The Doan Families of Clinton County, Ohio

HENRY B. CRUMLY, farmer, P. 0. Martinsville, ex-Sheriff of Clinton County, was born near Wilmington, Ohio, November 3, 1825. His parents, William and Rebecca Crumly, were natives of Frederick County, Va. The former was born August

2, 1798, and the latter February 12, 1800. William came to Greene County, with his parents, about 1810, and in 1821, he came to Wilmington. He followed teaching, from early manhood till 1843, when he became Assistant County Clerk, and occupied that position till 1853, when he was elected Treasurer of Clinton County. He served the public in that capacity for six years, then kept books in William Fife’s private bank one year. At the expiration of this time, he entered the Auditor’s office, as Clerk, and retained that position till the spring of 1865, when he was appointed Auditor, and performed the duties of that office till the 25th of August, following, when he was removed from public duty by death. Mrs. Crumly departed this life June, 1875. Henry was reared on his father’s farm, near Wilmington, and was educated in the common school. He followed farming up to 1853, then removed to Dover and operated a a saw-mill eighteen months; then removed to Wilmington, and after three years in the grain trade, he engaged in butchering, which he followed till April 22, 1861, when he responded to his country’s call by enlisting in the “ three months’ call,” and July 9, 1861, re-enlisted, and was mustered in, in Company G, Eleventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three years as Second Sergeant, and, subsequently, was given the rank of Orderly Sergeant. He fought at Scarry Creek and Canifex, and was skirmishing with Tompkins’ Cavalry till the following November, when, one night while retreating down Catton Mountain, he fell over a precipice, and sustained injuries for which he was discharged, April, 1862. He now receives a compensation of $4 per month, for his disability. Mr. Crumly served as Assessor of Union Township twelve years. In 1867, he was elected Deputy Sheriff, and, after serving eight years, was elected Sheriff. He served acceptably one term, and declined the earnest solicitations of the people to be a candidate again. In December, 1877, he located on his present farm, which contains sixty-six acres. He was married September 2, 1847, to Mary Doan, daughter of Jesse and Lydia Doan, and a native of Union Township, where she was born October 4, 1825. Of their six children, four are living, viz., Rosetta, wife of W. A. Harsha. Mollie, Jesse E. and Charles II. Arthur R. and William A. are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Crumly are members of the Society of Friends. Mr. Crumly is a Republican.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

ROBERT R. DOAN.

Robert R. Doan. who Is one of the most brilliant young men in Clinton county, and who perhaps, Is one of the best-Informed men, young or old, Is not only a descendant of one of the earliest pioneers of this county, but a member of a family which has distinguished Itself In the political life of this suite. That Robert R. Doan is possessed of wide vision, Initiative and executive ability is proved by his success in au enterprise in wblcb the people of Clinton county have good reason to take great pride. A short time ago lie organised a company to publish the first dally newspaper ever launched in Clinton county.

Robert R. Donn was born on March 10, 1SS0, in Wilmington, Ohio, and Is a son of Albert W. and Jennie (Rutherford) Doan, the former of whom Is also a native of Wilmington, the deputy probate Judge of this county, who resides at Wilmington. Albert W. Doan was born on August 25. 1960. His wife, who was a native of Wilmington, Ohio, was born on January 27, 1864. Mr. Doan's mother is also living.

The paternal grandparents of Robert R. Doan were Robert E. and Maria (McMillan) Donn. the former of whom, although eighty-four years old. Is engaged in the practice of law at Washington. D. C, where he has lived since 1*90. Robert E. Doan was born in Union township. Clinton county, Ohio, on June 23, 1834, and his wife, who was born on August 8, 1836, is also still living. Robert E. Doan is a son of William Doau. who, in 1804. came with his parents, Joseph and Jemima Doan. from Chatham county. North Carolina. They settled near what Is now the city of Wilmington, where they purchased nearly one thousand acres of land, and It may be said here that Mr. Doan is the owner of twenty-six thousand acres of land in the state of Sonora, Mexico. William Doan was a Whig in politics, and a leading member of the Friends church. He was a farmer most of his life, and he and his wife were the parents of three children, Robert E., Joseph, who died unmarried, and Maria, deceased, who was the wife of Thomas Waltham, also deceased.

The Doan family in Clinton county dates from the coming of Joseph Doan, who arrived here on November 4, 1804. in company with John Stout, from Chatham county. North Carolina, by the Flower <sap. John Vestal, who was his wife's brother, died before they arrived at Todd's Fork. On January 22, 1806. Joseph Doan purchased two hundred and thirty-eight acres of land In Posey's survey at one dollar and a half au acre, paying altogether three hundred and fifty-seven dollars, three hundred dollars to Posey and fifty-seven dollars to Nathan Linton. On November 27, 1806, he paid on his land one hundred dollars, and on December 4. 1807, he paid another hundred dollars. Joseph Doan was born on October 23, 1759. and died on May 28. 1838. His wife was born on May S. 1762. They were the parents of twelve children. Thomas, John, Ruth, the wife of Joseph Haines: William. Elizabeth. Joseph, Jesse, Jonathan, Jacob. Rachel, the wife of Isaac Hlnes, Ellsha and Mary.

The Hon. Robert K. Doan was a very ambitious young man. who desired to study law, and was accustomed to take law hooks to the Held and studied while he plowed. With his own earnings he attended the Cincinnati law school and became an attorney at Wilmington. Ohio. His mother, who. before her marriage, was Betsy Eachus, a native of Wlnchesler, Virginia, died in 1864. Five years later his father. William Doan. passed away.

Robert E. Doan served as prosecuting attorney and was finally elected to Congress during President Harrison's administration. After serving one term in this office he became a partner of Major Anderson, of Washington, D. C., and when Major Anderson was appointed judge of the United States District Court, Mr. Doan continued the practice of his profession alone, and is still engaged in the practice. He is now president of the National Biographical Society of Washington and is also a charter member and historian of the Ohio Historical Society at Washington.

It Is Robert Doau's original conception which launched and founded, In Washington. D. C, in 1910, the International Law Association of the United States. Mexico and the Dominion of Canada, which received the endorsement of the highest judicial tribunal in the world, the supreme court of the United States. Mr. Doan served one year as secretary of the Steele-Evans Manufacturing Company and as secretary-treasurer of the Clinton Publishing Company. His literary efforts have been published in the Frank A. Mnnsey's publications and a syndicate of eastern newspapers. He is acquainted and corresponds with Colonel Roosevelt, which pleasant relations were also maintained with the late Elbert Hubbard and wife.

To return to his early history, it may be said that both of Robert E. Doau's parents were members of the Frleuds church; that he attended an academy at Harveysburg, Warren county, Ohio, and afterward taught school in Warren, Greene and Clinton counties, in this way earning money to pay for his Jaw course. He finished the course In the Cincinnati law school and received his diploma with the degree of Bachelor of Ijiws on April It), 1WVT. For some time he was in partnership with his cousin, A. W. Doan, In the practice of law. the firm having been dissolved fifteen years later, when A. W. Doan was elected Judge of the court of common pleas. In 1S>0 he made seventy-seven speeches In favor of James A. Garfield's election to the Presidency In the state of Ohio, in which year he was a Presidential elector from the Clinton county district, and named by acclamation. He was a candidate for Congress in that year, but was defeated for the nomination, receiving, however, only thirteen votes less than the nominee. In 1SG7 he was married to Maria McMillan, a native of Clinton county, and to this union were born six children. Clinton, who was a farmer, is do-eased. He was a specialist in raising thoroughbred horses: Albert W. is the father of Robert 15., the immediate subject of this review; Charles died at the age of fifteen: Rurrltt died at the age of fourteen; Willie died at the age of six; Frank M. died In Arizona. He was collector of customs in that state, having been appointed to this position by President McKlnley. The commission of Frank M. Doan was the last which President McKlnley ever signed before his death.

In addition to his law practice. Robert E. Doan has large Interests in copper mines, and is also heavily Interested in a publishing company at Washington. D. C. For many years he maintained his large residence In tho city of Wilmington, where his grandson. Robert it., now lives.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

Robert R. Doan received his early education In the public schools of Wilmington, Ohio, and later became a student of Wilmington College for four years. Still later he was a student at Ohio Wesleyan University for a year, where be pursued a literary course. After this he was a student at Georgetown University, near Washington. D. C, where he was a law student. In 1013 Mr. Doan returned to Wilmington and engaged In the printing and publishing business. On November 1. 1014, he started the Clinton RcHitr, a monthly magazine, and in April, 101B, organized the company to publish the

- first dally newspaper ever issued in Clinton county. Mr. Doan firm does Job prlutlug and local publishing.

On January 5, 1915, Mr. Doan was married to Mabel Compton, a native of Champaign, Illinois, and a daughter of L. L. Compton and wife, the former of whom is an architect of Wilmington, Ohio.

Mr. nud Mrs. Doan are members of the Friends church at Wilmington. He Is a Republican in politics and a very ambitious young man, one entirely worthy of the splendid career of many of the Doan family in this county. He and his wife are popular socially lu this city, and. of course, are well known.

The life history of him whose name heads this sketch is closely identified with the history of Wilmington and Clinton county, Ohio. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of success attained by only those who devote themselves indefatigably to the work before them. He is of a high type of business man and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among the men whose genius and abilities have achieved results that are commendable.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HON. AZARIAH W. DOAN, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the Second Judicial District, and of the Third Subdivision, including the counties of Clinton, Warren, Greene and Clark, was born in Wilmington, December 17, 1824. His father was Jonathan Doan, a native of North Carolina, and a blacksmith by trade. He came to Ohio in 1804, locating in what is now Union Township, of Clinton County, where he was engaged in agriculture for many years, owning at one time nearly 400 acres of land. He died in July. 1874. Judge Doan’s mother was Phebe Wall, a native of Pennsylvania, who accompanied her parents to Ohio in 1808. She departed this life in November, 1809. When young, Judge Doan attended the Wilmington Seminary, taught by David S. Burson, of New York, and noted for his masterly attainments in the language of ancient Greece. In 1852, Judge Doan was appointed Deputy Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas serving in that capacity one year. During this time, he studied law with Frank, and was admitted to practice in June, 1853. He has been in almost constant practice from that time to the present. In April, 1861, Judge Doan assisted Judge R. B. Harlan in raising Company B, Twelfth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was the first company offered to the State in reply to President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 men. Judge Doan was made First Lieutenant, and served as such during the three months’ service. When the company was re-organized for a three years’ campaign, Lieut. Doan was made Captain of the company, and in 1862, was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventy-ninth Regiment, serving in the latter position till the close of the rebellion. Judge Doan was subsequently commissioned Colonel and Brigadier General by brevet, for meritorious conduct on the battlefield at Averysborourg, North Carolina. During the prevalence of this conflict, Col. Doan took charge of two regiments and made a vigorous assault on the enemy’s right, capturing, in a remarkably short time, the batteries of artillery on that wing of the confederate forces. In July, 1865, he was honorably discharged, and returned to Wilmington, resuming his law practice. In the fall of the same year, he was nominated in the primary convention of the Republican party, and subsequently elected by the people, to represent this district in the State Senate, for a term of two years. In April, 1875, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, by a special act of the Legislature, and was triumphantly re-elected in 1879, for a second term (five years), commencing May 3, 1880. Judge Doan was married, October 21, 1847, to Amanda M. Stratton, also a native of Wilmington. Five children were born to them, one surviving— Corwin F. W., a merchant at Doans, Texas. Mrs. Doan died, of cholera, August 6, 1854. This fatal disease also carried off the greater number of the children. Judge Doan was again married, in June, 1856, to Martha G. Hale, a native of Pennsylvania. Six children were the fruits of this alliance. Five are living — Willie, Joe, Alice, Walker and Fanny. Charles is deceased. Judge Doan is a member of Wilmington Lodge, No. 52 (Masonic); also of the Chapter. He was formally a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post, which is now disbanded. Judge Doan’s parents were members of the Society of Friends, and he grew up in the teachings of that church. “ Col. Doan,” as he is familiarly known to the “ boys in blue,” was an intrepid and gallant soldier, and his war record is as bright and clear as the noon-day sun. During his war service, he participated in twenty-three battles and skirmishes. He first served in West Virginia, under Gen. Rosecrans, afterward in the Army of the Cumberland, and subsequently in the Twentieth Army Corps, “ when Sherman marched down to the sea.” The high standard attained during his military career has been modestly but successfully sustained in his subsequent responsible service in official and private life. Tried by many tests, he has never been found wanting. As a practitioner, no man ever prosecuted more vigorously what he considered right, although he always discouraged litigation, when a fair settlement could be made. On the bench. Judge Doan has always observed the strictest impartiality in his rulings, his strongest desire being to satisfy the contesting parties of the fairness of his decisions. Judge Doan is possessed of a keen sense of honor, persevering energy, sterling integrity, and purity of character — qualities that have won for him the respect and esteem of the citizens of Clinton County and Southern Ohio.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

TIMOTHY DOAN, farmer, P. O. Sabina, was born in Indiana in 1814, and is a son of Joseph Doan, who settled in this township in 1818, on fifty acres of wild land, which he cleared up and lived on till his death, which occurred in 1825. Ho was the father of seven children, of whom only two are living. He was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, taking more than ordinary interest in all matters pertaining to religion. Mrs. D. was again married to Elkany Jacks, by whom she had seven children. She died in 1880, aged eighty-six years. Catherine, mother of our subject, was a daughter of Timothy Bennett, who settled in this county when Indians were numerous, and of whom proper mention is made elsewhere. Our subject was married to Mary, the daughter of Robinson Custis, who has borne him twelve children, nine of whom are living. Mr. D. began life a poor boy, and through his long life of earnest toil, in which he has been assisted by his noble wife, has succeeded in accomplishing the great object in life, i. e., made a good home. He came to his present home in 1837, at which time it was densely covered with heavy timber. This, he cleared off, and now (1882) almost the last vestige, as a relic of pioneer days, has been obliterated, and a well-improved farm, with highly cultivated fields, adorns the work of transformation that has been erected by his own hands. Mr. D. has been a consistent and exemplary member of the Primitive Methodist Church of Sabina for a period of forty years, and is ardently attached to the cause of Christ and his preached word.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.