
Category: Last living Confederate soldiers and widows --- See latest Civil War news here
Maudie White Hopkins, widow of Confederate soldier, dies at 93 ap :: 2008-08-25 :: Last living Confederate soldiers and widows
Maudie White Hopkins, who married a Confederate army veteran 67 years older than she, has died aged 93. She grew up in a family of 10 children, cleaning house for William M. Cantrell, a Confederate veteran in Baxter County whose wife had perished years earlier. When he offered to leave his land and home to her if she would marry him and care for him in his later years, she said yes. She was 19, he was 86. For decades, she didn't speak about her marriage, worried that people would think less of her. She only came around after a Confederate widow in Alabama died amid claims that she was the last widow from that American Civil War.
Father of Lucas L. Meredith Jr. fought in the Civil War for the Confederates progress-index.com :: 2008-08-20 :: Last living Confederate soldiers and widows
Lucas L. Meredith Jr. doesn't look like a man who has a unique link to history. But he is the son of a Confederate soldier - one of about dozen people whose father fought in Civil War for the Confederates. Meredith is part of the dwindling "Sons of the Confederacy," the last personal link to the Civil War. His father had the honor of carrying a Confederate battle flag during Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. The senior Meredith was not bitter about the South's loss. "He was disappointed, but not forever bitter about it. He had accepted defeat, and he became a good citizen of the US. But his heart was with the Confederacy, for the rest of his life."
At least one widow of American Civil War soldier still alive nytimes.com :: 2008-08-05 :: Last living Confederate soldiers and widows
There are a handful of widows of Confederate vets still alive almost 150 years after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. One case is fully documented: Maudie Celia Hopkins, says Martha Boltz, of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Maudie was just a teen when she wed William M. Cantrell, who had enlisted in the Confederate Army at age 16. He served in Gen. Samuel G. French's Battalion of the 7th Virginia Infantry. By the time he met Maudie, he was a widower in his 80s looking for someone to care for him in his last years. Boltz has heard of two other Confederate widows in Tennessee and another in North Carolina, but "they don't want to be found."
Albert Woolson was the last known surviving Civil War Union veteran suvcw.org :: 2007-12-03 :: Last living Confederate soldiers and widows
Albert Woolson smoked 8 cigars a day and lived past his 109th birthday. When he died in 1956, he was the last known living Civil War Union veteran. Over 2 million of his comrades had already died. Another claim to fame for Woolson: He was the last member of the Grand Army of the Republic, GAR. Benjamin Franklin Stephenson founded the GAR in 1866. Even though the veterans might have wanted to forget their grim war experiences, they didn't want to forget their comrades. Any honorably discharged Union veteran was qualified to join. At its peak in 1890, over 409,000 Union vets were on the GAR membership rosters.
Last known Confederate widow found trumanndemocrat :: 2007-11-08 :: Last living Confederate soldiers and widows
Some might think it is impossible a Confederate widow is still alive. However, it was discovered that a Confederate widow Maude Hopkins is very much alive. She married her first husband, Confederate William M. Cantrell, an aging widower, in 1934. She was 19 and he was 86. Living alone and in his 80’s, he employed Maude to care for him. Being mindful of the moral standards, they agreed to marry so as to not bring disrespect upon her name. Confederate Cantrell was in French’s Battalion, Company A, of the Virginia Infantry. Maude cared for Cantrell until his death on Feb. 26, 1937. Following his death, she remarried and had two daughters.