Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Frederick Prescott Goodrich
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: Frederick Prescott Goodrich.
Written by Camille Arbogast.
Frederick Prescott Goodrich, known as Fred, was born on January 3, 1890, in Manchester, New Hampshire. His father, John Allen Goodrich, was born in Sedgwick, Maine, the son of a minister; his mother, Amoretta Jane (Sweatt), was born in Manchester, NH, the daughter of a machinist. They were married April 11, 1876, and had two older children: Charles born in 1881, and Grace born in 1885.
John was a clerk in Manchester and the family owned a home at 345 Hosley Street. Living with them was Amoretta’s sister, Nancy Swett, who at one time worked in a cotton mill, probably in the city’s huge Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. In 1903, the Manchester directory reported John removed to Boston; the Boston directory listed him as in “butter and cheese” at 96 ½ Blackstone Street. The 1910 census described this line of business as a “retail merchant, grocer.” John was in the butter and eggs business until 1914. By the 1920s, he was an “egg candler” or egg inspector.
Initially, John boarded at 29 Hancock Street on Beacon Hill. In 1904, he is listed in the directory living in Dorchester, at 4A Moultrie Street. In 1906, the family resided at 10 Stratford Street. The next year, they were listed at 10 Larchmont Street, Dorchester, a home they purchased and in which John and Amoretta lived in for the rest of their lives. The family were members of the Second Congregational Church in Codman Square. In 1908, Fred graduated from Dorchester High School.
By 1910, his sister Grace had gone to work as a school teacher; she worked for many years at the Comins School in Roxbury. Aunt Nancy still lived with them, but his brother Charles had married and moved to New Jersey. At this time, Fred was attending Dartmouth College, graduating in the class of 1912.
In 1913, Fred appeared in the Boston directory as a clerk. In August 1915, he reported to The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine that he was an investigator for the Massachusetts Employees Insurance Association at 84 State Street in Boston. In September 1915, Fred began working in Newton, Massachusetts, at the Vocational High School as an English teacher. On his notecard for Frederick Prescott Goodrich, Dr. Perkins noted that Fred also taught at Braintree High School. On his draft registration in 1917, Fred gave his profession as a school teacher at the Cascadilla School in Ithaca, New York, a prep school for Cornell University. He also claimed exemption from the draft, noting that his aunt Nancy was partially dependent on him for support.
When he enrolled in the Navy on May 24, 1918, his address was 3 West 47th Street, New York City. Dr. Perkins recorded that at the time of Fred’s enlistment he was “in Guaranty Trust Co.” Fred joined up at a New York City recruiting station. He served as a Chief Quartermaster, based at Headquarters, 1st Naval District, Boston, from June 14, 1918, until the Armistice. On November 1, 1918, he was placed on inactive duty at Headquarters, 3rd Naval District, New York City. Fred also served in the Navy Bureau of Aviation as an Aviation Chief Rigger. According to Dr. Perkins, Fred trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was sent to Key West, Florida. Fred was discharged on September 30, 1921.
After the war, Fred was very interested in a bill before Congress, The National Soldiers’ Settlement Bill, which aimed to help returning servicemen obtain farmland. Fred was one of many veterans who wrote to the Department of the Interior for information about the plan. He did not go into farming, but instead banking. In December 1920, he reported in The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine that he was working for the Mercantile Bank of the Americas, 44 Pine Street, New York City, and living at 1288 Dean Street, Brooklyn; in March 1921 he reported he was working for Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery, certified public accountants, at 55 Liberty Street, New York City. He appeared twice in the 1920 census, both living with his parents and sister on Larchmont Street, and also with his brother Charles and his family in Westfield, New Jersey.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Fred lived in New York City. In his father’s obituary in 1934, Fred was reported as living in Brooklyn. On his 1942 World War II draft registration, he gave his address as 438 80th Street, Brooklyn andt that time, he was self-employed. When his sister Grace died in October 1953, her obituary reported he was still living in New York City.
Fred died a month later on November 9, 1953. He was buried in Valley Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire in his parents’ plot.
Sources
“New Hampshire, Birth Records, through 1900.” New England Historical Genealogical Society. Citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire; Ancestry.com
Little, George Thomas. The Descendants of George Little, Who Came to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1640. Auburn ME, 1882; Archive.org
Manchester, NH, and Boston Directories, various years, Ancestry.com
Federal Census 1900, 1910, 1920; Ancestry.com
The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Various years; Archive.org
“Schools Will Open Monday,” The Newton Graphic (Newton, MA) 10 September 1915: 1; Archive.org
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
New York State Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917–1919. Adjutant General’s Office. New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Ancestry.com
Applications for Headstones, compiled 01/01/1925 – 06/30/1970, documenting the period ca. 1776 – 1970, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985.National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com
Groves, Charles S. “Bay State Soldiers Would Turn Farmers,” Boston Globe, 23 February 1919: 18; Newspapers.com
United States Bureau of Reclamation. Work and Homes for Our Fighting Men. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1919; Archive.org
“John A. Goodrich,” Boston Globe, 8 Aug 1934: 17; Newspapers.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Deaths, Boston Globe, 13 October 1953: 45; Newspapers.com