Scope and Contents: David Dudley Carlton was born near Mantua, Ohio, and joined the 42nd Ohio Vol. Inf. as a teamster in Sept. 1861. From Dec. 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. Carlton, after he was mustered out in Nov. 1864, added a brief epilogue summarizing his final year in the war. The 142-page diary, of which the Survey has a copy, describes camp life, illnesses, weather conditions, other units, and skirmishes and battles, including Cumberland Gap, Tazewell, Champion Hill, and Vicksburg. The collection also contains an 1864 original muster-out roll for Co. A of the 42nd Ohio; a typescript of Carlton's Certificate of Service; a photograph and negative of Carlton and his wife on their 50th anniversary in 1915; and a photocopy of the 1947 reminiscences of Karl S. Carlton, David's son.
Items in the collection were donated, or made available for copying, by Karl E. Gardner, grandson of David Dudley Carlton, and associate dean of the College of Agriculture of the University of Illinois, in 1973 and 1976. In 1974, Gardner supplemented the collection with Carlton family genealogical materials and a typescript of his recollections of his grandfather.
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