Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Martin Joseph Cusack
At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit that highlights these men and their service to our country.
Our next biography features: Martin Joseph Cusack.
Written by Camille Arbogast.
Martin Joseph Cusack (sometimes spelled Cusick) was born in Ireland in November 1889. Martin used different birth dates over the course of his life: as a younger man, November 10 or 11, and later in life, November 23. He was born in County Galway, according to the 1901 Irish census and his United States immigration records. His parents, John and Bridget (Sullivan), were born in County Clare. John was a wool weaver and farmer. Martin had at least two older siblings, James and Hanoria.
In 1901, the family lived in Gortacornane, Ardimullivan, County Galway. At that time, Martin, age 11, was in school; he attended school through the eighth grade. It is possible that he was the 20-year-old Martin Cusack who, in 1911, was living with and working for William Keane, a shopkeeper in Gort, a town about five miles from Ardimullivan.
In 1912, Martin sailed from Queenstown on the White Star Line’s SS Arabic, arriving in Boston on May 3. His initial destination was Roxbury, according to the Arabic’s passenger list. A little over a year later, on July 9, 1913, he declared his intention to become a United States citizen. By that time, he was living at 54 Cedar Street in Mattapan. On his citizenship Declaration of Intention, he gave his occupation as laborer; the Boston directory listed him as a gardener. In 1914, he moved to 3 Brunswick Street. He continued to appear in the directory as a gardener until 1917; that year he reported on his draft registration that he was a chocolate maker at the Walter Baker Company. In 1918, he moved to 1213 Adams Street, a boarding house run by Delia B. Ward. On January 28, 1918, he became a United States citizen, his oath of citizenship witnessed by Thomas Higgins, a chauffeur, and Peter O’Donahue, chocolate maker, both of Dorchester.
Not much is known about Martin’s military service during World War I. On his notecard for Marin J. Cusack, Dr. Perkins noted that Martin was at “Base Hospital 141, Ft. Ethan Allen, Vermont.” Fort Ethan Allen, about five miles from Burlington, located between the towns of Colchester and Essex, had been established as cavalry post in the 1890s; during the war these cavalry units became Field Artillery regiments. The fort also hosted a training camp for medical officers during World War I. The photo that Martin sent to Dr. Perkins was taken in Burlington at 67 Church Street, in the studio of photographer F.H. Tims.
In 1920, Martin was again boarding at 1213 Adams Street and working as a laborer in the chocolate mill. On November 16, he married Mary Katherine Loftus, also an Irish immigrant. They had two children, John born in 1922, and Martin, born in 1924. The couple initially lived at 15 Topliff Street, then moved to 30 Barry Street in 1922, 57 Whitfield Street in 1925, and 41 Aspinwall Road in 1926.
On March 15, 1921, Martin was appointed a Boston patrolman, with a yearly salary of $1,400. He was assigned to Division 16 in the Back Bay, based at the combined police and fire station on Boylston Street, near Hereford Street. In February 1924, he “performed meritorious work in leading persons to safety” from a burning building on Huntington Street. In September 1927, he was reprimanded for “taking it easy” in the Copley Square subway station during the “Sacco-Vanzetti disturbances,” and was “assigned to 70 hours extra duty, without pay.” Six months later, he was hit by a car while on duty at the corner of Clarendon and Beacon Streets, but was not seriously injured. By 1930, he was stationed at the La Grange Street Station; that year his car was stolen, along with his uniform which was in the car, when he paused for an early morning cup of coffee at a restaurant after finishing overnight duty. In 1932, he chased a burglar escaping from an attempted break-in on Huntington Street, apprehending the thief on West Newton Street. By 1934, he was working out of Division 13 on Seaverns Avenue in Jamaica Plain, and by 1942, he was stationed at Division 2 on Milk Street.
In the late 1920s, Martin and Mary purchased 26 Corona Street in Dorchester, valued at $9,000 in 1930. Living with them at that time were Mary’s sister, Anna Loughnane, as well as a boarder, Margaret McNamara, both of whom were Registered Nurses in private duty nursing. In 1940, the Cusacks still lived at 26 Corona, though they no longer had extended family or boarders in their household. During the Depression, the house valued dropped to $2,500, but Martin remained employed as a Boston police officer, making $2,100 a year. During World War II, both sons served in the military, John in the Navy and Martin, Jr. in the Marine Corps. By the mid-1950s, Martin and Mary were living at 94 Birch Street in West Roxbury. In 1959, around the time Martin retired, they moved to 83 Gladeside Avenue in Mattapan.
Mary died in May 1968. About a year and a half later, Martin died on November 4, 1969. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was celebrated for him at St. Angela’s on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan. He was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in West Roxbury, where Mary had also been laid to rest. Martin was a member of #251 American Legion Boston Police Post.
Sources
Census of Ireland: 1901, 1911. Archives of Ireland. www.census.nationalarchives.ie
Family Tree, Ancestry.com
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists, 1899-1940, National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Greene, R.L. “Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont,” US Army Recruiting News. Office of the Adjutant General. 15 August 1925; https://books.google.com/books?id=vCctAAAAIAAJ&dq=fort%20ethan%20allen&pg=RA41-PA7#v=onepage&q=fort%20ethan%20allen&f=false
“Practice of Medicine in WW1, Military Medicine in World War I,” WorldWar1Centennial.org. United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars, 2013-2019,
https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/practice-of-medicine-in-ww1.html
“Frederick Tims, Burlington Photographer,” Champlain College, 2013-2017,
City Council. Documents of the City of Boston for the year 1921, Volume 3, Issues 33-49 [number 36, pg 157]. City of Boston: Printing Department, 1922: Books.Google.com
“Huntington-Av Fire Drives 25 to Street,” Boston Globe, 26 February 1924, 1; Newspapers.com
“Officer Didn’t Know Boston’s Boundaries,” Boston Globe, 13 September 1927, 8; Newspapers.com
“Patrolman Cusack Hurt by Cliftondale Auto,” Boston Globe, 13 March 1928, 6; Newspapers.com
“Policeman’s Car Stolen As He Drinks Coffee,” Boston Globe, 18 March 1930; 23
“Hotel Guest’s Shots Cause Man’s Arrest,” Boston Globe, 26 Jan 1932; 22
US Federal Census, 1920, 1930, 1940; Ancestry.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Morning Death Notices, Boston Globe, 9 May 1968, 51; Newspapers.com
Deaths, Boston Globe, 6 November 1969, 41; Newspapers.com