Irene Triplett (January 9, 1930 – May 31, 2020) was the last recipient of an American Civil War pension.
Irene Triplett grew up on her father's farm in Wilkes County, North Carolina.
Her education ended at the sixth grade and, in 1943, she moved with her mother and brother to a poorhouse, where she remained until 1960.
[5][6] Triplett's father died in 1938 at the age of 92, after which she collected his Civil War pension of $73.13 per month from the Department of Veterans Affairs;[1] her cognitive impairments qualified her to inherit the pension as a helpless child of a veteran.
[8] Widespread public awareness of Triplett's status occurred in 2013 as the result of a Daily Mail story about her.