Last Confederate widow laid to rest

AP ^ | 6-12-04

[rvoitier]

Alberta Martin, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, has been buried in an 1860s-style ceremony complete with war re-enactors.

[rvoitier]

Click here for story.

Confederate military re-enactors walk alongside the horse-drawn casket of Alberta Martin in Curtis, Ala., Saturday, June 12, 2004. Martin, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, died May 31 at age 97 and was buried Saturday at New Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery in Curtis. Martin was a 21-year-old widow with a young child when she met and married 81-year-old William Jasper Martin in 1927. He served as a private in the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, and died in 1932. (AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)

[onyx]

First time I have seen a casket draped
in the stars and bars. Article is
interesting too. Good post, rvoitier.

[WKB]

Rebel (Not Ole Miss) Ping

[WKB]

Ping

[Izzy Dunne]

No disrepect intended, but it's a bit of a stretch to call her a "Civil War Widow", as the article does, or a "Confederate widow" as your title does.

She was widowed in 1932.

William Martin died in 1932 after having one child with his wife. Two months later, Alberta Martin married her late husband's grandson, Charlie Martin, who died in 1983.

This makes it sound like she married her own grandson. I'm guessing they meant "after having one child from a previous marriage".

[rvoitier]

Thanks onyx. I thought it was interesting, too.
Did you read the article where the widow married her late husband's grandson? Sounds like good soap opera material (ha).

[Capriole]

Apparently Mrs. Martin was not the last Confederate widow. Saturday's Washington Times had a lengthy article about a lady in Arkansas who is only 89 but is a Confederate widow. The documentation is quite firm. I regret throwing the Saturday paper away so I can't cite it but it's available online; go to the Washtimes Civil War page. Fascinating article. Unfortunately she got very little out of her elderly husband about what his war experience was like so she is not a mine of reminiscences.

[onyx]

Yes, I read the entire article.
Interesting about her marrying the grandson.
I reckon he was more her age. LOL.
At least she kept her marrying within the family. :)

[onyx]

Right, "Rebel" ping.

[stainlessbanner]

I'll look for more info on her.....thanks Capriole

[Protagoras]

Did you read the article where the widow married her late husband's grandson?

They had a child, he turned out to be his second cousins uncle and after his marriage to her sister became his own grandfather.

[Dead Dog]

Are those walmart tie down straps?

[stainlessbanner]

He became his own grandpa, just like the song.

[onyx]

LOL!
Help me here.
There's a song?
I'd love to see the words to it.

[stainlessbanner]

Found it here:

"Confederate widow, 89, lives in Arkansas 89-year-old Maudie Cecelia Hopkins of Lexa, Arkansas' first husband was William M. Cantrell of the Virginia Infantry -- and Mrs. Hopkins is very much alive, although in poor health."

[stainlessbanner]

I'm My Own Grandpa

Oh, many, many years ago
When I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow
Who was pretty as can be
This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red
My father fell in love with her
And soon the two were wed

This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life
For my daughter was my mother
'Cause she was my father's wife
To complicate the matter
Though it really brought me joy
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy

This little baby then became
A brother-in-law to Dad
And so became my uncle
Though it made me very sad
For if he was my uncle
Then that also made him brother
Of the widow's grown-up daughter
WHo of course is my step-mother

Chorus
I'm my own grandpa
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
Oh, I'm my own grandpa

My father's wife then had a son
Who kept them on the run
And he became my grandchild
For he was my daughter's son
My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue
Because although she is my wife
She's my grandmother too

Now if my wife is my grandmother
Then I'm her grandchild
And every time I think of it
It nearly drives me wild
For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandma
I am my own grandpa

[stainlessbanner]

The NYTimes crosswords are easier to figure out than this song : )

[onyx]

WOW! Thanks!
That is some song! :)