WILMINGTON — Susan Henry, the great-great-granddaughter of Civil War Brigadier General Azariah Doan, recently joined several members of Henry Casey Camp 92 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in a Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at the gravesite of General Doan in Sugar Grove Cemetery.
Charles Rose, Junior Vice Commander, served as master of ceremonies and told the amazing life story of General Doan.
The 79th Ohio Volunteer Infantry participated in 23 battles and skirmishes during the Civil War. Doan assumed command of the regiment on August 1,1864 following the resignation of the regiment’s commander. At that time, Doan held the rank of Lt. Colonel. He led the regiment in the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the campaign through the Carolinas during 1865.
He was promoted to full Colonel on June 8, 1865 and discharged the next day.
Doan returned to Wilmington after the war and was elected to the Ohio Senate where he served two years and returned to private law practice in Wilmington. In 1875 he was elected Clinton County Common Pleas Judge and held that post for 15 years.
Master of ceremonies Charles Rose noted that 150 years ago, in 1872, General Doan was in charge of the Memorial Day ceremony held at the Sugar Grove Cemetery.
Rose recounted in detail the activities that took place on that Memorial Day under the direction of General Doan based on an account of that Memorial Day ceremony published in the Wilmington Journal.
The recent ceremony ended with Camp Senior Vice Commander Kelly Hopkins placing a wreath on the grave of General Doan and Charles Rose introducing the guests: DAR member Claire Ropp; President of the Clinton County Genealogical Society, Gene Snyder; and Susan Henry.
The Henry Casey Camp members placed two other wreaths — at the gravesite of Civil War Brigadier General James W. Denver and at the GAR Civil War statue at Soldiers Point.
They also placed a wreath at the gravesite of Clinton County’s last surviving Civil War veteran, Thomas Benton Baldwin, who is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Blanchester.
