Last Civil War-era pensioner dies in North Carolina
It’s the end of an era.
It has been 155 years since Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
A century and a half since the guns fell silent in that bloodiest war on American soil.
Fifteen and a half decades since the troops of the Union and the Confederacy turned their heads towards home.
And, now, the last surviving recipient of a Civil War-era pension has died in North Carolina.
Not a soldier of that war, of course — that would be headline news everywhere.
But instead the last surviving child of one pensioner whose disabilities qualified her for the sum of $73.13 a month.
Irene Triplett’s father Moses was born around 1847, the youngest son of Luke and Martha Triplett of Watauga County, North Carolina.1 He enlisted, first, in Company C of the 26th North Carolina Infantry — a Confederate unit — in March of 1862.2
And, in June of 1863, he deserted from Confederate service3 — setting up the next chapter of his story: his enlistment in the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry in August of 1864.4 Yes, that was a Union outfit. He was discharged in August of 1865,5 returned home, married and raised a family.6
His honorable discharge from that service qualified Triplett for a pension and, the records show, he began to receive that pension in March of 1907.7 He was, at that time, 60 years old, and he drew the pension until his death in 1938.8
But he did something else in the meantime: after the death of his wife Mary, he married again in April of 1924, at the age of 78. His bride, Lydia Hall, was 28 years old.9 And sure as night follows day, the 1930 census shows the result: a daughter, Irene, three months old.10
Eight years old when her father died in 1938, so qualified for a child’s pension. Disabled throughout her lifetime, so qualifying for continued pension payments as an adult. And 90 years old this past Sunday, May 31, when she died in Wilkesboro of complications from surgery for injuries after a fall.11
The end of an era, indeed.
RIP Irene Triplett.
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “RIP Irene Triplett,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 3 June 2020).
SOURCES
- See 1850 U.S. census, Watauga County, North Carolina, population schedule, p. 122A (stamped), dwelling 307, family 310, Moses Triplett; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 June 2020); citing National Archive microfilm publication M432, roll 648. ↩
- Moses Triplett, Pvt., Company C, 26th Regiment, North Carolina Troops; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina, microfilm publication M270, roll 331 of 580 rolls (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 1960); digital images, Fold3 (https://www.Fold3.com : accessed 3 June 2020), Moses Triplett file. ↩
- Ibid. ↩
- Moses Triplet, Pvt., Company B, 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Mounted Infantry; Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina, microfilm publication M401, roll 24 of 25 rolls (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 1963); digital images, Fold3 (https://www.Fold3.com : accessed 3 June 2020), Moses Triplett file. ↩
- ibid. ↩
- See e.g. 1920 U.S. census, Johnson County, Tennessee, Civil District 8, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 133, p. 273 (stamped), dwelling 177, family 181, Mose Triplett; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 June 2020); citing National Archive microfilm publication T625, roll 1748. ↩
- Moses Triplett, Pension No. C831,410, for service in Company B, 3rd Regiment, North Carolina Mounted Infantry; Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, microfilm publication T289, roll 388 of 765 rolls (Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Service, 19?); digital images, Fold3 (https://www.Fold3.com : accessed 3 June 2020). ↩
- North Carolina State Board of Health, death certificate no. 352 (1938), Mose Triplett; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 June 2020). ↩
- See “Local News in Town and County,” North Wilkesboro (NC) Hustler, 9 Apr 1924, p.1, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 3 June 2020). ↩
- 1930 U.S. census, Wilkes County, North Carolina, Elk Township, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 1, sheet 7-B, dwelling/family 117, Irene Triplett in Moze Triplett household; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 June 2020); citing National Archive microfilm publication T626, roll 1728. ↩
- Michael M. Phillips, “Last Person to Receive a Civil War-Era Pension Dies,” Wall Street Journal, 2 June 2020; digital version reprinted at MSN.com (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ : accessed 3 June 2020). ↩
My people! Not the Triplett family (that I know of) but the Third North Carolina Mounted Infantry, in which my great-great-grandfather, Charles Garland, served along with many other relatives from Mitchell County.
Hmmmm . . . Not at all uncommon for younger women to marry old vets to get a guaranteed income after those pension laws were passed – beneficial for both parties. But, with due respect to the virility of Moses Triplett, I gotta wonder if anyone has considered checking Irene’s dna and see if it matches that of other descendants or those of his blood family. Marrying at 78 and a new father at 84 . . . he’d be getting a bit long in the tooth to sire a child. Were the child born earlier in the marriage I might be less suspicious. Not impossible, of course, but . . .
Always good to be skeptical. But my Southern Civil War era 3g-gf and his brother had second marriages with younger women who bore children when their husbands were 68 and 75 respectively. It did happen.
I believe there are still a couple more children of civil war vets with similar May-December marriages and families. I knew one and he died recently in his 90s.
Not on the pension rolls.
The Triplett famiy intertwines with a branch of my own and an interesting note regarding this is that the father of Moses, Luke Triplett, had also married again very late in life at about 85 to a young woman of about 22 named Annie Hall who is among my relatives. I’d also note that there were quite a few Unionists in Watauga County during the era, several of my relatives included. These actions were not as uncommon as one might think.
Western North Carolina was very split, and side switching wasn’t at all uncommon.
Additional detail from today’s Washington Post website:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/06/04/she-was-last-american-collect-civil-war-pension-7313-month-she-just-died/
Just stumbled on this post.. thanks for sharing. I was just having a conversation the other day about how relatively recent the civil war was….we are not that far removed. This post is a fascinating reminder.
I thought it was something that my 1st SC Cavalry 2nd grandfather Branton married at the age of 58 a 23 year old….RIP Irene!