The Last Person Collecting a Civil War Pension Has Died

The last person to receive a pension from the Civil War — which ended in 1865 — has passed away.

Irene Triplett, 90, was receiving $73.13 a month from the Department of Veteran Affairs, and was considered a “helpless adult child of a veteran” due to mental disabilities, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Triplett story is quite amazing, earning a front-page feature on the WSJ back in 2014. Irene’s father, Mose, was a Confederate soldier who defected to the North in 1863, deserting his side while in the hospital, as the other troops marched toward a bloody battle in Gettysburg. He later enlisted in the Union regiment, the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry.

In 1862, Mose Triplett enlisted in a North Carolina infantry regiment. He later deserted, and in 1864 joined a Union regiment. Due to his service, he got a veteran’s pension, which passed to his daughter, Irene. Irene died—this past Sunday, at 90. RIP. https://t.co/dwUDoZXO94

— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) June 3, 2020

Mose’s daughter was the product of a marriage to a woman almost 50 years younger. While the story is incredible, Irene was not a fan of either parent. “I didn’t care for neither one of them, to tell you the truth about it,” she told the Journal. “I wanted to get away from both of them. I wanted to get me a house and crawl in it all by myself.”