Confederate Widows Update

I spent 8 hours at the Family History Library yesterday. I was able to identify many men who died in the Civil War from Arkansas in probate records. I should have at least 20 families from Dallas county that I can trace through other records to see what happened when wives lost their husbands. One thing that surprised me was to find a few women who never remarried after their husbands died. They petitioned the government for a pension when that option became available to them in the 1890s. I thought that most, if not all, women would remarry because it would be too hard for them to provide for their own support. I am anxious to finish up the research to make some conclusions and begin writing the paper.