Scope and Contents:
This collection contains copied and original materials related to David Dudley Carlton, a Union soldier from Ohio. It includes materials relating to Carlton's Civil War service and his family life.
David Dudley Carlton was born near Mantua, Ohio, in 1841 and joined the 42nd Ohio Vol. Inf. as a teamster in Sept. 1861. He was mustered out in November 1864 and returned to Ohio, where he married and had two children. He and his family moved to multiple locations around the United States, including Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, and Indiana. He died in Sandusky, Ohio in 1930.
From December 20, 1861, to July 30, 1863, Carlton kept a diary, regularly sending portions home to his father, Epaphro Carlton, to be re-copied in ink. After he was mustered out, Carlton added a brief epilogue summarizing his final year in the war. The 142-page diary, describes camp life, illnesses, weather conditions, other units, and skirmishes and battles, including Cumberland Gap, Tazewell, Champion Hill, and Vicksburg.
The collection includes a photocopy of the diary; an 1864 original muster-out roll for Co. A of the 42nd Ohio [in flat storage]; a negative copy of the muster-out roll; a typescript of Carlton's Certificate of Service; a photocopy of the 1947 reminiscences of Karl S. Carlton, David's son; a brief genealogy of the Carleton family; and a photograph and negative of Carlton and his wife on their 50th anniversary in 1915.
Carlton's diary and muster were made available for copying to the Illinois Historical Survey, predecessor of the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, by his grandson, Karl E. Gardner, in 1973. Supplementary materials on family genealogy and reminiscences were given to the Survey in 1974, and the remainder of the collection was donated in 1976.