Dorchester Illustration no. 2320 Tristram Campbell
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 service men and women in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit which highlights these men and women and their service to our country.
Tristram Campbell
The card in the collection gives us these details: Lt. Tristram Joseph Campbell. 123 Ashmont Street. 3rd Aviation Instruction Centre, American E. F. France. Picture taken n France.
Tristram Joseph Campbell was born in Charlestown, February 4, 1895, to parents Tristram and Anna. His mother died in 1901, and by 1910 Tristram was living in the house owned by his grandmother, Catherine Doherty, at 123 Ashmont Street, Dorchester. The other people living in the house were his uncle James Doherty, a clerk; Tristram’s brother Robert who was two years younger; and Annie Flaherty, a servant.
Tristram registered for the draft at age 22, when he was a student at MIT. He was single, slender, of medium height, with black hair and brown eyes. The 1920 Boston Directory lists him as a student, so it is probable that returned to MIT after the War. He married Dorothy Barnes Smith in Old Orchard, York, Maine, on August 8, 1922. They had a daughter Dorothy and a son Tristram, and by 1930 they were living in Camden, New Jersey. His World War II Draft Registration shows that he was working as an engineer at the Bendix Corporation.
Tristram died December 7, 1961, and is buried in the Hartford Cemetery, White River Junction, VT.
Sources:
All from Ancestry.com
Birth Record
Mother’s Death Record
1910 US Census (uncle James’ occupation undreadable)
World War I Draft Registration
1920 US Census
1920 Boston City Directory
Marriage Record
1930 US Census
1940 US Census
World War II Draft Registration
Headstone Application for Veterans
plus
List of the Residents of Boston, 1909 (shows uncle James as a clerk)