George Walter Adlard
World War I Veteran
By Camile Arbogast
George Walter Adlard was born on April 16, 1894, in Brooklyn, New York, to Charlotte M. (Geezer), known as Lotte, and Walter Adlard. Lotte and Walter were born in Brooklyn and were married in 1886 in New York. Walter worked in the insurance industry, eventually serving as the vice president and secretary of the Massachusetts Fire and Marine Insurance Company. They had five other children: Florence born in 1887, Leroy in 1890, Edward Livingstone in 1899, Frederick in 1904, and Adele in 1907.
By 1899, the Adlards had moved to Dorchester, where they lived at 14 Bird Street. By 1909, they had moved a short distance to 490 Columbia Road. That year, Florence married; her wedding was held in the family home and George served as an usher. The family employed a live-in servant at both 14 Bird Street and 409 Columbia Road, according to the 1900 and 1910 censuses. In 1910, the household also included a lodger, Richard Luscombe, a drugstore clerk. George graduated from Dorchester’s Edward Everett School in 1910. He then attended Dorchester High School, where he served in Company D of the Dorchester High School Regiment. By 1917, the Adlards had moved to 29 Virginia Street. At that time, George was an insurance clerk.
George enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force at the Boston Navy Yard on June 1, 1917, a couple of days before he registered for the First World War draft. On June 9, he was sent to the Receiving Ship in Boston. From December 8, 1917, until February 25, 1918, he was at the Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He then returned to the Boston Receiving Ship, where he remained until March 12. He was stationed at the Naval Detention Training Camp on Deer Island in Boston Harbor until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. George served as an Oiler for 304 days before being promoted to a Machinist Mate 2nd class, his rank for 224 days. On January 11, 1919, he was placed on inactive duty at the Detention Training Camp on Deer Island as a Machinist Mate 1st class. George was honorably discharged on May 31, 1921.
In 1920, George was again living with his family at 29 Virginia Street, employed as a clerk in a cigar store. LeRoy and Edward were working in insurance; Frederick was a helper in a plumber shop; Adele was still attending school. The lodger who had been living with the family in 1910 at 490 Columbia Road, Richard Luscombe, had moved with them to 29 Virginia Street and was still part of the household. By 1923, George, too, was working in the insurance industry. He remained in insurance for the rest of his career. As a young man, George frequently participated in amateur theatricals. He performed in a number of Masonic Minstrel shows, was a featured performer in the Dorchester Women’s Club’s production “Fifi of the Toy Shop,” and also performed with the Insurance Society of Massachusetts.
On September 5, 1925, George married Edna Felecia Ferguson in Roxbury. Edna, a clerk, was a Roxbury resident. They were married by Reverend G.S. Macaulay of the Presbyterian Church of Roxbury. By 1927, the couple was living at 38 Orkney Road in Brighton. In the early 1930s, George and Edna lived in homes in Newton, Massachusetts, residing at 32 Taft Avenue in 1930, 140 Carleton Street in 1932, and 105 Morton Street in 1934. In 1937, they purchased 6 Vane Street in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a home which was valued at $7,800 in 1940. In 1942, George reported on his World War II draft registration that he was self-employed, working at 120 Milk Street in Boston. By 1955, George and Edna had a home in Sarasota, Florida, and Edna worked as a saleswoman and instructor at Sarasota’s Spinning Wheel yarn shop.
George died on November 14, 1973, in Sarasota, Florida. He was buried in the Sarasota Memorial Park. When Edna died in 1979, she was buried beside him.
Sources
United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
“Many Brides Led to Altar,” Boston Globe, 3 June 1909: 13; Newspapers.com
“7911 Diplomas in Boston Schools,” Boston Globe, 23 June 1910: 5; Newspapers.com
“Field Day of Their Own,” Boston Globe, 15 November 1913: 3; Newspapers.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“Roxbury District,” Boston Globe, 18 Sept 1924: 14; Newspapers.com
“Dorchester Masonic Lodge Minstrels and Dancing Party,” Boston Globe, 11 April 1916: 6; Newspapers.com
Paula Patterson, “Social Events of the Week,” Boston Post, 17 Oct 1920: 101; Newspapers.com
“Insurance Men Present ‘The High Spots of 1921,’” Boston Globe, 2 April 1921: 12; Newspapers.com
“Insurance Society of Mass to Give ‘The Centennial Revue,’” Boston Globe, 29 April 1922: 8; Newspapers.com
“Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915,” database, citing Boston, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org
Directories: Boston, Newton, and Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Sarasota, Florida, various years; Ancestry.com
“Deeds,” Boston Globe, 30 October 1937: 19; Newspapers.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998; Ancestry.com
George W. Adlard; FindAGrave.com