Civil War widow honored

Washington Times ^ | Friday, June 11, 2004

[JohnHuang2]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Three days of tributes to Alberta Martin, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, began yesterday with her body lying in repose at the First White House of the Confederacy as re-enactors in gray uniforms stood guard.

[SAMWolf]

War Between the States ping

[Jonas Grumby]

OK...let me offer my upopular opinion. This lady is living proof that if you live long enough, anyone can gain respectability. She was the Anna Nicole Smith of her day, she married the old geezer when he was eighty freekin one!!! and she was twenty something,..merely for his pension. Then, she marries his grandson two months after he croaks!

And for the rest of her life, the civil war buffs honored her as a grand old lady of the south...as if the plantation owners would have had something to do with a three times married gold digging daughter of a sharecropper.

I think its funny.

[snippy_about_it]

Alberta Martin lived in obscurity and poverty until the Sons of Confederate Veterans learned of her past in 1996.

If she married him for his pension it sure couldn't of been worth much. Looks like it was others that made her famous. RIP.

[Lion Den Dan]

And for the rest of her life, the civil war buffs honored her as a grand old lady of the south...gold digging daughter of a sharecropper. I think its funny.

Poor old woman was trapped in a system run by Democrats that did not care for people. The pension she "grubbed" probably never exceeded the $20.00 a month granted my grandmother as the widow of a Spanish American War vet.

Your sense of humor ranks right along with birth defects.

[nolu chan]

LINK

"William Jasper Martin, a widower born in Georgia in 1845 ... had a $50-a-month Confederate veteran's pension."

"The state government ... award[ed] him a Confederate pension in 1921 and [gave] Alberta Martin Confederate widow's benefits in 1996."

[Lion Den Dan]

>>>>>$50 a month>>>>

Wow! the lady was really cleaning up. Actually, young women, years ago, married old pensioners and took care of them as live in help. In those days, "living together" was not done. The community would have run them off.

[stainlessbanner]

bump

[4CJ]

Thank God there are still people left with a sense of decency, honour and respect. May God bless her and her families.

[sionnsar]

In those days, "living together" was not done. The community would have run them off.

"Those days" are not all that long ago.

[stand watie]

Miss Alberta, this minute, is offering TEA to President Reagan behind the Heavenly Gates!

we still here on planet earth, otoh, have lost TWO GREAT people!!!

free dixie,sw

[varina davis]

Thank God there are still people left with a sense of decency, honour and respect. May God bless her and her families.

Thank you for your tribute, 4CJ. It's so true. I'm honored that I was able to meet and talk with Mrs. Martin a few years ago in Birmingham. A sweet lady and a true Southron. God bless her.

[4CJ]

I'm honored that I was able to meet and talk with Mrs. Martin a few years ago in Birmingham. A sweet lady and a true Southron. God bless her.

Then your were blessed, as was she.

[Mon]

I have a more detailed report and she had a child with him.

William Martin died in 1932 after having one child with his wife.

Things were different back then though. Women often married after their husband's died to be taken care off. They didn't have opportunities as they have today. Kind of a cool story :)