On October 21, 2022, a gentleman named Daniel Smith passed away at approximately 90. According to news reports, Mr. Smith is the last known person to be the child the parents held in slavery during the US Civil War. He lived long enough to voice support for the Black Lives Matter protests!
The Civil War Was More Recent Than You Think.
The last shots of the Civil War were fired almost 160 years ago.
But if you were alive in 1956, your 
life overlapped with the life of Samuel J. Seymour, the last living witness to the terrorist assassination of Abraham Lincoln! (Click here to see him speak about it just days before his death!)That same year, Albert Woolson, the last known US veteran of the Civil War, passed away!
Mr. Woolson and Mr. Seymour men were alive in the days of Lincoln and died during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower! The Civil War is more recent than you think! The last person to receive a Civil War Pension died in 2020!
Compared to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, India, china, and so on, American history is actually very compact. In an article I wrote about “Overlapping History” I pointed out that Martin Luther King, Anne Frank, and Audrey Hepburn what all exactly the same age. Because they died at different ages and in drastically different manners, we don’t realize they’re commonality. We know of at least one man who voted for George Washington and lived long enough to vote for Abraham Lincoln! Click here to read about him.
All of this got me to wondering about the amazing men and women who served in the American military during World War II. We lose so many of them every day. I wondered how many of them are still with us.
The “Greatest Generation” – the brave men and women of America who fought to rid the world of Nazis and fascists is rapidly leaving us. According to this estimate, about 175,000 American World War II veterans are still alive. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that the last American veteran of the Second World War will probably leave us in 2045.
As a World War II veteran’s son, I mourn all these passing and urge grandparents to leave recorded oral histories whenever possible.
The fact that these arguments still provoke angry responses is evidence that the Civil War was more recent than you think.
Very interesting article! Thank you, Barry, for all you do! Jane