The first rule of tracing your ancestry is check it out. You may think you know all about an ancestor because you have heard stories about them from the time you sat on your grandfather’s knee. But it may not all be true.
My great grandfather, John E. Doxon, fought in the Civil War. Or at least he served in a Civil War infantry unit. My father told me that he was General Sherman’s aide de camp. My father should know. His Grandfather lived until my father was twenty years old and told him many stories about his time in the war.
John’s obituary said he was ” a member of the footsore band that followed General Sherman on his march to the sea.” I checked it out. It turns out his main claim to fame was that he lived until 1935, long after most Civil War veterans died, so there was no one to dispute his claims.
Several records exist from the time of the Civil War. In the Indianapolis Star, March 25, 1862, is a notice that says “We are indebted to master John E. Doxon of the Adjutant General’s Office for numerous favors.” There is no clue what the fifteen-year-old did in the Adjutant General’s office or to whom he was granting favors.
Both his obituary and Civil War rosters say he was in the 132nd Regiment of Indiana Infantry. This infantry regiment was mustered on May 18, 1864, when John was still seventeen. They were assigned to guard railroads and trains in Stevenson, Alabama from May 18 until July, then to guard trains in Nashville until September 7 of that year. Then they were mustered out. So he guarded trains that supplied Sherman’s Atlanta campaign but the regiment was dissolved before Sherman moved out toward Savannah.
John was listed in the Indianapolis city directory of 1865 as a clerk, If he had somehow joined another unit and followed Sherman to the sea he is not likely to have been able to get back to Indiana and found a job as a clerk in time to be listed in the 1865 directory.
Everything points to my great grandfather knowing how to ingratiate himself to others at a young age, serving in the militia as a teenager during the Civil War, and becoming a skillful storyteller in his later years.
