Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Lawrie Reid
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: William Lawreie Reid.
Written by Donna Albino.
William Lawrie Reid was born on May 31, 1896, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His parents, Thomas Reid and Janet (Lawrie) Reid, were both born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1891. They had two children, Agnes and Robert, while they still lived in Scotland, and three more children, Thomas, James and Marion, in the United States before William was born. William’s father Thomas was an iron moulder.
In the next few years, the family moved to South Boston. The 1900 census revealed they lived in a rented house at 9 Swallow Street. William’s oldest sister, Agnes, was working as a button coverer, but the other children were too young to be in the workforce yet. By then, there was a seventh child in the family, a daughter, Wilhelmina, who was one year old.
In 1910, the family had moved to 105 Mercer Street in South Boston. William’s father had passed away in 1907, and his mother was now the head of the household, with two more children, Helen, age 9 and George, age 7. Several of William’s siblings were old enough to work outside the home and help with expenses. William’s brother Robert was an iron worker in a foundry, his sister, Marion, was a box maker in a factory, and his brother, James, only 15 years old, was a telegraph messenger.
On June 17, 1917, when he was 21 years old, William registered for the war draft. He was a tall man with a medium build, brown hair and brown eyes. He worked as a clerk for Western Union, and already had served in the military as a private in the 8th regiment. The 8th Infantry Regiment of the United States, also known as the “Fighting Eagles,” is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. The 8th Infantry Regiment served in the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines in 1913, but it was unlikely that William was active then because of his age.
Little is known about William’s wartime assignments. According to his service card, he served with Troop E 11th Cavalry in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Fort Oglethorpe served as a war-time induction and processing center, and also housed German prisoners of war. The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, also known as the “Blackhorse Regiment,” was also a unit of the United States Army. Just before William enlisted in the draft, the regiment participated in the 1916 Pancho Villa Expedition, fighting unsuccessfully in Mexico. When the United States declared war on Germany in April, 1917, the regiment was in Fort Bliss, Texas. Concerned that Mexico might urge Japan to join Germany in the war effort, the 11th sent several detachments to California to protect the border, and the remainder of the regiment went to Fort Oglethorpe. The next two years saw various elements of the 11th Cavalry scattered throughout the South and West.
There were several newspaper accounts however, that linked William with Company A of the 104th Infantry Regiment. On April 5, 1919, The Boston Globe listed William with the regiment returning to Massachusetts. On April 25, 1931, the Fitchburg Sentinel printed an index of Company A 104th, and William again was listed. The 104th Infantry Regiment was formed from National Guard units from New England, and fought in France in six major campaigns. However, William’s name was not found on any roster of the company traveling by ship to France before these campaigns, so it is unclear where William was actually stationed during the war.
By 1920, William was living with his mother and some of his siblings in South Boston at 17 Vale Street. His brother, Robert, was a cord maker, his sisters, Wilhelmina and Helen, were bundle girls in a department store, and his brother, George, was an errand boy in a broker office. William’s occupation was listed as an office clerk; perhaps he was still working for Western Union, as he had been before the war. AcINAL
cording to city directories, William worked as a machinist in 1921 and 1922. In 1924, William married Mary Roche, but they were not listed in the city directories again until 1930. In the 1930 census, William, still married, was living alone at 8 Vale Street in South Boston. He was not listed in the 1940 census.
In 1942, William registered for the WWII draft. He was living at 18 Vassar Street in Dorchester and working for Hunt Spiller on Dorchester Avenue in South Boston. His card indicated he was married.
William’s wife Mary died on Nov 30, 1984. She had lived in North Quincy, Chelmsford, and Billerica, and was cremated at Linwood Crematory in Haverhill. William passed away on August 3, 1990 in Lowell. At the time of his death, he lived in Chelmsford, and his obituary mentioned that he had lived in Quincy and Dorchester. William is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Chelmsford.
Sources:
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Birth Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Marriage Index, 1901-1955 and 1966-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Index, 1970-2003 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Year: 1900; Census Place: Boston Ward 14, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 1364; FHL microfilm: 1240682
Year: 1910; Census Place: Boston Ward 15, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_619; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 1479; FHL microfilm: 1374632
Year: 1920; Census Place: Boston Ward 11, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_734; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 294
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Wikipedia, 8th Infantry Regiment (United States)
Wikipedia, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia
Wikipedia, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
Blackhorse Association, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment History
Wikipedia, 104th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 05 Apr 1919, Sat Page 6
Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) 25 Apr 1931, Sat Page 7
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 02 Dec 1984, Sun Page 87
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 05 Aug 1990, Sun Page 75
Ancestry.com, McCarn-MacDonald Tree by Marilyn Stanley