Do any of you know of a surviving grandchild, under the age of 60, of a Civil War soldier?
Under 60? Seems ALMOST impossible.
Even if we assume a 16 year old joined the Confederate Army in 1865, shortly before the war ended, that man would have been born in 1849. Even if he managed to impregnate a woman when he was 90 (theoretically possible, but not likely), that child would be 63 today.
It is almost certainly the case there are grandchildren of civil war veterans now under the age of 60.
As late as 1998, there were still a couple of WIDOWS of CW veterans live.
There is only one left now:
According to the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, there is still one widow and 12 children of Civil War vets drawing benefits.
Such “longevity” is not unknown.
The last dependant of a Revolutionary War vet died in 1911, 120+ years after the war ended.
The last dependant of a War of 1812 vet died in 1946.
The last dependant of a Mexican-American War vet died in 1962.
We’ll still be paying benefits to WWI vets and dependants for at least another 30-40 years.
Zev Steinhardt
Now THAT is cool!
I apologize for not looking closely. I thought I saw “children,” not grandchildren.
Since it’s still possible (however unlikely) that there are still CHILDREN of Civil War vets, obviously there are still grandchildren.
In the early 20th century, there were still many Civil War veterans around, men in their sixties and seventies, and they were often considered very desirable husbands, down South. Seriously! In the year 1910, say, a 70 year old Confederate war veteran drew what was (THEN, anyway) a rather generous pension. Better still, that pension would go to his widow after he died. So, a 20 year old Southern girl who who wanted financial security could do worse than to marry a much older man who was drawing a Civil War pension.
So, there were still quite a few children being born to Civl War vets in the early 20th century. SOME of those folks are still alive today. And MOST of those folks have children who are still around today.
So, to revise my previous statement… if a 55 year old Southerner says his FATHER fought in the Civil War, he’s full of beans. But if he says his GRANDFATHER did, that’s quite plausible.
My uncle was born in 1944 and is the grandson of a Civil War veteran.
You don’t even have to assume a really huge difference in age between the father and mother to believe there are grandchildren born after 1953!
We start with several million veterans so if only one in a thousand had children 1900 or after, there were several thousand sons and daughters born after that date, the daughters could have children in 1943 and sons well after that with their spouses ten years or so their junior.
I would not be shocked to learn there are a handful of such grandchildren now under 40.
plnnr, is your uncle the grandchild of a member of the Union Army or the Confederate Army? Would he be willing to be in touch with me?
aahala, you pretty well nailed it for me. My grandfather was born in 1845. His son, my father, was born in 1906. I was born in 1943.
It might even be possible to stretch that spread by 20 or 30 years. My grandfather could have been 70 or over when my father was born and my father could have been 70 or older when I was born. The would make the grandchild 18! I realize that is highly unlikely.
astorian, I fit the pattern that you describe. My grandfather was married to a woman about his age. They had several children. She died and he married a young widow with several children. (He didn’t get his pension until shortly before he died – no goldiggers here! :D)) When that younger woman was in her forties and my grandfather in his sixties, my father was born in 1906. My father was the youngest of seventeen in a blended family.
Shagnasty, thanks for the link! I am about to read it.
Zev, I agree with smiling bandit. Those stats are fascinating to me!
" Fully 125 years after Appomattox, federal pensions are being paod to about a dozen widows of civil war veters - all of whom had been involved in ‘May-December’ marrigages in the early part of this century…If the Civil War pattern holds true for subsequent conflicts, the last Spanish War pensions will probably be paid out sometime around 2030. Similarly, WW1 will still be costing taxpayers money until about 2050, WW2 until about 2075, Korea will be with us until about 2050, the Vietnam War until sometime around 2110…"
James Dunnigan “Dirty Litte Secrets” p. 358 1990
The last veteran of the Civil War died in the late in 1950s at the age of 113. I think it was 1958.
So THEORETICALLY, if this last civil war veteran fathered a child before he died, the child would be 45. 
My name is Walter Draine Iam 52 my DaD 108 his Dad 165 hoo is the youngest union grand child:)
My name is Walter Draine Iam 52 my DaD 108 his Dad 165 hoo is the youngest union grand child:)can you tell me.
No, hoo’s on first.
We are paying Confederate pensions? Holy crap. Clearly a place to start cutting the budget.
Well we were, in 2003. The last confederate widow ™ has since died. I don’t think they’ve found another yet. 
Confederate pensions are paid by the States, not the Federal Government.
I have copies of a great uncle’s pay receipts for the disability pension he received after losing a leg in a wagon accident in that war. He received $7.50 a month for his disability.
We recently lost the aunt who would have qualified as a grandchild.
Interesting, for what its worth, there was a Spanish-American War Vet’s club in Boston (Roxbury) for years-I understand that it operated well into the 1970’s.
Which leads to a question: the Civil War spawned a vast number of veteran’s organizations-the GAR seemed to have halls in all major cities. Whene these old geezers died off, what happened to all of this property? I assme that some of them were spported by trsts-are any of them still fnctioning?