World War I Veteran Who Lived in Dorchester
Saul Abraham by Camille Arbogast.
Saul Abraham was born in September 1896, at 15 Sharon Street in Boston’s South End. September 21 is the birthdate on his birth and military records, but on other documents he used September 23.
Saul’s father, David Abraham, was a cigar maker. David was born in London, England, to Dutch parents and immigrated to the United States when he was a year old. Saul’s mother, Hannah (Hamilburg), was born at 68 Broadway in South Boston to Dutch parents. Prior to her marriage, she worked as a saleslady. David and Hannah were married in Boston in 1888. They had three other children: Hyman, known as Harry, born in 1890; Jacob, known as John or Jack, in 1894; and Sadie, known as Sarah or Shirley, in 1901.
In 1902, the family moved from Saul’s birthplace to 36 Worcester Square in the South End. They relocated to Grove Hall in 1905, where they lived on Blue Hill Avenue. For the next eight years, the Boston directory listed David Abraham as residing at either 380 or 382 Blue Hill Avenue. Saul graduated from the Phillips Brooks School on Perth Street in 1911. Two years later, David died at Boston City Hospital of an intestinal ulcer hemorrhage. At the time of his death, his address was given as 15 Intervale Street.
By 1916, the Abraham sons were employed; Harry was a salesman, Jack a cigar maker, and Saul was a clerk. His lifelong career was in the wholesale shoe business. In June 1918, Morris reported on his First World War draft registration that he was employed by a shoe company at 170 Lincoln Street in Boston. By that time, his family had moved a few blocks to 17 Castlegate Road.
Saul was inducted into the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) on October 21, 1918. He served as a private in the 27th Company Portland CAC until the Armistice on November 11. At that time, he was transferred to Battery E of the 29th Artillery, CAC, where he remained until November 30, when he returned to the 27th Company Portland CAC. He was discharged on December 21, 1918.
In 1920, he was again living at 17 Castlegate Road with his mother, siblings, and two maternal aunts. According to a newspaper article, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1924, he lived at 549 Blue Hill Avenue and was the president of the Northeastern Shoe Company of 207 Essex Street in Boston.
On November 27, 1924, Saul married Minnie Benamor at the Hotel Somerset in Boston. Born in 1903, Minnie was also from Boston, living at 4 Nazing Street in Roxbury. Her parents were from Spain. Saul and Minnie were married by Rabbi Harry Levi of Temple Israel. After the wedding, Saul and Minnie embarked on a honeymoon to Miami and Cuba.
The couple initially lived at 266 Seaver Street in Roxbury, not far from Minnie’s family home. Their daughter, Dolores, was born in 1927. In 1930, Saul, Minnie, and Dolores moved to Brookline, where his brother Harry was already living. In their home at 325 Saint Paul Street, they employed a live-in domestic worker, Catherine Lally, a recent Irish immigrant. In 1932, they moved a short distance to 61 Babcock Street, near the corner of Devotion Street.
The Northeastern Shoe Company went into bankruptcy in 1924, and in 1926, Saul appeared in the Boston directory as the president of the Wasser-Abraham Company of 208 Essex Street. This company was dissolved in 1931. During the early 1930s, he was listed as the president of the Milton Shoe Company, also of 208 Essex Street. By the 1940s, he was the president of the Saul Abraham Shoe Company, which he ran for the rest of his career. The company offices moved from time to time, but were generally on Lincoln Street in Boston. In 1940, he earned $3,800.
In 1942, the Abrahams moved to Newton, residing at 6 Sumner Street in Newton Centre. By 1947, they were living at 288 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. In the 1950s, they returned to Brookline, first to 51 Harvard Street, and then 70 Park Terrace, where they remained for some years. In 1971, their daughter passed away. After Saul’s retirement, he and Minnie moved to Florida.
Saul died on February 8, 1994, in Hollywood, Broward County, Florida.
Sources
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
Family Trees; Ancestry.com
Boston, Brookline Directories, various years; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Increase in High, But Decrease in Grammar Graduates,” Boston Globe, 22 June 1911: 15; Newspapers.com
\World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“Minnie Benamor Becomes Bride of Saul Abraham,” Boston Globe, 28 November 1924: 2; Newspapers.com
“Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915,” Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org
“Hurley v. N.J. Reilly Co’,” United States District Court, D. Massachusetts, 6 May 1926; CaseText.com
Acts Approved by the People, November 4 1930 (Chapters 427 and 428, Actso of 1930) and Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in the Year 1931. Boston, MA Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1931: 341; Archive.org
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, 14 January 1971: 37; Newspapers.com
State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998; Ancestry.com
Deaths, Boston Globe, 11 February 1994: 34; Newspapers.com