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On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the Kent Civil War Society will hold its regular monthly meeting, beginning at 7:30 PM. The program part of the meeting will feature Mark Laubacher presenting Dr. George B. Todd: Medical Officer on Land, River, Sea.

In April 1861, with the Civil War imminent, Doctor George Brainard Todd answered the call for surgeons and mustered in the 12th New York Regiment. He was with the 12th in Virginia from July 1861 through August 1862 and resigned October 1862 in Maryland. He immediately volunteered as a naval surgeon and served on seven vessels for the Federal Navy. His longest tenure was on USS Montauk in 1864-65, it became his most memorable. He was the only person to have met President Abraham Lincoln the day of his assassination, attended Ford's Theatre that fateful night, was the only naval surgeon to join the other surgeons with Lincoln at Peterson House, and witnessed the autopsy of Lincoln's assassin. Honorably discharged in 1868, he reenlisted during the Virginius Affair, then was ordered to Pensacola, Florida to treat yellow fever victims only to become infected and succumb to the disease.

Mark Laubacher is a graduate of Capital University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science, Nursing degree. He is an active member of the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A. Additionally, Mark is a member of the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable and the Society of Civil War Surgeons.

The public is welcome. The optional pre-meeting dinner will be at Eddy's Deli & Restaurant in Stow, beginning at 5:30 PM.

The meeting will be held in the Roy Smith Shelter at Fred Fuller Park
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***** Society News & Information *****

The Kent Civil War Society held its first Trivia Night on April 8, 2025. Attendees shared some challenging questions and a good deal of laughter. In the end, the team of Phil Kohari and John Spindler won the contest in overtime. As a reward, they were entitled to choose the next target of the society's preservation fund donation. $100 will be sent to the Kernstown Battlefield Association for upkeep and interpretation of the Kernstown Battlefield.

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Speakers from within the society will be needed to fill out the 2025 schedule, so if you have something you can give a presentation on, or you want a reason to do some research, please let the society president Brian Conrad know or email us at info@kentcivilwar.org

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For last minute information on the Kent Civil War Society meetings, call the society's meeting information hotline at (330) 474-9362 for a recorded message