Dorchester Illustration no. 2495 Prendergast Preventorium

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2495   Prendergast Preventorium

Illustration: Photograph from Boston Traveler, October 29, 1952. Robert Love is at the left with Lorraine Ryan and Dianne Melluso.

After hearing the Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, present at the Inauguration, a phrase from her poem keeps coming back into mind: “It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into …”  That places us in the position of being honest about our shared history, not just telling the good.

Although today’s illustration may provide a warm feeling about how youngsters at the Prendergast Preventorium were entertained, a very different impression emerges in the pages of a book written by a former resident.   Robert A. Love’s book Promises to Keep: Memoirs of  a Polished Street Fighter (copyright 2013) describes his experiences at the Preventorium as one chapter in a childhood full of difficulties, including learning to live with Tourette syndrome and  continually moving from place to place, either to find an affordable apartment or being placed in institutions and foster homes.

In 1952, his mother was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and told that she needed to enter the Boston Sanatorium on River Street for treatment.  Bobby and his three siblings were given a clean bill of health, but they were taken by state officials to the Prendergast Preventorium, also in Mattapan.  They included Dianne, 12; Geri, 11; Eddie 8 and Bobby, 7.  The Preventorium was an institution for children who were related to or exposed to people with Tuberculosis. 

Love states that the Preventorium housed about 80 children. The dining room was at the center of the facility with twelve wooden picnic tables arranged in two rows.  There were separate dormitories for boys and girls, on the north and south sides of the building.  He describes the staff as negligent, with no training in psychology or other appropriate field.  He singles out one staff member who “firmly believed that inflicting physical pain and humiliation were the best forms of discipline.”  He describes the staff member pulling the hair of the children and smacking them.  Other staff members were described as being adept at smacking, slapping and calling names.  Many of the children developed symptoms of abuse including twitching and coughing. 

The author admits there were more pleasant occasions like Halloween, but even in the photo session, where only the cutest children were chosen to pose, their minder stood close by with a “smile or I’ll beat the hell out of you attitude.”

This cautionary tale is meant to remind us that when we tell history, we need to present the truth.  But what is the truth?  Is it the version from Bobby’s memories?

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Henry Paul Louis Bertocchi

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Henry Paul Louis Bertocchi

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Henry Paul Louis Bertocchi was born on May 2, 1900, at 84 Quincy Street in Roxbury, to Antonio and Delfina (Gazza) Bertocchi. Henry’s parents were born in Italy, immigrating to the United States in 1895. Antonio’s siblings included: Etlino, known as Albert, who was born in Parma, Italy in 1894, Delciza, known as Adele, born in Boston in 1898, Alfred born in 1902, George born in 1903, and Louis born in 1907. Antonio was employed as a laborer, coalman, and teamster. In 1907, the family lived at 82 Quincy Street. By 1916, they had moved to 152 Quincy Street. That July, Henry was arrested for disturbing the peace and placed on probation.

On December 12, 1917, Henry enlisted in the Regular Army at Fort Slocum, near New Rochelle, on Long Island, New York. Henry was initially assigned to the 25th Recruit Company, General Service Infantry. On December 14, he was transferred to Company H, 38th Infantry, 6th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Division. He was promoted to private first class on March 22, 1918. A week later he departed for France, leaving from Hoboken, New Jersey on March 29, sailing on the USS Mount Vernon.

The 3rd Division trained at the 9th (Chateauvillain) Training Area until the end of May, then moved to the Chateau-Thierry area. June 1 through 5, the 38th Infantry participated in the Aisne Defensive. After the engagement, they continued serving in the Chateau-Thierry sector. The Germans attacked on July 15; the Champagne-Marne defensive lasted until July 18. As the German troops withdrew, the 3rd Division advanced during the Aisne-Marne offensive of July 18 through 27. In early August, they were stationed in the Vesle sector. Henry was promoted to corporal on September 6. September 12 through 16, the 38th Infantry participated in the Saint Miheil offensive. On September 30, they began fighting in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, remaining in the battle through October 27. After the Armistice on November 11, the 3rd Division was part of the Army of Occupation. On April 14, 1919, Henry was made a private. A month later, he sailed from Marseille, France, on the SS Canada, as part of the Saint Aignan Casual Company No 4457 Special Discharges. He was discharged on June 10, 1919.

In January 1920, Henry was living at 6 Kent Court in Somerville with his brothers Lewis and Albert, along with Albert’s wife, Annie, and daughter, Delfina. He was possibly the Henry Bertocchi of 393 Warren Street, Roxbury, who was one of a trio arrested in August 1920 “after a chase in Roxbury … during which the police fired a shot to halt the men.” They were found guilty of “attempting to break into the home of Benjamin Lipsky, 4 May st, Roxbury.” “As [the police] approached the Lipsky house they saw some men run and chased them through Holborn st. to Gannett st. and Gaston st. … Bertocchi was arrested … on Blue Hill av.” Found guilty, Henry was given “a suspended sentence of six months in the House of Correction and placed … on probation for one year.” In the mid-1920s, Henry lived at 80 Woodcliff Street.

By 1929, Henry had moved to 96 Warren Street in Roxbury and had begun working as a chauffeur, his occupation for the rest of his life. He drove for the Boston Sanitary Division. In 1940, he was making $1,700 a year. Two years later, he reported that his workplace was on Battery Street in the North End.

Henry married Sarah E. Tierney, known as Sadie, in 1929. Sadie and Henry had three children: Joan, Paul, and Ronald. In 1930, Henry and Sadie lived at 40 Dennis Street in Roxbury. The next year, they resided at 96 Blue Hill Avenue. They had moved to 78 Forest Street in Roxbury by 1935. They returned to Blue Hill Avenue by 1938, when they lived at number 58. In 1942, they lived at 3 Presby Place, off Winthrop Street, near Blue Hill Avenue. They were living at 357 Dudley Street by 1944.

Henry died on August 2, 1944. A funeral was held at his home and a Solemn High Mass was celebrated for him at Saint Patrick’s Church on Dudley Street.

Sources

“Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915,” database: FamilySearch.org

Deaths, Boston Globe, 21 June 1955: 31; Newspapers.com

“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 18 July 1916: 9; 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.

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

Battle Participation of the Organizations of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, Belgium and Italy 1917-1918. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1920; Archive.org

American Battle Monuments Commission. 3d Division Summary of Operations in the World War. Washington, DCUnited States Government Printing Office, 1944; Archive.org

Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com

“Trio Caught in Roxbury Chase Put on Probation,” Boston Globe, 17 August 1920: 16; Newspapers.com

“Suspend Sentences of Three in Break Case,” Boston Globe, 18 August 1920: 20; Newspapers.com

“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” NARA microfilm publication, St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985; FamilySearch.org

Reports of Proceedings of the City Council of Boston for the Year Commencing January 1, 1940, and Ending December 31, 1940. Boston: City of Boston Printing Department, 1941; Archive.org

Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages [1916–1970]. Volumes 76–166, 192– 207. Facsimile edition. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society; Ancestry.com

1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com

Deaths, Boston Globe, 6 August 1985: 18; Newspapers.com

Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

“Evening Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 3 August 1944: 16; Newspapers.com

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Hyman James Berson

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Hyman James Berson

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Hyman James Berson (sometimes spelled Birson) was born in March, 1896, in Vilnius, Lithuania. His birthdate was reported as either March 20, 28, or 30. In 1906, he immigrated to the United States, along with his mother Annie (Rosensky or Rezefsky) and his siblings, Rose (born in 1892), Bennett (1894), and Arthur (1898). They joined their step-father, Jacob Berson, in Boston. Jacob, a carpenter, immigrated in 1903. After settling in Massachusetts, Jacob and Annie had six additional sons: Philip (1907), Charles or Marckus (1908), Barnet (1909), Max (1911), and Samuel (1913).

When they first arrived in Boston, the Bersons lived at 109 Leverett Street in the West End. By late 1909, they had moved to 263 Havre Street in East Boston. That August, three-year-old Philip fell off the second story porch and fractured his skull. He survived, thanks in part to a laundry wagon driver, who saw the accident and rushed the boy to the hospital in his wagon. In October, 11-month Barnet died of pneumonia.

Hyman was not in the family household at that time; by April 1910, he was an inmate at the Suffolk School for Boys, a reform school on Rainsford Island in Boston Harbor. The island had been home to a reform school since 1895; it was renamed the Suffolk School for Boys in 1906. Multiple misdemeanor offenders were sent to the school for “special attention in the formation and building of character and habits, to fit him to occupy a useful place in the community.” Boys attended academic classes and also studied trades like shoemaking. It is possible Hyman was already at the school in December 1909, when a “great storm” did “thousands of dollars worth of damage” to the island.

It is unclear when Hyman rejoined the Berson household. In 1911, the family returned to the West End, living at 39 Anderson Street. In 1912, Rose was married. She died of toxemia three years later at the Boston Lying-In Hospital. 

By 1914, the Bersons were living at 14 Lena Park (later renamed Lorne Street) in Dorchester. Hyman gave this address in August, 1914, when he was arrested for shoplifting in downtown Boston. Plain-clothes officers charged him “with the larceny … of a pair of shoes valued at $2.” It is possible he was sent to the state prison in Concord, Massachusetts, for this crime. He was an inmate of the “Massachusetts Reformatory, Concord Junction ” in June 1917, when he registered for the draft.

About a month later, on July 19, 1917, Hyman enlisted in the Army. He served as a private in Company F, 23rd Infantry, 2nd Division. In September, he sailed overseas. The 23rd Infantry participated in engagements at Chateau Thierry, the Aisne-Marne, Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne. It was most likely during the Meuse-Argonne offensive that Hyman was injured. Initially, on October 21, 1918, he was reported missing in action. About two weeks later, his status was changed to severely wounded. He returned to the United States on the USS Princess Matoika, as part of Convalescent Detachment Number 102, sailing from Saint-Nazaire, France, on March 8, 1919, and arriving at Newport News, Virginia, on March 20. His records show two discharge dates: June 30, 1919, or April 29, 1920.

Hyman was not part of the Berson household at 14 Lorne Street in January 1920, when the census was taken. Later, he lived in a home his family owned at 17 Hiawatha Road in Mattapan. Hyman died on December 12, 1922. He was buried in Beth Abraham Cemetery in West Roxbury. In 1939, a government issued veteran headstone was requested by his mother and placed on his grave.

Sources

Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com

1910, 1920 United States Federal census; Ancestry.com

Boston directories; various years; Ancestry.com

“Child Falls from Piazza,” Boston Globe, 10 August 1910: 8; Newspapers.com

Death Record, Barnet Berson, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com

A Brief History of Rainsford Island Boston. Printing Department, Rainsford: Suffolk School for Boys, 1915; Archive.org

Marriage Record, Death Record for Rose Berson Zetlin, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com

“Three Arrests in Stores,” Boston Globe, 14 August 1915: 14

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

“Grooming Themselves to Upset Bill’s Apple Cart,” Boston Globe, 19 July 1917: 6; Newspapers.com

Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database; FamilySearch.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

“New England Boys on Casualty List,” Boston Globe, 9 November 1918:5; Newspapers.com

“Casualties Reported by Gen. Pershing,” Official US Bulletin, November 12, 1918: 17; Books.Google.com

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Arthur Archie Bernstein

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Arthur Archie Bernstein

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Arthur Archie Bernstein was born on June 15, 1895, in New York City. His father, a tailor named Hyman Bernstein, was born in Russia. His mother, Annie Feldman, was from Austria. His parents both immigrated to the United States in the early 1890s. Their other children included: Lillie (also known as Lillian) born in 1896, Yetta (also known as Etta) in 1898, Nathan in 1901, Jennie in 1903, Minnie (also known as Martha) in 1905, Celia in 1908, and Dorothy in 1910.

The family moved to Boston by 1898, initially living at 37 Cooper Street in the North End. In 1901, they resided in the West End at 22 Willard Street (between today’s Leverett Circle and North Station); two years later they relocated to number 16. The Bernsteins continued to move around the West End, living at 15 Barton Street in 1905, and 27 Poplar Street in 1908. By 1910, they had moved to Dorchester and were living at 23 Normandy Street. In 1913, they resided at 38 Fayston Street in Roxbury. They were back in Dorchester at 74 Kingsdale Street by 1916. That year, Hyman appeared in the Boston directory as both a tailor and as a co-owner of Levin & Bernstein Liquors at 29 Howard Street. In 1917, the family lived at 41 Woolson Street in Mattapan.

Arthur began appearing in the Boston directory as a clerk in 1913. In June 1917, he reported on his World War I draft registration that he was a salesman with A. Hermon, 131 State Street in Boston. He claimed exemption from the draft on the grounds of having dependents.

On September 27, 1917, Herman entered the Army. He served as a Field Clerk, Adjutant General’s Department, in the personnel section at Northeastern Department Headquarters. In early 1919, he requested a discharge from the Army. On February 3, he was released from active duty and was discharged on March 2. A short notice in the newspaper reported that he planned to go into business in Boston.

In 1920, a widowed Annie and her children moved to Brooklyn. There, Arthur was a truck booker. His siblings were also working: Lillian as a bookstore saleslady, Etta as a stenographer in a brokerage, and Nathan as a telegraph operator. Etta died in December 1923.

In May 1924, Arthur obtained a license to marry Sallie H. Ladden. They had three children: Sylvia, Miriam, and Harvey. In 1930, they lived at 502 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Arthur was a “customers man” at a brokerage. By 1940, they had moved a few blocks to 85 Parkville Avenue and Arthur was earning $2,500 a year. He was the manager of the Federman & Filston office at 66 Court Street, Brooklyn. The next year the 66 Court Street office housed a branch of the brokerage Sartorius, Engel, & Co., and Arthur was the manager.

At this time nothing further is known about Arthur’s later life, including when he died.

Sources

1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Census: Ancestry.com

Boston Directories, various years: Ancestry.com

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration;Ancestry.com

United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940, database, FamilySearch.org

“Notes of the Service,” Boston Globe, 4 Feb 1919: 5; Newspapers.com

Death Notices, New York Times, 6 December 1923: 19: ProQuest.com

Index to Marriages, New York City Clerk’s Office, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, NY, Borough: Brooklyn: Ancestry.com

“Marriage Licenses,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 15 May 1924: 11; Newpapers.com

“Financial Notes,” New York Times, 23 June 1940: F3; ProQuest.com

“Brokerage Firms Announce Changes,” New York Times, 2 Jan 1941: 47; ProQuest.com

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Nathan Bensusan and Gershan Bensusan

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Nathan Bensusan and Gershan Bensusan

World War I Veterans

By Camille Arbogast

Brothers Nathan and Gershan Bensusan both served in the Quartermaster Corps during the First World War. Nathan was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, on December 10, 1890. Gershan, known as George, was born in Boston on September 11, 1896.

Their father, Moses Bensusan, known as Moss, was a cigar maker who had been born in England. Their mother, Sarah (Nickelsberg or Mickelsburg) was originally from Amsterdam, Holland. Moss and Sarah married in London in 1880. Their oldest child, Elizabeth, was born in England in 1881. According to family sources, they had two other children who were born in England, Louis in 1882 and Dinah in 1884, both of whom died at under a year old. Moss, Sarah, and Elizabeth immigrated to the United States in 1885.

After their arrival in the United States, the Bensusans initially lived in New York City, where Frances was born in 1886 and Kate in 1888. By 1890, they had moved to Saratoga Springs, where Nathan was born, as well as Rachel in 1891. Frances died in 1889 and Rachel before 1900, according to family sources. The Bensusans moved to Massachusetts by 1892, where their son, Koffman (known as John Benson), was born. He was followed by Flora (known as Florence) in 1894, George, and Rachel (known as Ruth) in 1899.

In 1892, the Bensusans lived at 53 Lamartine Street in Jamaica Plain. By 1894, they had moved a short distance to 25 Armstrong Street. At the time of George’s birth in 1896, their home was 26 Mansur Street in Roslindale. Three years later they were living at 1 Buckley Avenue in Jamaica Plain. They had moved to 343 Heath Street by 1901. That year, Sarah died of appendicitis and septicemia.

Nathan attended one year of high school, according to the 1940 census. He was possibly the Nathan Bensusan who graduated from the Jefferson School on Heath Street in 1907. George attended four years of high school, according to the 1940 census.

By 1910, the Bensusans had moved to Dorchester and were living at 59 Coleman Street. Nathan, 19, was working as a shipping clerk at a clothing store. Kate and Florence were milliners; John was a newsboy. The next year, they moved to 78 Clarkson Street and Kate married. In 1912, Moses wed Bessie (Simmons) Levi, who lived at 406 Blue Hill Avenue. It was the second marriage for both. Bessie, like Sarah, was originally from Holland. The Bensusans were living at 77Kingsdale Street in 1916. By June 1917, they had moved to 263 Talbot Avenue. Nathan was working as a commercial traveler. George was in the billing department of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston.

On December 13, 1917, Nathan enlisted in the Army at Fort Slocum in New Rochelle, New York. He initially served the Provisional General Repair Shop School Section at Camp Joseph E. Johnston in Jacksonville, Florida, the largest Quartermaster Corps training camp. On March 1, 1918, Nathan was assigned to Storekeepers Company 1, also based at Camp Joseph E. Johnston. He was transferred to Detachment #2, Quartermaster Corps, in Newport News, Virginia on March 25 and promoted to private first class on August 1. Nathan was discharged on February 25, 1919.

George also joined the Army at Fort Slocum, enlisting on May 9, 1918. He was initially assigned to the Quartermaster Corps Recruit Depot at Fort Slocum. On May 17, 1918, he too, was sent to Camp Joseph E. Johnston, where he served in Company 5, Receiving Camp. On June 7, he was transferred to Training Company #8, and then on June 30, to the Quartermaster Corps Detachment at Camp Cody in Deming, New Mexico. He was made a private first class on August 1; a corporal on August 15; a sergeant on December 1; and a sergeant first class on December 31. George was demobilized at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, and discharged on January 28, 1919.

While still in the Army, Nathan married Ida Brooks in Boston on May 19, 1918. Ida, a bookkeeper, had been born in Russia and immigrated to the United States around 1897. She lived at 15 Helen Street in Dorchester. Nathan and Ida were married by Rabbi Phineas Israeli. They had three children: Albert born in 1920, Howard in 1922, and Selma, also known as Sally, born in 1925.

Nathan was a stocks and bonds salesman. In 1929, the Boston directory listed him working for the LeBoeuf Fountain Pen Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. His license to sell stocks was revoked in June 1931, due to his involvement in the sale of fraudulent stocks of the company. He was the treasurer of Friendly Products in 1932 and 1933. In 1942, Nathan reported on his World War II draft registration that he was employed by F.L. Putnam & Co., a brokerage firm located at 77 Franklin Street in Boston.

Nathan and Ida moved to Brookline, Massachusetts in the 1920s, living at 156 Coolidge Street in 1924, 395 Harvard Street in 1926, and 19 Westbourne Terrace in 1928. In 1929, they moved to 125 Park Street in Brookline, where they lived for more than ten years. In 1930, Ida’s father, Isaac, a watchmaker with his own shop, was living with them. They also employed a live-in maid, Catherine Wallace, a 28-year-old recent immigrant from Scotland. Around 1942, they moved to 132a Coolidge Street, also in Brookline. In the early 1950s, they relocated to Quincy, Massachusetts, initially living at 31 Alrick Road. At the end of Nathan’s life, they lived at 243 Marlboro Street in Quincy.

Nathan died on his 71st birthday, December 10, 1961. A service was held for him at Solomon Chapel at 420 Harvard Street in Brookline and a memorial observance was held at his late residence. He was buried in the Roxbury Mutual Cemetery in Woburn, Massachusetts. When Ida died in 1966, she was buried beside him.

George returned to 263 Talbot Avenue after the First World War and worked as a receiving clerk at a wholesale drug company. On July 25, 1920, George married Marian Edelstein. Marian had been born in Boston and lived at 6 Lincoln Road (today Landor Road) in Dorchester. They were married by Rabbi Hyman Glaser of Shari Zidek, 18 Intervale Street. In 1922, George and Marian were living at her family’s home on Lincoln Road and he was working as a paper hanger. Their daughter, Shirley, was born in 1923, followed by Phyllis in 1925. Marian died in 1925.

In March 1927, George filed for bankruptcy, owing $1,000. That year, he married Henrietta Goldman in Boston. In 1929, they lived at 38 Park Vale Avenue in Allston. The next year they moved to 217 Warren Street in Brighton. They moved again in 1932, to 100 Kilsyth Road, where they lived for at least five years. By 1940, they had moved to 14 James Street in Brookline, George’s home for the rest of his life.

After his bankruptcy, George went to work for the Sears, Roebuck and Company department store chain. He began as a salesman in 1929 at the newly opened Boston store at 201 Brookline Avenue. By 1932, he was a division head, and by 1934, the assistant manager of the Cambridge store. He earned $3,180 in 1940. That year, he was elected vice-president of the Ten Year club, comprised of retail employees who had worked for Sears for ten years or longer. George was manager of the Sears store on Moody Street in Waltham, Massachusetts by 1945. Three years later, he was kidnapped on his way home from work one evening. He was driving through Newton, Massachusetts, “when another machine forced him to the curb. Two men jumped out of the other car, rapped on Bensusan’s windows with revolvers and ordered him to ‘open up.’” One of the men told him “‘We know who you are. We know you have the keys to the store and you know the combinationof the safe. Drive back to the store, open it up, don’t try to attract attention of any cops, and nothing will happen to you.’” Back in Waltham, “they menaced” George “with revolvers,” forcing him “to open the safe and surrender $2500 in Christmas shopping receipts.” After the heist, his kidnappers deposited him “at a lonely area near Albemarle Golf Club, in Newtonville.” George “managed to flag down a passing car and the driver took him to the police station.” The Boston Globe reported that “the kidnapping and holdup was similar in detail to at least two others in the last year.” By 1951, George had left Sears and was working at the House of Television store in Kenmore Square.

George died in Miami Dade County, Florida, on January 25, 1969. A service was held for him at Solomon Chapel and he was buried in the Sharon Memorial Park, in Sharon, Massachusetts.

Sources

Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.

Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007; Ancestry.com,

Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com

Family Trees; Ancestry.com

Boston Directories, various years; Ancestry.com

1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com

Documents of the School Committee of the City of Boston for the year 1907. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1907: 57; Archive.org

Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957. Microfilm Publication, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

A War-Time Record: An Illustrated Account of the War-Time Activities of The Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston During the Great War 1914-1918. Privately Printed for The Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston, 1922: 65; Archive.org

“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database, citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, MA, United States, certificate number 2608, page 201, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

“Two Stock Selling Licenses Revoked,” Boston Globe, 19 June 1931: 21; Newspapers.com

Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 11 December 1961: 39; Newspapers.com

 Nathan Bensusan, FindAGrave.com

“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database, citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, MA, United States,, certificate number 4586, page 37, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Deaths [1916–1970]. Facsimile edition. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com

“Business Troubles,” Boston Globe, 8 March 1927: 22; Newspapers.com

Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages [1916–1970]. Facsimile edition. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com

“Trio Kidnaps, Robs Waltham Store Manager,” Boston Globe, 17 December 1948: 1; Newspapers.com

“House of Television Opens New Store at Kenmore Sq.,” Boston Globe, 11 April 1951: 37; Newspapers.com

“Late Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 27 Jan 1969: 28; Newspapers.com

State of Florida. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998. Florida: Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, 1998; Ancestry.com

George Bensusan; FindAGrave.com

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Walter Ernest Bauer

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Walter Ernest Bauer

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Walter Ernest Bauer was born on July 31, 1888, at 84 Albion Street in Roxbury. His father, John Edward Bauer, was a Bostonian of German ancestry. His mother, Emily (Trochsler), immigrated to the United States from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France in the 1860s. John and Emily were married in Boston in March 1882. They had two other children: Emily Louise born in 1884 and Theodore Edward in 1886.

At the time of Walter’s birth, his father was a bartender. In the 1890s, John was a clerk. He worked in a billiards room at 32 Boylston Street in 1900. By 1905, he was a manager at 110A Sudbury Street, a position he held into 1909. After a 13-week period of unemployment, in 1910 he was employed again, this time as a hotel waiter, which was his career for the rest of his life.

By 1900, the family had moved to Dorchester and resided at 9 Corona Street. Walter attended the Christopher Gibson School, graduating in 1904. In 1907, he graduated from the Mechanic Arts High School in Back Bay. By 1910, Walter and his family were living at 15 Stratton Street and he was a typewriter mechanic. The next year, he was working as a chauffeur. On his World War I draft registration in June 1917, he reported he was a self-employed chauffeur mechanic, claiming exemption from the draft due to physical disability.

On February 28, 1918, Walter enrolled in the United States Naval Reserve Forces, serving as an Aviation Machinists Mate, First Class. He was placed on inactive service on January 28, 1919. In 1920, he was employed as a riveter in a shipyard. He was discharged from the Navy on September 30, 1921.

While Walter was in the Navy, his brother Edward died. Edward had married in 1911 and moved to Winthrop, working as a manager at a boot and shoe company. In late September 1918, he caught influenza. It was the height of the influenza epidemic in Massachusetts; the day after Edward fell ill, the governor issued a proclamation, advocating that schools and public gathering places be closed in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease. After a 9-day illness, Edward died of influenza-related pneumonia, one of thousands to die of the illness in the Commonwealth. In Boston alone there were 4,794 casualties in 1918.

In 1920, Walter, his parents, and his sister Emily, who was a stenographer and bookkeeper, lived at 27 Bowdoin Street. His father died suddenly in 1921. In 1930, Walter, his mother, and sister were living at 50 Bowdoin Street, which they rented for $50 a month. By this time, Walter was a driver and mechanic in the post office motor vehicle service, working out of a building on A Street in South Boston. His mother died in 1937. In 1940, Walter and his sister were still living at 50 Bowdoin Street. Walter was making $2,000 a year working for the post office. Emily, now an office manager, also earned $2,000 a year. They both reported on the 1940 census that they also had income from other sources. In January 1949, Walter retired from the post office.

By 1960, Walter and Emily lived at 174A Brush Hill Road in Milton, their home for the rest of their lives.  Emily died in May 1960. Walter died in Milton on September 10, 1962, and was buried beside his family members in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain. He was a member of the William L. Harris Post 196 of the American Legion.

Sources

Birth Record & Marriage Record, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com

Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of Boston, 1904. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1904: 191; Archive.org

“210 Receive Diplomas,” Boston Globe, 22 June 1907: 11; Newspapers.com

“Child Struck Down by Auto,” Boston Globe, 17 August 1911: 13; Newspapers.com

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

U.S. Veteran Master Index, NARA microfilm publication, St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985; FamilySearch.org

“Boston, Massachusetts,” Influenza Encyclopedia. University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine. <https://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-boston.html>

Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

“Nine Retirements Announced Here in Postal Service,” Boston Globe, 30 Jan 1949: 20; Newspapers.com

Morning Death Notices, Boston Globe, 5 May 1960: 20; Newspapers.com

Death Notices, Boston Globe, 11 Sept 1962: 28; Newspapers.com

“Walter Ernest Bauer,” FindAGrave.com

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Richard Balukjian

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Richard Balukjian

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Richard Balukjian, known as Dick, was born to Hagop and Anna (Panosian) Balukjian in Amasia, Shirak, Armenia, on February 25, 1893. In 1910, Dick immigrated to the United States, sailing from Patras, Greece, on the White Star Line’s RMS Oceanic on August 9. Sixteen days later he arrived in New York, then immediately made his way to Boston. He may have had family in the area; his service record has a note “Acoby (Aunt),” perhaps referring to his local next of kin. By June 1917, Dick was living in Dorchester at 80 Shepton Street, working as a shoe lining cutter at the George E. Keith Shoe Company factory on A Street in South Boston. That July, Dick declared his intention to become an American citizen.

On July 20, 1918, Dick was inducted into the Army. He was one of 12,500 men drafted in Massachusetts that month. Sent to Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, he was assigned to the 151st Depot Brigade for training. On September 18, he was transferred to the Medical Detachment of the 73rd Infantry, 12th Division, serving as a private. On October 29, he became an American citizen. He was discharged on January 29, 1919, at Camp Devens.

In 1920, Dick lived in a lodging house at 36 Dwight Street in the South End. He had returned to his prior occupation of shoemaker. By the late 1920s, he was living about a block away at 26 Milford Street. He had changed careers as well, now driving for Tremont Taxi. By 1938, he had moved about a mile to 151 Worcester Street where he lived through at least 1946. He reported on his World War II draft registration in 1942 that he worked for himself, driving a taxi cab, working out of the garage at 112 Worcester Street. Dick retired in 1950. By 1953, he was living at 142 West Concord Street.

Dick married Lillian May (Braley) Goss on December 23, 1953, in Norfolk, Virginia. Lillian was born in Danbury, New Hampshire. She was a widow with five children, her first husband having died in 1945. Lillian lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She and Dick settled there after their marriage, living at 23 Myrtle Avenue.

The Balukjians ran a business in Alton Bay, New Hampshire, operating “Dick’s Cottages,” sometimes also called “Dick’s Housekeeping Cottages,” or “Dick’s Distinctive Cottages,” on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee near Pumpkin Point. Built in 1953, each of the six 32×24 foot cottages featured a flush toilet, shower, kitchenette, bedroom-living room, and screened porch. The lodgings could be rented overnight or by the week and housekeeping was provided. Across the highway from the cottages, Dick and Lillian had a two-bedroom summer residence with a “commanding view” of the lake.

In early 1956, Dick was diagnosed with lung cancer in his right lung and died later that year at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire, on July 26, 1956. A funeral was held for him at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth. Dick was buried in Franklin Cemetery, in Franklin, New Hampshire. He had been a member of the Armenian Church of Boston and the Independent Taxi Operators Association.

Sources

Virginia, Marriages, 1936-2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, VA; Ancestry.com

Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.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.

“Another Large Lot of Enthusiastic Young Men Start for Camp Devens for Training,” Boston Globe, 22 July 1918: 7; Newspapers.com

1920 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com

Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com

Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

“Auction Sales” [advertisement], Boston Globe, 8 September 1963: 146; Newspapers.com

“Summer Cottages and Houses” [advertisement]; Boston Globe, 14 June 1953: 106; Newspapers.com

Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

“New Hampshire Death Certificates, 1938-1959,” citing Manchester, Hillsborough, NH, New Hampshire Division of Vital Records, Concord, NH; FamilySearch.org

“Richard Balukjian,” Portsmouth Herald, 27 July 1956: 3; Newspapers.com

“Funeral Notices,” Portsmouth Herald, 27 July 1956: 3; Newspapers.com

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Thomas Bagley

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Thomas Bagley

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Thomas Bagley was born in County Mayo, Ireland, most likely in either Claremorris or Ballyhaunis, to Denis and Margaret (Moran) Bagley. His birthdate was alternately reported as April 24, 1889, April 10, 1891, December 5, 1891, or September 11 or 15, 1892. He had at least one sibling, Louise Julia, who immigrated to Boston around 1900 and worked as a waitress.

In March 1909, Louise and Thomas Bagley of Claremorris travelled from Queenstown, Ireland, to New York City on the Cunard Line’s RMS Campania. They were both headed for Boston, Thomas to the home of Rose Bagley at 55 Brookline Avenue, and Louise to Molly Bagley at 617 Freemount Street. Thomas was entering the United States for the first time, while Louise was returning, having entered previously.

In 1910, Thomas was living at 131 Park Row in New York City, working as a bartender. On October 7, he filed a Declaration of Intention to become a United States citizen. Two days later, he enlisted in the Army at Fort Slocum on Long Island in New Rochelle, New York, joining for three years. He was assigned to Company A of the 14th Infantry. He was discharged on October 8, 1913, at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington. His enlistment record noted he was “retained.”

When Thomas registered for the draft in 1917, he reported that he had previously served as a private in the United States infantry for three and three-quarters years before being dishonorably discharged. It is possible Thomas re-enlisted in 1913 and deserted shortly thereafter; a Thomas Bagley, private, of Company F of the 8th (or 18th) Infantry, was tried for desertion in 1914 and sentenced to 18 months in military prison in Leavenworth, Kansas.

In June 1917, Thomas was living and working in Ayer, Massachusetts, a resident of the Globe Hotel and a laborer for the Wilson and English Construction Company. He enlisted in the Army on July 27, 1917, at Fort Syracuse, located at the New York State Fairgrounds four miles outside of Syracuse, New York. When he enlisted, he reported Louise’s home at 49 Aspinwall Road in Dorchester as his residence, and named her as his next-of-kin. Thomas was assigned to Company F of the 49th Infantry, which had been organized in Syracuse in May 1917. On September 27, Thomas was made a corporal; on April 23, 1918, he was promoted to sergeant. He was transferred to Company H of the 49th Infantry on May 6. Four days later he was made a private. He was again promoted to corporal on June 18.

On July 26, 1918, Thomas sailed from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the S.S. Taormina, arriving in Brest, France, on August 7. Three days later, Thomas was again made a private. On September 12, he was transferred to Company D of the 110th Infantry, 55th Infantry Brigade, 28th Division, among the 416 replacements joining the 110th in mid-September. September 20 through 25, the 110st was in the Neuvilly sector. They participated in the Meuse-Argonne offensive September 26 through October 9. The following month, they served in the Thiaucourt sector, where they remained until the Armistice on November 11, 1918.  

After the cessation of hostilities, the 110th moved to Briey, where, as part of the Army of Occupation, they created inventories of and guarded “abandoned supplies, ammunition dumps, pioneer parks, camps, etc. of the German army in its operation on the Verdun front.”  In January 1919, the regiment moved to the Colombey-Les-Belle area, then in March to Le Mans, and finally in mid-April to Saint Nazaire. On April 29, 1919, Thomas sailed from Saint Nazaire on the USS Edgar F. Luckenbach. Arriving in Philadelphia on May 11, 1919, he was sent to Camp Dix near Trenton, New Jersey, for demobilization. He was discharged on May 23, 1919.

On July 21, 1919, Thomas re-enlisted in the Army. He remained in the military until March 15, 1935. At one time he was stationed in Marfa, Texas. He may be the Thomas Bagley who in 1930 was stationed at Fort Crook in Bellevue, Nebraska. In 1942, he was living in Los Angeles and reported on his World War II draft registration that he was unemployed. Not much is known about his life after his service during World War I.

Thomas died in Los Angeles on October 11, 1961. A Requiem Mass was celebrated for him at Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church in Long Beach, California. He was buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

Sources

Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.

“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database, citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), various roll numbers: FamilySearch.org

Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957. Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives, Washington, D.C; Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA; Ancestry.com


Naturalization Records. National Archives at New York City, New York, New York; “Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906,” Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC; Ancestry.com

Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

“Fort News,” Leavenworth Post (Leavenworth, KS), 11 Sept 1914: 5; Newspapers.com

Returns from U.S. Military Posts, 1800-1916; (National Archives Microfilm Publication), Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

Goldenberg, Richard. “Central New York mobilized troops at NYS Fairgrounds in WWI,” National Guard. 22 May 2018; nationalguard.mil

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

History of the 110th Infantry, (10th PA) of the 28th Division, USA, 1917-1919. PA: Association of the 110th Infantry, 1920; Archive.org

1930 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.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 California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics; Ancestry.com

“Death Notices,” Independent (Long Beach, CA) 14 October 1961: 19; Newspapers.com

National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator; Ancestry.com

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Marion Frances Backer

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Marion Frances Backer

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Marion Frances Backer was born on July 17, 1898, at 79 Salem Street in Boston’s North End. Her parents, Rebecca (Levin), known as Lena, and Gabriel Backer, had immigrated from Russia. Gabriel and Lena had five other children, the oldest three of whom were also born in Russia: Harry born in 1888; Grace in 1890; Ida in 1891; Jennie, known as Jeanette, in 1899; and Rose, known as Rosamond, in 1904. Gabriel came to the United States first, arriving in New York in 1893. Lena and their older children joined him in the late 1890s.

Gabriel was a tailor. In the early 20th century he was a co-owner of a men’s pants business, the Central Pants Manufacturing Company of 20 North Washington Street, Boston. This company went into bankruptcy in 1903. Later, he was a partner in Backer and Mann. In 1916, he went into business with his son, forming the clothing company Backer and Son. After the First World War, he was the president of the Central Clothing Company.

In 1900, the Backers lived at 15 Spring Street in Boston’s West End(located north of Massachusetts General Hospital, Spring Street and the surrounding neighborhood was replaced by a different streetscape during the West End urban renewal project.) In 1902, they were back in the North End at 37 North Margin Street. They moved to Cambridge around 1906, living first at 266 Western Avenue, then moving to 270 Western Avenue in 1910. Marion graduated from Cambridge’s Webster School in February 1912. In August 1913, the Cambridge Chronicle reported Marion played shortstop with the Cambridge Mill Pond girls’ baseball team. Around this time the family moved to Dorchester; Gabriel purchased 66-68 Fowler Street in 1912, appearing in the Boston directory at the address in 1913.

On August 28, 1918, Marion enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force at the Navy recruiting station in Boston. Marion served as a Yeoman (F), or a female Yeoman. Sometimes called “Yeomanettes” or “Yeowomen,” female Yeomen were officially enrolled in the Navy and received the same rate of pay as men. The Naval Act of 1916 included a line permitting the enlistment of “all persons who may be capable of performing special useful service for coastal defense.” The non-gendered language was interpreted to include women and they were recruited beginning in March 1917. By the end of the war there were over 11,000 female Yeomen. They most often served in clerical roles, though some held specialized positions. Marion was probably a stenographer, her occupation after the war.

She was assigned to duty on a receiving ship in Boston from September 25, 1918, until November 11, 1918. Marion probably lived at home during her service, as the Navy did not have female barracks and women had to make their own living arrangements. Placed on inactive duty on July 31, 1919, Marion was honorably discharged on December 31, 1919. Many female Yeomen were appointed to Civil Service jobs in their previous workplaces and this seems to have been the case for Marion, as she was still a stenographer with the Navy in 1920. She was possibly the Marion F. Backer who appeared in the Washington, D.C. directory in 1921, working as a stenographer.

In September 1924, Marion married Harry Nathan Stone in his hometown of Malden, Massachusetts. In the early 1920s, Harry had served in Battery A of the 1st Field Artillery. Their son, Earl Ross Stone, was born in Dorchester on March 21, 1925. It appears Marion and Harry’s relationship ended by 1930. That year, the census recorded Marion and Earl living at 41 Gleason Street, Dorchester, with her parents and sister Jeannette. It is possible that Marion’s husband was the Harry Nathan Stone of Evans Street, Dorchester, who in September 1930 was arrested for robbing an acquaintance. Harry died in 1958. For the rest of her life, Marion sometimes used her maiden name, and at others her married name.

In the early 1930s, Marion worked as a government stenographer at 8 Court Square in Boston. Around 1933, her parents moved to 46 Bicknell Street, while Marion and Earl remained at 41 Gleason Street. Marion was a clerk in the US Post Office building in Boston in the mid-1930s.After her father’s death in 1934, Marion lived at 42 Gleason Street for a year, then at 43 Gleason, before moving to Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1937. There she made her home at 353 Russett Road in South Brookline. In 1940, she began working for the U.S. Naturalization Service as an examiner. Her son, Earl, reported on his 1942 World War II draft registration that he and Marion were living at the Hotel Canterbury, 14 Charlesgate West, in the Fenway. Earl served in the Navy from 1943 through 1946. By 1956, Marion lived at 1470 Beacon Street in Brookline. She lived in Brookline for the rest of her life.

Marion appears to have enjoyed travel. At the end of 1935, she travelled to Hamilton, Bermuda on the Furness Bermuda Line’s Monarch of Bermuda. At the same time the next year, she took a cruise on the United Fruit Company’s ship, Veragua. In 1959, she visited Paris, traveling by plane.

Marion died in Boston on November 29, 1984. She was buried in Beth El Cemetery in West Roxbury, where a graveside funeral service was held for her. 

Sources

“Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915,” database, FamilySearch.org

Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; Ancestry.com

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

Boston, Cambridge, Washington DC directories, various years; Ancestry.com

“Copartnership Notices,” Boston Post, 15 Feb 1902: 11; Newspapers.com

1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com

“Grammar Graduated,” Boston Globe, 24 June 1912: 6; Newspapers.com

“Playgrounds Close Successful Season,” Cambridge Chronicle, 30 August 1913: 4; Cambridge Public Library

Real Estate Transactions, Boston Globe, 9 November 1912: 13; Newspapers.com

“Wants City Enjoined in Dorchester,” Boston Globe, 28 August 1934: 19; 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.

“World War I era Yeomen (F),” Naval History and Heritage Command,

<https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/people—special-topics/women-in-the-navy/world-war-i-era-yeomen–f–.htm>l

Patch, Nathaniel. “The Story of the Female Yeomen during the First World War,” Prologue Magazine, Fall 2006, Vol. 38, No. 3, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,

<https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/yeoman-f.html>

“Local Lines,” Boston Globe, 21 Sept 1924: 55; Newspapers.com

Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages, 1916–1970, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Ma; Ancestry.com.

“Robbed on Ride, Says Salesman,” Boston Globe, 23 October 1930: 18; Newspapers.com

“Harry N. Stone Bound Over On Robbery Charge,” Boston Globe, 24 October 1930: 29

Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957. of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

Selected Passenger and Crew Lists and Manifests. The National Archives at Washington, D.C., Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 – 2004; Ancestry.com

Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Ancestry.com

Deaths, Boston Globe, 1 December 1984: 17; Newspapers.com

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Clarence Fulton Ashe

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

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

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