This is just fascinating!!


Arkansas Woman Recognized as Confederate Widow

UPDATED - Tuesday June 15, 2004 3:52pm


Little Rock (AP) - The United Daughters of the Confederacy is

recognizing Maudi Celia Hopkins of Lexa as a surviving widow of a

Civil War soldier.


News reports that the last Civil War widow had died last month

prompted relatives to verify her claims, kept private for decades and

the Daughters of the Confederacy say there may be others like Hopkins

who are still alive.


Hopkins married 86-year-old William Cantrell in 1934, after he hired

the 19-year-old to clean his house. Now 89-years-old, Hopkins says

she never talked about the marriage much for fear it would become a

topic of gossip.


Last month, Alberta Martin of Elba, Alabama, died at age 97. News

reports described her as the last widow of a Civil War veteran. But

Confederate historians have proved Hopkins claims' through

researching old records.


Hopkins told the Associated Press she married Cantrell, who collected

a Civil War pension from the state of Arkansas, to escape poverty.