Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leonard Joseph Dacey
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: Leonard Joseph Dacey.
Written by Camille Arbogast.
In the illustration, Leonard is on the righ.
Leonard Joseph Dacey was born on September 22, 1894, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His parents, William T. and Mary (Cummings) Dacey, were born in South Boston and Charlestown, respectively. Leonard had six younger siblings: William Valentine born in 1895, Francis, known as Frank, born in 1897, Dorothy in 1899, Marion in 1901, Gertrude in 1904, and Lawrence in 1911. Three of the siblings died as children: Marion at age 10, Gertrude at 16, and Lawrence at 17.
His father, William, was in the window shade and screen business. At the time of Leonard’s birth, William was a shade cutter. By 1900, he was a window shade salesman. Eventually, he became the president of the Crown Shade and Screen Company. Founded in 1905, with a showroom in Boston and a factory on Lochdale Road in Roslindale not far from Forest Hills Station, the company advertised shade cloth, “roller fly screens,” and made-to-order screens for windows, doors, and porches.
In 1894, the family lived at 11 Auburn Street in Chelsea. By 1910, they had moved a couple of blocks over to 39 Cherry Street. The family moved within the neighborhood again in 1912 to 131 Williams Street. In April 1917, his parents purchased a home at 7 Aberdeen Road in Milton.
That June, on his draft registration, Leonard gave his address as 9 Arlington Street in Chelsea. He was working for the Jordan Marsh Department store on Washington Street in Boston as a salesman. On December 10, 1917, at the Navy recruiting station in Boston, he enlisted as an Apprentice Seaman. He was immediately sent to the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. In February 1918, he was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class and was assigned to Mine Force Detail in Newport. At the end of March, he spent one week on the USS Canandaigua, then was stationed on a receiving ship in New York for thirteen days. On April 16, 1918, he was transferred to the USS Santa Barbara, where he served until the Armistice. On his notecard for Leonard Dacey, Dr. Perkins noted that Leonard had “been overseas four times.” In July, he was promoted to Seaman, and in October to Quartermaster 3rd Class. He was honorably discharged on May 26, 1919, at the Naval Hospital in New York, on account of Physical Disability.
After the war he lived with his family at 7 Aberdeen Road in Milton, returning to Jordan Marsh as an interior designer. Leonard was married on October 12, 1924, to Sarah Marie Foley of Boston. They eventually had eight children: William, Marion, Gertrude, Leonard, John, Gerard, Ann, and Dorothy. The couple moved into 7 Aberdeen Road, Leonard and his growing family living in one unit and his parents and two unmarried siblings in the other. In 1930, he was paying $35 a month to rent his unit; the house itself was valued at $13,000. After 1930, the family is listed living at 23 Aberdeen Road; it is unclear if the street was renumbered at that time or if they moved. Leonard lived here for the rest of his life, working as a decorator and drapery maker at Jordan Marsh for thirty years.
In July 1948, the engagement of his daughter Marion was announced and a wedding date set for August 1. Leonard did not survive to attend, taking his life at his home on the afternoon of Saturday, July 17, 1948. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was celebrated at St. Mary of the Hills in Milton and he was buried in the Milton Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, children, and two of his siblings.
Sources
Birth record, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Family Trees, Ancestry.com
Death Record for Marion Dacey, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Death listing for Gertrude J. Dacey, 85th Annual Town Report of Milton, Mass. for the Year Ending December 31, 1921, page 50; Archive.org
Death listing for Lawrence Dacey, Town of Milton 92nd Annual Report 1928, page 101; Archive.org
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Crown Shade and Screen Co in Its New Quarters,” Boston Globe, 25 Jan 1930, 6; Newspapers.com
Chelsea, Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
Deed, 7 Aberdeen Road, Milton, Norfolk County Registry of Deeds; Norfolkresearch.org
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, National Archive and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Compiled Service Records. World War I. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
Marriage listing, 88th Annual Town Report of Milton Mass for the Year Ending December 31 1924, Compiled by The Auditors, Town of Milton, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Company, 1925; 84; Archive.org
“August Wedding Planned,” Boston Globe, 18 July 1948; 95
“Leonard J. Dacey,” Boston Globe, 19 July 1948; 19
Town of Milton, 112th Annual Report, 1948, Boston: Buck Printing Company, 1949; 155; Archive.org
Certificate of Death, Town of Milton, Norfolk County Registry of Deeds; Norfokresearch.org