William Patrick Hartin
World War I Veteran
By Camille Arbogast
William Patrick Hartin was born on November 17, 1895. He was born at home, 178 Third Street in South Boston. His parents, James Thomas and Sarah (McGonagle) Hartin, were both born in Donegal, Ireland. Sarah arrived in 1888; according to family sources, her passage was sponsored by two aunts. Prior to her marriage, Sarah worked as a domestic. James, a laborer, was naturalized in 1893. James and Sarah were married in Boston in July 1892. They had 11 other children: John born in 1893, James in 1894, Joseph in 1897, Cecilia in 1899, Francis in 1900, Patrick in 1901, Anna in 1903, Thomas in 1905, Bernard in 1906, Arthur in 1908, and Mary in 1910. Bernard died of acute infectious diarrhea in 1907, at the Boston Floating Hospital.
By 1898, the Hartins were living at 35 B Street in South Boston. They moved a short distance to 182 West 3rd Street by 1900. That year, Sarah’s brother, Patrick, lived with them. In 1904, they were living in Dorchester at 1390 Dorchester Avenue. They relocated in 1908, moving around the corner to 10 Greenwich Street, rear, where they remained until 1912, when they moved up the street to 22 Greenwich.
William attended school through the first year of high school, according to the 1940 census. By 1910, he was working as an order boy at a grocery. In June 1917, he was a sheet iron worker at the Sturtevant Mill Company, located at the corner of Park and Clayton Streets (today the building is the headquarters of Feeney Brothers Utility Services). The Sturtevant Mill Company was known for their crushing and grinding machinery. Socially, William was active in the Franklin Social and Athletic Club of Fields Corner.
On October 17, 1917, William enlisted in the Army. He served in the Company D, 39th Infantry, 4th Division. The 39th Infantry was formed at Camp Syracuse, New York, where William joined the regiment. Ten days after he enlisted, the 39th Infantry left for Camp Greene, near Charlotte, North Carolina, where they trained. On March 13, 1918, William was made a corporal.
In late April 1918, the 39th Infantry began moving towards France, first traveling to Camp Mills on Long Island, New York. From there they made their way to Jersey City, New Jersey, where, on May 10, 1918, William sailed with the 39th Infantry’s First and Second Battalions on the SS Dante Alighieri. The ship reached Brest, France, on May 23. In June, the 39th Infantry trained with the British at Doudeauville in Normandy, before moving to Acy-en-Multien in Oise. There, they were attached to the Fourth French Infantry Division. William was promoted to sergeant on July 10, 1918.
From mid-July through early August, the 39th Infantry participated in the Aisne-Marne offensive, attacking in conjunction with the French army. On August 1, “while taking up new positions in the Forêt de Fère,” William’s battalion was targeted by an airplane which dropped “a string of bombs so rapidly that the separate explosions could not be distinguished. … Every company in the battalion was hit.” On the night of August 6, Company D was part of an attempt to advance across the Vesle River. After this action, the 39th Infantry was relieved, and moved to the Vesle Defensive Sector.
On September 9, now part of the American First Army, they moved to the Toulon defensive sector in Lorraine, serving as part of the reserve corps in the St. Mihiel offensive. While, “not actively engaged in the front lines,” in mid-September they were “ordered forward to close a gap in the lines.” The gap was closed before they arrived, and instead they “went into bivouac in the woods … closely supporting the front lines,” where they were “under constant shell fire.” From September 14 through the 19, the 39th Infantry trained in Haudainville, then moved to Esnes, in preparation for participation in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
On September 26, the first day of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the First Battalion “took up positions in the front line trenches.” They advanced at 5:30 a.m., behind a rolling barrage. That day, in the vicinity of Montfaucon Hill and the villages of Cuisy and Septsarges, William was severely wounded. He survived, but the military ultimately judged that “in view of occupation he was, on date of discharge, reported 75 percent disabled,” reflecting his injury’s impact on his earning capacity. During the three-day period in which William was wounded, “the Regiment had advanced eleven kilometers on a front ranging from one to two kilometers, the first five being one mass of barbed wire. … More than one hundred men and officers had been killed and over five hundred wounded.”
William’s brothers James, Jr., and Joseph also served France during World War I. In August 1918, the Boston Globe reported William wrote home that while marching he had passed his older brother James’s regiment, the 101st Infantry, “coming from the trenches but the men were traveling so fast he failed to meet his brother.” His younger brother Joseph, who served in the 60th Infantry, was killed in action during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
On December 20, 1918, William sailed for the United States from Saint Nazaire, France, on the USS Princess Matoika. The ship carried “sick and wounded.” William was among a group classified as “medical and surgical requiring no attention.” They arrived in Newport News, Virginia, on January 1, 1919. William was discharged at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, on May 17, 1919.
After his discharge, William lived with his family in the home his father had just purchased at 28 Ditson Street. William was listed as a student in the 1920 Boston directory; on the 1920 census no occupation is reported for him. His marriage record from June 1920 stated he was a bookkeeper.
On June 21, 1920, William married Esther M. Fleming of 18 Freeman Street, Dorchester. They were married by Reverend John H. Harrigan of Saint Ambrose Church in Fields Corner. William and Esther had two daughters: Mary born in 1920 and Clair in 1922.
The couple initially lived on Granger Street, first at number 68, then at 58. By 1925, they had moved to a few blocks to 25 Dickens Street. The next year they were living nearby at 64 Leonard Street, which they owned. It was William’s home for the rest of his life. Living with them in 1930 was Esther’s father, William Fleming, an unemployed watchman. William’s brother Francis lived next door at number 66.
In the early 1920s, William continued to be listed in the directory as a student. In 1924, he was employed as a post office sub clerk. He worked for the post office for the rest of his career. In 1940, he earned $2,100 a year. He reported in 1942 that he worked out of the Post Office at 99 Chauncey Street.
William died in Dorchester on July 3, 1945. A funeral was held at his residence and a Solemn High Mass was celebrated for him at Saint Ambrose Church. William was a member of Saint Peter’s Court Number 18, MCOF; Redberry Council No 177, Knights of Columbus; and the William L. Harris Post 196 of the American Legion.
Sources
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com
Boston Directories, Various years; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 17 April 1917; 9; Newspapers.com
“Boys Eager to Get Into Army,” Boston Globe, 17 October 1917: 8; 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.
The History of the 39th U.S. Infantry During the World War, NY: Press of Joseph D. McGuire, 1919; Archive.org
Lists of Outgoing & Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, The National Archives at College Park, MD; Ancestry.com
Aaronson, Franklin M. “Pensions and Compensation to Veterans and Their Dependents.” Social Security Bulletin, November 1942. <https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v5n11/v5n11p10.pdf>
“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 16 August 1918; Newspapers.com
“Military Honors at Dorchester Funeral,” Boston Globe, 20 September 1921: 2; Newspapers.com
“Real Estate Transactions,” Boston Globe, 2 May 1919: 10; Newspapers.com
Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, certificate number 3358, page 259, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.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, 3 July 1945: 10; Newspapers.com