Last Civil War Veteran s Widow Dies Aged 101 Published January 6th, 2021 - 12:39 GMT
Helen Viola Jackson died on December 16, at the age of 101. (Facebook)
Highlights
Helen Viola Jackson died on December 16 at her Missouri nursing home aged 101.
The last known widow of a Civil War soldier has died at the age of 101, ending a remarkable life story that she had kept to herself for over 80 years.
When Maudie Hopkins of Arkansas died in 2008, it was believed that there were no known Civil War widows left in the nation.
Then, in December 2017, Helen Viola Jackson of Marshfield, Missouri, decided to tell her own astonishing tale.
Helen Viola Jackson died on December 16 at her Missouri nursing home aged 101
She had married Civil War veteran James Bolin in 1936, when he was 93
Bolin asked her to marry him because he wanted her to have his Union pension
Bolin died three years later, but Jackson never claimed his pension
Bolin s daughter threatened to ruin Jackson s reputation if she took the money
Jackson said that Bolin was a kindly man who wanted to help her financially
Jackson never remarried or had children, and devoted herself to her community