Members of Henry Casey Camp 92 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil war conducted a Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony at the Blanchester I.O.O.F. Cemetery grave site of Thomas Benton Baldwin Clinton County’s last surviving Union soldier. Pictured left to right: Shawn A. Cox, Christopher S. Grim, Michael Sutton, Camp Commander David Meister, Junior Vice Commander Charles Rose, Senior Vice Commander Kelly Hopkins, James L. Grim and Benjamin Meister.
Photos submitted by Robert Grim
Graveside memorial ceremony for Michael Daugherty at the Sugar Grove Cemetery. Left to right: Camp Junior Vice Commander Charles Rose (gave tribute), Secretary Shane L. Milburn, Christopher L. Grim, Michael Sutton, Commander David Meister, Senior Vice Commander Kelly Hopkins, Benjamin Meister, Shawn A. Cox, and Patriotic Instructor Joe Daugherty (Father of Michael Daugherty).
Photos submitted by Robert Grim
Several members of Henry Casey Camp 92 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) are also members of the Sons of Veterans Reserve (SVR), which is the uniformed department of the SUVCW. Dressed in their Civil War uniforms, the SVR members conducted a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of Thomas Benton Baldwin in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery in Blanchester in honor of Memorial Day.
Baldwin was the last surviving Clinton County Union Civil War veteran. In 2007, the SUVCW placed a plaque on the grave stone of Baldwin identifying him as Clinton County’s last surviving Union soldier. He served in Company G, 175th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was captured by Confederate General Hood’s Army at Columbia, Tennessee and imprisoned at the infamous Andersonville, Georgia prison. Over 13,000 prisoners died at that prison.
When the war ended, Baldwin was released from prison and returned to Clinton County. He died on Jan. 8, 1943 about six months short of his 100th birthday.
The Casey Camp members also placed Memorial Day wreaths at the graves of two Civil War Generals buried in the Wilmington Sugar Grove Cemetery: Brig. General James W. Denver, who served as Gov. of the Kansas Territory (Denver, Colorado is named in his honor); and Brig. General Azariah W. Doan.
Casey Camp members also placed a wreath at the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Civil War statue located in the Sugar Grove Cemetery at Soldiers Point honoring all Civil War soldiers. SUVCW members are descendants of Union Civil War veterans.
Clinton County Municipal Court Judge Michael Daugherty, who died unexpectedly last September, was a member of Henry Casey Camp. The camp members conducted a special Memorial Day ceremony at his grave site at the Sugar Grove Cemetery, which concluded with the placement of an SUVCW flag holder.
