From Jan. 7, 2021 U.S. News & World Report "Missouri woman believed to be last Civil War widow dies" by AP.
Her 1936 marriage to Joe Bolin was somewhat unusual. She was a 17-year-old school girl and he was 93 and in declining health. Bolin was also a Civil War veteran who fought in the border state of Missouri.
She died at the Webco Manor nursing home in Marshfield, Missouri, right on Route 66 west of town. She was born and grew up in Niangua, Missouri, which is also on Route 66.
Helen Jackson was almost certainly the very last Civil War widow when she died December 16, 2020.
Several Civil War organizations have recognized her as such.
Joe Bolin was a private in the 14th Missouri Cavalry during the war. In thanks for her care while he was in failing health, he offered to marry her so she could get his pension. They were secretly married but never intimate and after his death, she never applied for his pension. She kept their marriage secret until just a few years before her death.
I'll be writing about her life in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog in the future.
--RoadWidow
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