Dustan, Charles William, 1834-1892.

Charles William Dustan (1834-1892) of Staten Island, N.Y., was the son of Isaac K. Dustan, captain of the steamer Atlantic . Charles entered the New York state militia in 1854 and served in the 71st New York Militia Regiment in 1861 and as captain in the 53rd New York Infantry Regiment 1861-1862, in Virginia, Mississippi and Tennessee. After the war, Dustan served as an Alabama state legislator, treasury agent, postmaster, and member of the 1867 Constitutional Convention. He was married to Edith Whitfield in 1865.

From the guide to the Charles William Dustan Letters, 1861-1865, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Charles William Dustan was born 1834 Oct. 24 on Staten Island, N.Y., the son of Capt. Isaac Kip and Phoebe Ann (Simonson) Dustan. He attended the Columbia grammar school and later studied under Dominic Chowles. In 1854 he entered the N.Y. state militia and with the beginning of the Civil War was enrolled in Co. F, 71st N.Y. Infantry Regiment. He was at the first battle of Manassas, was promoted to captain, 53rd Regiment, and became assistant adjutant general, 16th Army Corps, at Memphis. On 1864 July 23 he became the brigadier general commanding the 1st Brigade of the Enrolled Militia of the District of Memphis, (Tenn.), whose mission was to command the levies for the defense of the city.

After the war he became sub-agent for the U.S. Treasury Department to collect confiscated Confederate cotton. In 1867 he was a member of the Ala. Constitutional Convention. He was a member of the Ala. legislature for several terms and became a major-general in the Ala. state militia under Governors William Hugh Smith and Robert Burns Lindsay.

He returned to N.Y. about 1886 and later moved to N.J. He married in 1865 Edith Whitfield, daughter of General Nathan Bryan Whitfield, and they had two daughters. He died 1892 Jun. 13 in N.J.

From the description of Papers, 1862-1881. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145409154