Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Frank Marden Taylor
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: Frank Marden Taylor.
Written by Donna Albino.
Frank Marden Taylor was born on September 4, 1888, in Mattapan. His father, John Taylor, was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada. He immigrated to the United States in 1850, when he was about 8 years old, and was working as a grocer when Frank was born. His mother, Annette Jerusha (Marden) Taylor, was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. Frank was the first son of the family; he had two older sisters.
In 1900, the family was living in a rented home at 46 River Street in the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester. His father was working as a cabinet maker, and Frank’s oldest sister, Bertha, was working as a bookkeeper. Frank’s paternal grandmother was a widow, and she lived with them. By 1910, the family had moved two blocks away to 32 Temple Street. Frank was 21 years old, and working in an oil store. His father was retired, and his older sister Bertha was working in a grocery store.
In 1916, Frank was initiated as a Mason and was affiliated with a lodge in Hyde Park. On June 5, 1917, Frank registered for the war draft. His draft card revealed he was a man of medium height and build, with black hair and brown eyes. Frank was working as a brass moulder for American Tool and Machine Company in Hyde Park at the time he registered for the draft. On June 8, 1918 Frank married Mildred Evelyn Tibbetts, a young woman from Maine, in Everett, Massachusetts.
Shortly after getting married, Frank joined the war effort on August 30, 1918 and was sent to Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York on Long Island, a port of embarkation of the United States Army during World War I. The camp housed troops as they awaited ships for deployment overseas. Frank was assigned to the 152nd Depot Brigade, the garrison unit that received and organized new recruits, provided them with uniforms, equipment and initial military training, and then sent them to France to fight on the front lines. Composer Irving Berlin was a member of the 152nd Depot Brigade, and he wrote the musical revue “Yip Yip Yaphank,” including the song “Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” while at Camp Upton in 1918. Frank received an honorable discharge on December 3, 1918.
In 1920, Frank and his wife Mildred were living in a rented house at 1420 River Street in Hyde Park. Frank was still working as a brass moulder, probably still at American Tool and Machine Company in Hyde Park. They had a college student boarding with them, probably to help with expenses.
By 1930, Frank and Mildred had moved to 58 Corey Street in Everett, and had two children, a boy and a girl. Frank was working as a stereotyper for a newspaper, a career he would have for the rest of his life. In the days of set movable type, printing involved placing individual letters into a block that laid out the text for a single page. A stereotyper created the solid plates of type metal that newspapers used to print each page of their papers before replacing the plates with computers in the 1980s.
Sometime between 1934 and 1938, Frank and Mildred moved next door to 60 Corey Street in Everett. Mildred’s mother moved into their previous home at 58 Corey Street. On April 26, 1942, Frank registered for the WWII war draft. He was working for the Christian Science Monitor at the time, and his card noted that his hair was gray, and he had a scar on his left hand. Frank and Mildred lived at 60 Corey Street until at least 1948, and Frank worked for several more newspapers in that time, including The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald Traveller.
Frank passed away on September 8, 1956 in Medford, just a few days after his 68th birthday. While he had been associated with several Masonic lodges in Hyde Park and Medford during his life, the Fourth Estate Masonic lodge in Boston had a service for Frank a few days after his death. Fourth Estate was known as the first newspapermen’s lodge in the United States. Frank was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Everett. His wife Mildred requested a military veteran’s marker for his grave, and an upright marble headstone was delivered in November of 1956.
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, 1901-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Year: 1900; Census Place: Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 1531; FHL microfilm: 1240688
Year: 1910; Census Place: Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_625; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 1633; FHL microfilm: 1374638
Year: 1920; Census Place: Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_740; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 580
Year: 1930; Census Place: Everett, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0226; FHL microfilm: 2340653
Year: 1940; Census Place: Everett, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: m-t0627-01605; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 9-143
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Wkipedia, Stereotype (printing)
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, 152nd Depot Brigade (United States)
Wikipedia, Camp Upton
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Mason Membership Cards, 1733-1990 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
MasonicGenealogy.com, Fourth Estate
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 11 Sep 1956, Tue Page 20
Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Ancestry.com, Stearns Family Tree by martsfamily0