A Civil War Medal of Honor and Certificate

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V14 2011 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 14, Number 16, April 17, 2011, Article 17

The U.S. Civil War began 150 years ago this week. Here's a great article from a Milwaukee, WI newspaper about a local man who has his great-great-grandfather's Medal of Honor and accompanying paperwork. The medal was awarded in person by President Abraham Lincoln on April 6, 1865. Check out the photo gallery for some excellent illustrations. I like the Certificate as much as the medal itself; I'll bet those are even more rare than the medals. -Editor

The shadow box containing an old tintype photo and medal hung on the wall of Bill Doan's family home for as long as he can remember.

The soldier who posed for the photo and what he did to earn the medal were unknown to Doan, of South Milwaukee, until a few years ago. That's when Doan learned the medal wasn't just any decoration for valor, it was a Medal of Honor that had been conferred on his ancestor by Abraham Lincoln a few days before the president was assassinated.

That set Doan on a quest to learn more and ultimately join a Wisconsin chapter of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

"It kind of went from something hanging on the wall to maybe I should be doing something with this," said Doan, 58. "My belief is this is American history, and I think it should be shared."

Exactly 150 years ago Tuesday, the first shot of the Civil War was fired on Fort Sumter, S.C. Before the conflict ended four years later, more than 620,000 lives were lost and hundreds of thousands more carried the scars, both physical and emotional, of the war that almost broke the nation in two.

Doan's great-great-grandfather on his mother's side, Pvt. Franklin Johndro, earned the Medal of Honor while fighting with the 118th New York Volunteer Infantry. On Sept. 30, 1864, at the Battle of Chapin's Farm in Virginia, while armed with the relatively new Spencer repeating rifle, he single-handedly captured a large group of Confederate soldiers. Johndro attended a Medal of Honor ceremony with Lincoln on April 6, 1865.

Johndro survived the war. The logger from Vermont eventually settled in Michigan, where he died in 1901. He must have worn his Medal of Honor often, because the red, white and blue striped ribbon attached to the medal was given out by the government in 1896 to recipients to replace the original ribbon, Doan learned.

When Doan contacted the local chapter of Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, C.K. Pier Badger Camp No. 1, he was told to bring proof of an ancestor's Civil War service to become a member. Usually that means a copy of a muster roll or discharge papers. But when Doan showed up with Johndro's rare Medal of Honor, "their eyes bugged out," he said.