Joseph Dutton

{{Infobox person

|honorific_prefix = Servant of God

|name = Joseph Dutton

|birth_date = Ira Barnes Dutton
{{Birth date|1843|4|27}}

|death_date = {{death date and age|1931|3|26|1843|4|27}}

|feast_day =

|venerated_in =

|image = Joseph Dutton, 1922.jpg

|imagesize = 200px

|caption = Joseph Dutton in 1922

|birth_place = Stowe, Vermont, U.S.

|death_place = Honolulu, Hawai{{okina}}i Territory

|spouse =

|education = Milton Academy

|module =

{{Infobox military person | embed = yes

| allegiance = United States (Union)

| branch = Union Army

| serviceyears = 1861–1865

| rank = First lieutenant

| unit = 13th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment

| battles = {{Tree list}}

American Civil War

{{tree list/end}}}}

}}

Joseph Dutton (April 27, 1843 – March 26, 1931) was an American Civil War veteran and Union Army lieutenant, who converted to Catholicism and later worked as a missionary with Father Damien. He was a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis.

Biography

File:Joseph Dutton, 1928.jpg

He was born Ira Barnes Dutton in Stowe, Vermont, and was the son of Ezra Dutton and Abigail Barnes.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924063262053 | title=The Catholic Encyclopedia and its makers | publisher=The Encyclopedia Press | year=1917 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924063262053/page/n84 51]}}

Dutton carried out his studies at Old Academy and Milton Academy in Wisconsin. He had been raised Protestant in Baptist Sunday schools.{{cite web |title=Another Molokai Saint? Diocese Of Honolulu Investigates Brother Dutton's Life |url=http://thewandererpress.com/frontpage/another-molokai-saint-diocese-of-honolulu-investigates-brother-duttons-life/ |access-date=5 May 2016 |work=The Wanderer Newspaper|date=26 April 2014 }} In 1861, Dutton enlisted in 13th Wisconsin Infantry under Colonel Maurice Maloney. He served in the Quartermaster Corps of the 13th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.Wisconsin Adjutant General's Office. [http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/quiner/id/49730 Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 Vol. 1]. Madison, Wisconsin: Democrat Printing Co., 1886, p. 739. Dutton began in the Union Army as a private and left as a first lieutenant and the regimental quartermaster.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=6C54D198-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A|title=Dutton, Ira B.|work=Civil War Soldiers|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=June 1, 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=7052D198-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A|title=Dutton, Ira B.|work=Civil War Soldiers|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=June 1, 2025}} He married during the Civil War. Prior to his marriage, Dutton was warned about his future wife's reputation for promiscuity, but had hoped he could change her.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/kala/learn/historyculture/joseph-dutton.htm|title=Brother Joseph Dutton|work=Kalaupapa National Historical Park|publisher=National Park Service}} The marriage did not last as his wife (who he never mentioned by name){{cite web|last=MacNamara|first=Pat|url=http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Servant-Lepers-Pat-McNamara-10-09-12.html|title=A Servant of the Lepers: Brother Joseph of Molokai|date=October 8, 2012|work=Patheos|access-date=5 May 2016}} was unfaithful and Dutton developed alcoholism. His wife was an oniomaniac who left him broke and ran off with another man.

After the Civil War, Dutton oversaw a distillery in Alabama and later worked on the railroads in Memphis, Tennessee. He quit drinking in 1876 and later took the name Joseph. He seemed to believe his wife would return, and did not sign the divorce papers until 1881.

He converted to Catholicism in 1883 and afterward spent 20 months at the Trappist monastery at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. In 1886 Dutton went to Molokai to aid the dying Father Damien, who was grateful for his assistance. Dutton remembered that he told Father Damien "My name is Joseph Dutton; I’ve come to help, and I’ve come to stay" upon meeting him—and he did stay, for the remainder of his life.{{cite web|url=http://mauimagazine.net/saint-damiens-soldier/|title=Saint Damien's Soldier|work=Maui Magazine|last=vonBuol|first=Peter|date=November–December 2014|access-date=5 May 2016}} After Father Damien's death Dutton founded the Baldwin Home for men and boys with financial assistance from Henry Perrine Baldwin.

Dutton was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order.Encyclopedia Americana (1969 edition), Volume 9 page 501 He was often known as "Brother Joseph."

Dutton wrote the article "Molokai" for the Catholic Encyclopedia,{{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Molokai|prescript=|no-icon=|inline=|author=|last=Dutton|first=Joseph|authorlink=}} and composed and sent many letters detailing life on the island, and U. S. President Theodore Roosevelt was one of those who read of his service to the ailing. He was so impressed by the veteran's work that he ordered the United States Navy's Great White Fleet to pay tribute to him by dipping their flags as they passed by the island.

Dutton died in Honolulu on March 26, 1931, in Hawai{{okina}}i. He was buried at St. Philomena Catholic Church Cemetery, Kalaupapa. In 2015, the Diocese of Honolulu set up a committee to evaluate the possibility of canonization.{{cite web|url=http://khon2.com/2014/04/10/the-path-to-sainthood-brother-joseph-dutton/|title=The Path to Sainthood: Brother Joseph Dutton|work=KHON2|access-date=5 May 2016|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012119/http://khon2.com/2014/04/10/the-path-to-sainthood-brother-joseph-dutton/|url-status=dead}} In December 2015, the Joseph Dutton Guild was established by the Diocese of Honolulu to petition the Diocese of Honolulu to start the formal cause of beatification and canonization. At the present, the Guild is in the process of collecting evidence to ascertain whether a petition for a formal cause is feasible.

References

External links

[http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/a-servant-of-the-lepers-brother-joseph-of-molokai.html A Servant of the Lepers: Brother Joseph of Molokai]
[http://wisvetsmuseum.pastperfectonline.com/byperson?keyword=Dutton%2C+Joseph Ira B. Dutton] at Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Carte de viste images of Ira B. Dutton from the Wisconsin Historical Society: [http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/quiner/id/23180] [http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/quiner/id/23179]
[http://archives.nd.edu/findaids/ead/xml/dut.xml Joseph Dutton papers] at Notre Dame

Category:1843 births

Category:1931 deaths

Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Hawaii

Category:American Roman Catholic missionaries

Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Baptist denominations

Category:Milton College alumni

Category:Members of the Third Order of Saint Francis

Category:Union army officers

Category:People from Stowe, Vermont

Category:People from Janesville, Wisconsin

Category:People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War

Category:People from Molokai