH'S LAST BOYS IN GRAY" by Jay Hoar, published in the mid 1980's, the last 3 surviving Confederate veterans were as follows: William Allen "Uncle Bill" Lundy, from Alabama, who died in 1957, Crestview, Florida, age 109. John Salling, from Virginia, who died March 19, 1959. Walter Washington Williams, from Houston,Texas, who died December 19, 1959. "However, a more recent study by William Marvel, published in BLUE AND GRAY magazine February of 1991 states the claims that John Salling and Walter Washington Williams must be rejected since census records indicate that in 1860 Williams was only 5 years old, and Salling was 2 years of age. "Marvel concludes the last Confederate veteran was Pleasant Crump of the 10th Alabama, who died on December 31, 1951. "It is not known to this author as to whether or not William Marvel had examined the book "THE SOUTH'S LAST BOY'S IN GRAY", but in the event his research is indeed true and correct as to the dismissal of John Salling and Walter Washington Williams as the last surviving Confederate veterans due to the census report of their age at the time of war, and in consideration Pleasant Crump of the 10 Alabama died on December 31, 1951, who he credited as the last Confederate veteran, the conclusion is that William Allen "Uncle Bill" Lundy, who died September 1, 1957 at age 109, was not only the last surviving Confederate veteran, but also the last surviving veteran North and South, of the war. "The last surviving Union veteran of the war [and the last living member of the Grand Army of the Republic] was Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota, who died August 2, 1956." -Jim -- Jim Lyons jim@jimlyons.com http://www.jimlyons.com

> "The last surviving Union veteran of the war [and the last living > member of the Grand Army of the Republic] was Albert Woolson of > Duluth, Minnesota, who died August 2, 1956." May 24, 2003 As an interesting aside to the above, The GAR long before had decided the organization would cease to exist with the death of its last member. And so it did with the death of Albert Woolson. But it took an additional two years to finish the paperwork and lay the organization to rest. -Jim -- Jim Lyons jim@jimlyons.com http://www.jimlyons.com