J. K. Dustin served as chief clerk of the Hammond U. S. General Hospital at Beaufort, North Carolina, during the American Civil War. Research suggests that he may have been John K. Dustin, Jr., a 19-year-old pre-war grocery clerk who enlisted for three years' service with Company C, 23rd Massachusetts Infantry, on September 20, 1861. He participated with his regiment in engagements at New Bern and Roanoke, North Carolina. He was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps on February 8, 1864, and discharged September 28, 1864. John K. Dustin Jr., son of John Sr. and Angeline Heath Dustin, was born in Topsham, Vermont in 1843, and moved with his parents to Massachusetts while still a child. Returning to Gloucester, Massachusetts after the war, he was hired by the fish firm of John Pew and Sons and continued to work for the company for many years. He also served as city clerk and in other cvic capacities. He married Lucy Davis; the couple would have four children. He resided in Gloucester (Essex County), Massachusetts and worked as a clerk. John K. Dustin Jr., a veteran of Company C, 23rd Massachusetts Infantry, died on July 1, 1909, and was buried in Edson Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts.