- Religion - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- [Photograph; caption reads: Brother Joseph DUTTON
at age 80.]
-
- People - Brother DUTTON noted for helping lepers
- In 1884, Mrs. Ezra DUTTON was received into St. Patrick's
Catholic Church. One year later,
- her son Joseph was baptized in the Redemptorist Monastery
of Baltimore.
- Brother DUTTON, as he came to be known, became a world-famous
hero, giving 39 years of his
- life and service to the welfare of hopelessly afflicted lepers
in Molokai, Hawaii.
- After his arrival in Molokai, Brother DUTTON never
set foot off the island, where he went to
- work with the widely known Father Damien, his predecessor.
- One account of DUTTON's arrival at the leper island
reports that he simply stepped off a sterner
- on Molokai where he was met by the famous Damien.
- "I am Joseph DUTTON, and I have come to help
you with your work among the lepers," he
- announced.
- "I need you," Damien replied.
- Three years later, Damien died, ravaged by leprosy, and DUTTON
took charge.
- DUTTON moved to Janesville when he was 4. He graduated
from Janesville High School and
- attended Milton Academy, but the Civil War changed any plans
for higher education.
- He served in the 13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and was
promoted to captain before the war
- ended. Moving to Ohio, he married, which was a mistake, one
historian says. DUTTON's bride was unfaithful and within
a year had left him.
- After working in a distillery and for the railroad, DUTTON
decided he wasn't happy. He became
- interested in religion and began studying for holy orders.
- Born a Baptist, DUTTON became disenchanted with that
denomination's teachings. He converted
- to Catholicism. According to a DUTTON authority, DUTTON
approached these "years of responsibility" with the
zeal of many converts, vowing to atone for his early years. He
felt a need to do penance for the rest of his life. With this
in mind, he spent two years in a Trappist monastery in Kentucky,
but decided that constant work and silence were not enough. He
kept looking for a more plentiful life, until he read of Damien
and Molokai.
- His first job on the dreaded island was dressing the lepers'
wounds, but as years passed he built a
- church and housing for children, planted trees and shrubs
and eventually assumed control of the thriving leper community.
- DUTTON had chances to leave Molokai but his drive
to do penance would not let him. He called
- his service tiring, but as far as leaving, "the thought
never comes into my head."
- DUTTON wrote letters like one possessed, often forsaking
sleep for the endeavor. He regularly
- corresponded with 200 people. At his death, he was 18 months
behind in his correspondence, a historian says.
- By 1930, DUTTON's eyesight was failing and the frail
man was transferred to a hospital in
- Honolulu where he filled his hours by listening to radio
accounts of football games, something he had never seen.
- One of the last pictures taken of DUTTON was in the
hospital during a visit from Catholic priests
- from Janesville and Beloit, who by then had named a school
after him.
- During his seclusion from the outside world, DUTTON
kept in close touch with a few friends from
- St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He often sent pictures of
the island and souvenirs to his Janesville friends.
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