Clarence Fulton Ashe
World War I Veteran
By Camille Arbogast
Clarence Fulton Ashe was born on July 27, 1890, in Saint John, New Brunswick, to Annibel Meribah (Steeves), known as Annie, and John Wilkinson Ashe. John and Annie married in New Brunswick in May 1888. They also had a younger child, Ella Pearl, known as Pearl, born in Massachusetts in 1895.
The 1890 Canadian census recorded a four-month-old Clarence and his mother living with her parents in Hammond, New Brunswick. The next year, Clarence immigrated to the United States, sailing from Saint John on the New Brunswick and arriving in Boston on May 1, 1891. Initially, the Ashes lived at the rear of 15 Temple Street in Lower Mills. By 1895, they had moved to River Street, where they resided first at 116 and then at 113 ½. In the 1890s, John was a carpenter. Around 1900, he began working as a chocolate maker at a chocolate factory, (probably Walter Baker Chocolate), his job for the rest of his career. In 1900, the Ashes were living at 58 Idaho Street.
In 1905, Clarence graduated from the Gilbert Stuart School on Richmond Street in Lower Mills. According to the 1940 census, Clarence attended school through the 8th grade, though there is a note on his World War I draft registration that he attended two years of high school in Boston. For nine years Clarence was a member of a church Boys’ Brigade, a club which combined religious and social activities with military drill.
By 1910, the Ashes had moved to 1198 Adams Street. Clarence was working, in 1910 employed as an entry clerk at a wholesale dry goods establishment; as a chocolate maker in 1912; and as a telephone operator by 1915. On December 25, 1915, his sister Pearl, a stenographer, married. She and her husband lived with Clarence and his parents at 1198 Adams Street. Pearl died in July 1916. In February 1917, Clarence declared his intention to become an American citizen. That June he had a new job as a traveling salesman for the General Chemical Company of 25 Broad Street, New York City.
On November 5, 1917, at the Staff Reserve Corps headquarters at 775 Boylston Street in Boston, Clarence enlisted in the Enlisted Reserve Corps, Aviation Section, Signal Corps. Days after Clarence enlisted, his mother died. Clarence was called to active duty on January 17, 1918. He studied at the U.S. Army School of Military Aeronautics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. At the ground school, students received “preliminary training in military aeronautics” while also developing their “soldierly qualities.” At the end of their studies, students had to prove proficiency in subjects including: military studies, gunnery, engines, observation, signaling and radio, as well as in such “aids to flight” as map reading and meteorology. After graduating from the school, students were recommended “for transfer to flying schools or flying squadrons.” Clarence was transferred to a Cadet Squad. On September 3, 1918, he accepted a commission as a 2nd lieutenant, stationed at Taylor Field, near Montgomery, Alabama. He was discharged on December 31, 1918.
On July 23, 1919, Clarence married Margaree Anna Carmichael. Born in Roxbury, Margaree was a title examiner. Clarence and Margaree were married by Reverend David Nicholson. The couple had two children: Charles Fulton born in 1922 and Anna Pearl born in 1924.
Clarence and Margaree initially lived with her family at 46 Vine Street in Roxbury. In 1920, Clarence was a collector for the soap manufacturer Dennison, S.A. Co. of 69 Canal Street in Boston. By 1922, Clarence and Margaree had moved a few blocks to 112 Warren Street. Around 1925, Clarence moved to Weymouth; according to his United States Veterans Administration Master Index, he lived at 6 Pine Circle in South Weymouth. By 1929, he was back in Dorchester, living in his father’s home at 12 Myrtlebank Avenue. It is likely that by this time Clarence and Margaree had divorced; Clarence was reported as divorced on the 1930 census. That year, Clarence and his son Charles were lodgers at 9 Helena Road, the home of Thomas and Bertha Adair. Clarence was a credit manager at a rubber tire company. He remained at 9 Helena until 1936, when he moved to 24 Saranac Street. Clarence then returned to 12 Myrtlebank Avenue, living with his father and stepmother. In the late 1930s, Clarence was a salesman.
By 1941, Clarence had married for a second time, wedding Marion G. (Wainwright) Foster. Marion had been born in Dorchester. Her father was the owner of the Wainwright Garage on Minot Street. She, too, had been married before. Clarence and Marion lived at 1968 Dorchester Avenue. On his Second World War draft registration Clarence reported he worked for the Walworth Manufacturing Company. 1940s Boston directories listed him as a store manager.
Clarence died suddenly on October 23, 1945. According to family sources he died of heart failure. A requiem mass was held for him at Saint Gregory’s church in Lower Mills. He had been a commander of the Old Dorchester Post No 65, American Legion.
Sources
Declaration, National Archives at Boston: Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
1891 Census, Library and Archives Canada; bac-lac.gc.ca
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com
37th Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Schools of the City of Boston, March 1905. Boston: Municipal Printing Office: 184; Books.Google.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.
“Adds 10 Pounds to His Weight,” Boston Globe, 6 November 1917: 8; Newspapers.com
Benson, Charles Beverley. History of the United States Army School of Military Aeronautics at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., May 1917 to December 1918. The School, 1918; Archive.org
“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database, FamilySearch.org
Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards 1733–1990. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Archive.org
US Veterans Administration Master Index, NARA microfilm publication. St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985; FamilySearch.org
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 11 September 1937: 8; Newspapers.com
Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Death Notices, Boston Globe, 24 October 1945: 18