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OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW:
Mrs. Alberta Martin
Click on above thumbnail to see larger photo.
You may read the plans that were made for Mrs. Martin's funeral at http://lastconfederatewidow.com. She lay in state at the White House of the Confederacy in Montgomery, AL, followed by a lovely service at First Assembly of God Church in Elba, and the interment at New Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery, Curtis, Alabama. The funeral was on June 12, 2004.
December 8, 2001
Pam and I drove down to Elba this past Monday and spent the night with Dr. Chancey. I then opened Mrs. Martin's cards that Tuesday morn. Went to Winn Dixie and had a birthday cake made for her. It was beautifully done in the battle flag with "Alberta Martin Happy 95th Birthday". She loved it and enjoyed eating it as well.
Mrs. Martin was in better shape than I have seen her in 5 years. Her mind was clear, she laughed a bunch. Enjoyed me reading her many cards. She was tickled to death when I gave her one with a dollar bill in it. All in all she received $37.00 in ones. She thought she was rich. North Carolina and Virginia sent more cards than any other state. Pam and I gave her a afghan that was the battle flag and she is so proud to have it. Now she has her flag back in her room. She had received a pretty flowered arrangement from a compatriot from NC also. I have now received $1,500.00 plus thus far for her fund for 2002. I do appreciate your OCR's gifts.
I got back home yesterday around 5pm and left Enterprise at 5am. So I had a good ride and a wonderful day with Mrs. Martin. The nursing home is very well decorated for Christmas and looks really nice.Mrs. Martin now needs to get Christmas Cards from us.
My very best to all,
Russell and Pam Darden
From: Russell E. Darden
Date: Monday, November 05, 2001
Subject: Mrs. Alberta Martin, Oldest Living Confederate Widow
Hello,
Mrs. Martin is doing just great and we are so pleased.
I have been busy lately with Army things and traveling, but some of it was really productive. Saturday evening we chartered two new Camps in Pennsylvania, one of which is in Gettysburg. This is a wonderful first - to have one in this special place. I Commissioned John Care as Division Commander of PA for this gives him 4 Camps and he has worked so hard getting this done.
Now, I need your help. I have learned from Dr. Ken Chancey that we are going to be short money for Mrs. Martin come January 2002. He was able to get and additional $1,000 from the State of Alabama for her. But we are going to raise $6,000.00 additional funds to carry her for the next year. I put this before the SCV Executive Council in Columbia, TN, asking for their support. Also, I am putting this out to all SCV Camps to send us a one-time minimum donation of $60.00. If 100 camps will do this and they should then we have the $6,000.00. I'm also asking you ladies of the OCR Chapters to help us and if then can send a check for$ 60.00 or more or whatever they can to please do so. Donations from individuals will also be accepted.
Send your checks to:
SCV International Headquarters
P.O. Box 59
Columbia, TN 38402-0059
Make checks out to:
"SCV for The Mrs. Alberta Martin Fund"
Please do this soon for we need to start the fund so we can cover the first few months of the new year. I know we will get the support we need and I thank you in advance for that support.
God Bless you and the OCR,
Russell Darden, CO/Chairman, The Mrs. Alberta Martin Fund
r.e.darden@juno.com- May 2001 -
Russell Darden spoke at the NCOCR convention on May 5, 2001 and made the following report on Mrs. Alberta Martin.
Mrs. Martin has had a lot of health problems last year, after all she is 94 years young*. Mrs. Alberta Martin, our oldest living Confederate widow is no longer at Taylor Mill Oaks assistance living facility. Although Mrs. Martin's health is improving she has been moved to a nursing home. This facility is not quite as nice as Taylor Mill Oaks. Mr. Russell Darden reports she is getting good care, but lets face it ladies, it is still a nursing home.
Please get into the habit of sending Mrs. Martin a card. The next time you are at the grocery store or drug store pick one up and occasionally surprise her by putting a $1.00 bill in the envelope. Remember ladies Mrs. Martin is our last living icon of the Old Confederacy that we can reach out and touch. Lets do not wait until it is too late and then say I wish I had sent that card. She needs us NOW. Please send all cards to:Mrs. Alberta Martin
C/O Dr. Ken Chancey
P.O. Box 311087
Enterprise, AL 36331Standing humble in the shadows of my confederate ancestors,
Laura Stallard, State President NC OCR Society
*Mrs. Martin born Alberta Stewart on December 4, 1906,
down in a little hollow by a sawmill at a place called
Dannely’s Crossroads in Coffee County, Alabama.
The following was reported by CNN and the Associated Press in July, 1996.
Alberta Martin of Elba, Ala., is 89 years old, and just received her $150 monthly Confederate Widow's pension from the state of Alabama. No, she was not married to a 150-year old man. But in 1926, her first husband died leaving her with a toddler to raise on her own. A year later she married a man sixty years her senior. Born in 1845, William Jaspar Martin had been a teenage private in the Confederate forces.
But when husband number two died during the Great Depression, Martin kept it all in the family by marrying her late husband's grandson, Charlie Martin, who lived until 1983. She may have been eligible for her war widow's pension when he died. But for whatever reason, didn't apply.
And because blood is thicker than water, at least down in Elba, Ala., Mrs. Martin now lives with her late husband's son, William Martin. She is scheduled to go with him on her first airplane flight ever next week, where she will attend the centennial reunion of the Sons Of Confederate Veterans' in Virginia.
When asked why, so many years ago, she married a man sixty years older than herself, Martin said "to get away from home, I guess. I had this little boy and I needed some help to raise him...The old saying is, 'It's better to be an old man's darling than a young man's slave".
To learn the more about Mrs. Martin, her husband, and her funeral, go to her website:
http://lastconfederatewidow.com/
To read about the passing of the Last Union Widow, go to
