Joel Stratton

Joel Augustus Stratton (1837–1920) was a Union Army Captain who served as commander of Company C, 53rd Massachusetts Volunteers during the American Civil War. He fought in the Battles of Fort Bisland and Port Hudson. While leading a reconnaissance team of 10 men at Port Hudson, a minie ball from a Confederate sniper hit his left eye and exited out the back of his ear. Miraculously, he survived the battle and retired when the 53rd was mustered out of service on September 2, 1863.

Personal life
Stratton was born in Leominster, Massachusetts on March 9, 1837. He received an average education and worked on his father's farm until September 1862 when he enlisted in the Union Army. He was assigned to the Department of the Gulf, After the war, he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature and served one term. He married Hannah W. Comer on October 4, 1865 and had 5 children. He then formed a granary business with his brother, Martin W. Stratton (1833–?) called Stratton Bros. In the fall of 1878, he moved to Reading, Kansas where he lived until his death in 1923 at age 82.