Dorchester Illustration no. 2415 John Joseph Delaney
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: John Joseph Delaney.
Written by Camille Arbogast
(in the illustration John is on the right)
John Joseph Delaney was born on February 7, 1896, to John and Catharine Delaney, both Irish immigrants. John Senior was a teamster with the Boston Street Department. He and Catherine owned their home at 2082 Dorchester Avenue in Dorchester. Their family eventually grew to include six more children: Walter, Paul, Bernard, Mary, and twins Gertrude and James.
By 1917, John had moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he was a druggist at J.D. Hartigan’s drugstore on the corner of Main and Congress Streets. On his draft registration, he listed his father, mother, and two sisters as dependents. On August 26, 1918, in Bridgeport, he was drafted and inducted into the Army. John was sent to Camp Greenleaf, a Medical Department training camp located near the Civil War battlefield Chickamauga in Georgia. John served first as a Wagoner with Medical Department Motor Company 13 and then with Medical Department Motor Company 1. On November 1, he began serving with Field Hospital 6. On January 13, 1919, he was transferred to Medical Department General Hospital 38; on January 18 he was made a Private and in March he was promoted to Private First Class. He remained with Medical Department General Hospital 38 until he was discharged and demobilized at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, on July 18.
After the war he returned to 2082 Dorchester Avenue and worked as a chauffeur for a laundry, as did his brother Paul. His father was now a watchman for the Boston Sewer Department. By 1921, John lived in Hyannis. On June 24 of that year, in Barnstable, he married Lucy F. Moquin of Bristol, Connecticut. They eventually had eight children: Lucille, James, Harold, Dorothy, Eleanor, Shirley, William and Frederick.
By 1930, John had returned to Dorchester and the family was renting 45 Clayton Street. For a decade, they moved regularly around Dorchester: to 84 Shepton Street in 1933, 59A Bailey Street in 1934, rear 730 Washington Street in 1939, and 2 Roslin Street in 1940. John was a house painter and wallpaper hanger. During the Depression, he was out of work for 104 weeks. By 1940, he was employed as a Works Progress Administration laborer at the Navy Yard, making $1,560 a year.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, John worked as a chauffeur and as a painter for the Boston Traffic Commission. Later, he was a maintenance man. In 1943, the family moved to 758 Washington Street in Dorchester, where John lived for the rest of his life. During the Second World War, his son James served in the Navy as a Fireman First Class; he was killed in action in the Pacific in 1943. His son Harold also served in the Navy during World War II.
John died on November 8, 1961. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was celebrated for him at St. Mark’s Catholic Church on Dorchester Avenue and he was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan. He was survived by his wife and seven children.
Sources
Birth Certificates, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Census Records, Federal, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, National Archive and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA
Camp Greenleaf, <https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/world-war-i-military-camps>
“1921 MARRIAGES” [Barnstable] Plymouth Colony.net, Dale H. Cook: 2002-2019. <https://plymouthcolony.net/barnstable/vitalrecords/barnstable/tr1921.txt>
Boston Directories, various years, Ancestry.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Youthful Dorchester Fireman in Navy Reported Killed,” Boston Globe, 9 October 1943, 2; Newspapers.com
“Harold A. Delaney,” The Patriot Ledger, 17 April 2009; Legacy.com
“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 9 November 1961, 35; Newspapers.com