Wait, what? Did you just say a widow of a Civil War soldier has recently passed away? I’m not following here. Well, it’s true, and her name was Helen Viola Jackson and she was 101 years old.

Yes, but it still doesn’t add up, right? The Civil War was fought in the 1860s and this woman was born somewhere around 1920 or 1919. Again, 101 years isn’t old enough to marry someone who fought in the Civil War. Well, not exactly. You see, Helen, in 1936 married James Bolin who was 93 years old. She was 17. Cue the Winger music here….”She’s only 17…..”

It’s not what it looks like. Or, at least, I hope it’s not. Helen was hired to take care of James Bolin. Helen’s care for James was so special, James wanted to do something special for Helen. He didn’t have any money so he asked Helen to marry him so that when he passed away he could leave her his pension. I wonder if that pension lasted until she passed?

What a story! Just in case you’re wondering, the Civil War ended in 1865, roughly 156 years ago.