Title: Ira B. Dutton Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1862-1928

Creator:

• Dutton, Ira B.

Call Number: WVM Mss 14

Quantity: 19.2 linear ft. (12 archives boxes and 9 flat boxes) and photographs 0.2 linear ft. (6 folders).

Repository:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)

See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:

Papers and photographs of Ira B. Dutton, a Civil War officer and Quarter Master with the 13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry; the Acting Assistant Quarter Master for the Northern District of Alabama at Decatur, Alabama; a post-war War Department employee involved with Union soldier grave disinterment, reparations for refugees and freedmen, and war claims; and a Roman Catholic missionary at the leper colony on Molokai, Hawaii as Brother Joseph Dutton. The bulk of the collection concerns Dutton's activities as the Acting Assistant Quarter Master for the Northern District of Alabama at Decatur, covering the period June 1864 through September 1865, however it does also include some material from Dutton's service with the 13th Wisconsin. Civil War records include correspondence; orders; quarter master records and reports; freight records, including bills of lading; personnel records, which includes material on soldiers, civilian employees, and scouts; the records of boards convened to determine compensation for the use or damage of property; military railroad and transportation passes; and part of the daily journal of the armed river transport U.S.S. Stone River. Dutton's post-war activities are more briefly documented. Included are correspondence, orders, and records documenting Dutton's work with the War Department overseeing the disinterment of Union soldiers; the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands; and investigating war claims arising out of the Civil War. Dutton's missionary activities are documented by correspondence with G.A.R. comrades in Wisconsin and elsewhere, including Hosea Rood and A.G. Weissert; observations about customs of the native Hawaiian people; a photocopy of a letter from President Warren G. Harding extolling his work with the lepers on Molokai; and an 1884 room and board receipt from the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, when he was beginning his life as a Catholic brother. Also included are a small number of photographs of Dutton at various points in his life, the mission at Molokai, his mother, and the Brother Joseph Dutton School in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Language: English, Hawaiian

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00014

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Ira B. Dutton was born in Stowe, Vermont in 1843, and when he was four years old his family moved west to Janesville, Wisconsin. After graduating from the Milton Academy, later Milton College, he worked in Janesville at a bookstore and was quickly promoted to general clerk. He was also a member of the local volunteer fire department and the librarian of the local Baptist Church Sunday school. Dutton enlisted in Company B of the 13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in September 1861. Because of his business background he was quickly promoted to Quarter Master Sergeant in October 1861. In February 1863 he was promoted again to 1st Lieutenant of Company I of the 13th Wisconsin, also in the capacity of Quarter Master. In May 1864 Dutton went on detached service, becoming the Acting Assistant Quarter Master for the Northern District of Alabama, stationed in Decatur, Alabama, a position he held until September 1865. In this important position he was responsible for overseeing supply shipments by rail, riverboat, and mule-train throughout northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. He mustered out with his regiment in December 1865.

After the war he became a civilian employee of the War Department serving in a variety of capacities. First, he worked in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee in the disinterment of Union soldiers for later reinterment in National Cemeteries. He then worked as a war claims adjuster for the Bureau of Refugee, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands and the War Department. During this period of Dutton's life he also ran up a large number of personal debts and committed some unspecified 'sin' that caused him to convert to Roman Catholicism in 1883, taking the name Joseph Dutton upon his conversion.

He entered the Abbey of Gethsemani Trappist Monastery in Kentucky where he stayed for 20 months. While there, Brother Dutton read about the leper colony on Molokai operated by Father Damien. He left the monastery for Molokai, arriving in July 1886. For the next 45 years, Brother Dutton worked among the lepers of Molokai. He lived in a plain, sparsely furnished hut and accepted no pay from the day he arrived on Molokai. When he read of a Memphis Catholic school in desperate need of money he instructed the War Department to send his Army pension payments to the school. He was a loyal member of the G.A.R. and corresponded with G.A.R. comrades in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, and Calvin Coolidge honored Dutton for his work on Molokai, and the Brother Dutton School in Beloit was named after him. Dutton died on March 26, 1931 and is buried on Molokai.

The papers of Ira B. Dutton are divided into four series, Civil War, War Department, Missionary, which are roughly chronological, and Photographs.

Civil War (1862-1924) is the largest series in the collection and includes material relating both to Dutton's service with the 13th Wisconsin Infantry and his work as the Acting Assistant Quarter Master for the Northern District of Alabama. Although there is much in this series that is routine, it also provides a compelling portrait of life behind the front lines in the conquered Confederacy.

The sub-series covering Dutton's service as the Quarter Master Sergeant for the 13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry comprises a relatively small portion of the Civil War series. Included are some biographical notes and sketches compiled by Dutton and others about Dutton and other members of the 13th Wisconsin. The material on Dutton is quite detailed, but the information on other 13th Wisconsin soldiers, including Dutton's friend Lt. David H. Wood who was a post-war correspondent of Dutton's, is very sketchy. Other material includes Dutton's Quarter Master correspondence, a bound volume with a selection of general orders and newspaper clippings collected by Dutton, an Inventory and Inspection Report from December 1863, receipts and returns, and a variety of other Quarter Master records and reports including lists of stores, requisitions, reports, and abstracts.

The sub-series covering Dutton's detached service as the Acting Assistant Quarter Master for the Northern District of Alabama, stationed in Decatur, Alabama, is the heart of the collection. Included is a large amount of correspondence, both letter and telegram, loose and in bound volumes. Among the many topics covered in the letters and telegrams are, supply issues, including the need for horses, forage, ordnance, lumber, blankets, and other supplies; issues dealing with contraband slave laborers; troop movements; transportation for refugees; a report on Confederate General John B. Hood's attack on Decatur and the subsequent Union abandonment of the post; many references to transportation issues concerning railroads, river boats, and mule trains, including problems with wrecked trains and disabled or sinking boats; problems with guerilla activity behind the lines, including arson attacks on Union supply trains; an unusual reference in a July 1864 letter to a 'soda fountain;' and a reference to two ladies who had a 'protection' from General William T. Sherman and were not to have their land foraged. The demobilization after the war is also documented in the correspondence including, a letter stating that loyal refugees and contraband laborers should be used in preference to Northern workers; a letter to Dutton ordering him to 'reduce and retrench in every way at your Post;' a reference to a post-war arson incident; a letter from a soldier who requests Dutton's assistance in locating his dead brother, who had died three years previously, so that he might be buried at home; and two impassioned July 1865 letters from the family and friends of a soldier, who was apparently imprisoned for some sort of loyalty offense, pleading for Dutton's assistance.

The material relating to freight is mostly routine bills of lading, railroad way-bills, and bound volumes detailing freight shipped and received. There is a September 1864 bill of lading with a reference to a shipment that was burned by arsonists while on a siding in Athens, Alabama, and there is a non-standard bill of lading and matching reference in the Quarter Master Department freight received volume with the cryptic notation 'Lot H.H. Plunder,' which may refer to a shipment of plundered Confederate contraband. The collection also includes a small number of orders, mostly relating to Quarter Master issues. Included are, a detailed document on purchasing local goods entitled, 'General Regulations for the purchase of products of the insurrectionary States on Government account;' a July 1864 order to cease shipping unembalmed bodies until November 1; an order extract detailing the killing and capture of the 'famous guerilla Whitecotton' and his band; the order to evacuate Decatur and Athens when Hood's army was approaching; and a March 1865 order to put Mrs. Mary Truesdale on the payroll of the Northern District of Alabama for 'secret service' at $100.00 per month. Personnel issues are also covered in the collection. There is a bound civilian employment roster with the workers divided into categories as white, 'colored,' and women with names, pay rates, and types of employment noted. There is also a number of other military and civilian employee reports, and two lists of men transferred out during the post-war demobilization. Topics documented by this material include the significant pay discrepancy between white and African-American laborers. Also included are a series of papers related to scouts in the employ of the Northern District of Alabama and their eventual discharge in May 1865.

The bulk of the Acting Assistant Quarter Master material is comprised of the records and reports prepared by Dutton in his role as Quarter Master. Included are receipts, vouchers, estimates of required supplies, invoices for ordnance, his June 1865 annual report, inventory and inspection reports, forage reports, monthly reports from May 1865 through September 1865, and a variety of lists and supply abstracts. Among the subjects covered in Quarter Master records and reports are, forage requisitions for a wide variety of military units that passed through the Decatur Depot; a supply requisition for a small-pox hospital; affidavits on supplies lost and destroyed, including a list of stores thrown overboard to prevent the sinking of the U.S.S Chattanooga river boat; a coffin requisition for named soldiers; an extensive list of supplies burned or abandoned during the evacuation when Hood attacked Decatur; a very extensive list of all supplies held at Decatur on a monthly basis; an invoice transferring the U.S.S. Stone River armed river transport to Dutton's control, which details every piece of equipment on the boat; and the public property auction reports. The June 1865 annual report includes a narrative detailing some of Dutton's activities, information about troop movements, and information about an attack by Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Also of interest are the minutes of an August 1865 Board of Investigation convened to assess the amount of compensation owed to the Presbyterian Church in Athens for damage done to the church by troops during the war.

Transportation records include transportation pass books for general transportation and military railroad transportation, which show the wide variety of persons traveling in Union occupied Alabama including, military units, refugees, Confederate deserters, civilian laborers, scouts, prisoners, and discharged soldiers. Of particular interest is the daily journal of the armed river transport U.S.S. Stone River. This journal details the activities of this boat over a four-month period including, what was transported, where it was transported, weather, and a variety of incidents such as troop pick-ups, the capture of a Confederate deserter, and the transport of a Treasury agent who had been forced to leave his home because of his Union sympathies. The journal was kept by Captain William A. Naylor of the 10th Indiana Light Artillery, on detached service as the sailing master of the Stone River.

War Department (1866-1884) is comprised of records that document Dutton's service overseeing the disinterment and reinterment of the Union dead in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee, with the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands in St. Landry and Calcasieu parishes in Louisiana, and as a war claims adjuster in Tennessee and Kentucky. Orders and correspondence document Dutton's service as a civilian employee of the War Department overseeing the disinterment and reinterment of Union soldiers in the geographic area where he served during the war. Of particular interest are his orders to concentrate his efforts along the tracks of the Nashville & Decatur Railroad, which probably indicates that when Union soldiers died during transport they were buried where they died along the railroad tracks, and his orders giving explicit instructions about noting body position and all other relevant data before disinterring the body. There is also a letter from the family of a soldier who died in that area, requesting that a name be placed on his grave if his body was found. Dutton's work with the Freedmen's Bureau is only briefly documented by his appointment, his resignation, and some receipts for monies advanced to planters by the Federal Government. Dutton's work as a war claims adjuster is also briefly documented. Included are documents relating to his appointment and resignation from the post, and two bound volumes with lists of names, claim amounts, place of residence, amount actually paid, and remarks. Of more interest is a series of personal correspondence from this period in Dutton's life dealing with the repayment of some old debts that he accrued in some unspecified way. Apparently he had declared personal bankruptcy, because a number of letters refer to the fact that he did not have to pay the debts, but perhaps as an outgrowth of his growing spiritual awareness and eventual conversion to Roman Catholicism, he decided that he wanted to pay off his debts. The letters show an extraordinary outpouring of appreciation from businesses, mostly in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and individuals from all over the country, including Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, Leadville, Colorado, and Sacramento, California, at Dutton's willingness to pay off debts, which in many cases had been completely forgotten by the person or business to whom he owed money.

Missionary (1882-1928) includes Dutton's correspondence with his G.A.R. comrades, in Wisconsin and elsewhere, other correspondents, and a few writings by and about Dutton during his missionary period. The letters from Dutton documents his life on Molokai and the letters to Dutton provide updates on the lives and deaths of his comrades and praise him for his missionary work. Among the correspondents are G.A.R. Memorial Hall custodian Hosea Rood, A.G. Weissert, and 13th Wisconsin comrade David H. Wood. Included are some printed letters that Dutton sent to a wider group of correspondents and a photocopy of a letter from President Warren G. Harding praising Dutton for his work with the lepers on Molokai. A small number of other writings include topics such as Dutton's life among the Hawaiians, Father Damien, G.A.R. issues, and a transcription of the Declaration of Independence into the Hawaiian language.

Photographs (1863-1928) consists of portraits of Dutton at different times of his life, from 1863 to 1928; a picture of the Brother Joseph Dutton School in Beloit, Wisconsin; a view of the high school in Stowe, Vermont; some pictures of the mission on Molokai, including the raising of a G.A.R.-donated American flag; and a several versions of a photograph of Dutton's mother.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Presented by Brother Joseph Dutton nee Ira B. Dutton, undated; and Margaret Burdick, 1989. The collection was previously known as Accession Number: Record Group 14.

Processing Information

Originally processed by Mark Van Ells in 1992, with additional processing by Jonathan Nelson in 2002.

	Series: Civil War
	13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographical information, 1914-1924, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence, July 1863-May 1864
	Orders
Box   1 Folder   3	General orders, newspaper clippings, June 1862-April 1864 (volume)
Box   1 Folder   4	Orders, March 1863-April 1864
	Quartermaster records
Box   1 Folder   5	Accounts receipts, August 1863-July 1864
	General
Box   1 Folder   6-14	July 1863-April 1864
Box   16 Folder   1-11	July 1863-May 1864
Box   20 Folder   1	July 1863-May 1864
Box   2 Folder   1	May 1864
Box   19 Folder   8	Inventory & inspection, December 1863
Box   19 Folder   6	Returns of Commissary property, October 1863-July 1864
	Acting Assistant Quarter Master, Northern District of Alabama
	Correspondence
	General
Box   2 Folder   2-10	June 1864-May 1865
Box   3 Folder   1-4	June 1865-September 1865
	Letters
Box   13 Folder   1	Received, January 1865-September 1865 (volume)
	Sent
Box   15 Folder   1	June 1864-December 1865 (volume)
Box   14 Folder   1	January 1865-October 1865 (volume)
	Telegrams
	Received
Box   3 Folder   5-11	May 1864-December 1864
Box   4 Folder   1-8	January 1865-September 1865
Box   15 Folder   2	January 1865-September 1865 (volume)
	Sent
Box   15 Folder   3	June 1864-December 1864 (volume)
Box   15 Folder   4	January 1865-September 1865 (volume)
	Freight
	Bills of lading
Box   4 Folder   9-13	July 1864-November 1864
Box   5 Folder   1-9	January 1865-September 1865
	Freight received
Box   6 Folder   1	Quartermaster Department, June 1864 - August 1865 (volume)
Box   6 Folder   2	Transient, June 1864-September 1865 (volume)
Box   6 Folder   3	Freight shipped, July 1864-September 1865 (volume)
Box   16 Folder   12-13	Railroad freight way-bills, June 1865-September 1865
	Orders
Box   6 Folder   4	General regulations for the purchase of products, 1864
Box   6 Folder   5-6	Received, June 1864-July 1865
Box   6 Folder   7	Special, June 1865-December 1865
	Personnel
Box   6 Folder   8	Civilian employment roster, July 1864-February 1865 (volume)
Box   16 Folder   14	Men transferred, March 1865-April 1865
Box   20 Folder   2	Military & civilian employee reports, February 1865 - September 1865
Box   6 Folder   9	Scouts, February 1865-May 1865
	Records
Box   7 Folder   1	Accounts receipt acknowledgements, August 1864 - October 1865
Box   7 Folder   2	Board of Investigation proceeding, August 1865
Box   7 Folder   3	Boards of Survey, orders, September 1864-April 1865
Box   7 Folder   4	Disbursing Office, voucher receipts, January 1865-May 1865
Box   7 Folder   5-6	Estimates of QM stores required, June 1864-March 1865
	General
Box   7 Folder   7-10	June 1864-August 1864
Box   20 Folder   3	June 1864-August 1864
Box   17 Folder   1-7	June 1864-December 1864
Box   21 Folder   1	September 1864-December 1864
Box   8 Folder   1-6	September 1864-January 1865
Box   18 Folder   1-4	January 1865-April 1865
Box   21 Folder   2	January 1865-June 1865
Box   9 Folder   1-6	February 1865-July 1865
Box   19 Folder   1-5	May 1865-October 1865
Box   21 Folder   3	July 1865-September 1865
Box   10 Folder   1-2	August 1865-September 1865
Box   10 Folder   3	Ordnance & ordnance stores invoices, August 1864-July 1865
Box   10 Folder   4	Receipts, February 1864-September 1865
Box   10 Folder   5	Returns receipts, February 1864-July 1864
Box   10 Folder   6	Vouchers issued, March 1865-September 1865
	Reports
Box   10 Folder   7	Annual report, June 1865
	Forage reports
Box   10 Folder   8	January 1865-September 1865
Box   19 Folder   7	May 1865-September 1865
Box   10 Folder   9	Inventory & inspection reports, October 1864-June 1865
Box   10 Folder   9	Monthly reports, July 1865-September 1865
	Transportation
Box   10 Folder   10	Daily journal of the U.S.S. Stone River (armed river transport), March 1865-June 1865
	Passes
Box   10 Folder   11-12	General transportation, June 1865-September 1865
Box   11 Folder   1-2	Military railroad, September 1864-June 1865
	Series: War Department	⇧
Box   11 Folder   3	Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1868
Box   11 Folder   4	Disinterment work, correspondence, orders, August 1866-July 1867
Box   12 Folder   1	Personal, correspondence, indebtedness, 1867-1884
	War claims
Box   12 Folder   2	Agent appointment & discharge, 1882-1883
Box   12 Folder   3-4	Records (volumes), 1875-1883
	Series: Missionary	⇧
	Correspondence
Box   12 Folder   5	G.A.R. comrades, 1910-1928, undated
Box   12 Folder   6	General, 1882-1928
Box   12 Folder   7	Ephemera, 1884, undated
Box   12 Folder   8	Miscellaneous writings, 1903-1914, undated
	Series: Photographs	⇧
	Civil War
Ph   1 Folder   29	Portraits [3] , 1863, undated
PhOv   2 Folder   2	Three views of Ira B. Dutton [1] , 1863-1907
	Missionary
Ph   1 Folder   30	Mission & portrait [3] , 1917-1923, undated
Ph   1 Folder   31	Mission & portraits [4] , 1920-1928, undated
	Personal
Ph   1 Folder   32	Beloit, WI, Stowe, VT & portrait [3] 1890, undated
Ph   1 Folder   33	Portraits [3] , 1877-1890