A Story Of Abandonment - James "Jim" Martin abandoned his first wife, Matilda, & their children in Jackson County, GA. James filed for a Confederate Pension in Wilkes Co. GA stating that he had a wife & small children. At the time that he filed for the pension he had no small children by Matilda. Jim had relocated to Wilkes County, GA and began a relationship with another woman, & had children by her. Those two children were born out of wedlock as there is no marriage record for their parents. Their names were Hattie & Haynes Walter Martin. Their mother was Nancy Ann Williams. She also had a child from a previous marriage named Floyd Foster Driver (his father was Sandy O. Driver, but he is listed with the Martin last name in the 1900 Wilkes County, GA census). Also, when Jim died, Nancy did not apply for the widow's pension but Matilda did & received it in Jackson County, GA; another reason to believe that Jim had not previously divorced Matilda. No divorce records have been found. Jim died in Wilkes County, GA. (burial location unknown), & Nancy is shown in the 1910 Jackson County, GA census as "widowed" and once again using the last name of her first husband "Driver". The kids appear as: "Hattie Driver" and "Hanes Driver". The children never reverted back to using their biological surname of Martin. Instead, Haynes Driver is found in the 1920 De Kalb County, GA census, married and with his own family. His sister, Hattie, is found in the 1930 Sylva, Jackson County, NC census as married with a family as well. She is buried in North Carolina and her grave marker reads: "Hattie Driver, wife of S. T. McGinnis". Her mother, Nancy, is also shown to be living with her at that time, only she was then listed as Nancy Holbrooks. She died in North Carolina, but her death certificate says that she was buried in Georgia. Matilda died in Jackson County, GA, relying on her children and the pension that she received as a way to make ends meet. She listed her situation as "living in poverty".