Roger Ellis Bonney

Posted on February 1, 2021 by earltaylor

Roger Ellis Bonney

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Roger Ellis Bonney was born on December 24, 1894, in Dedham, Massachusetts. His father, Daniel Weston Bonney, was also born in Dedham. His mother, Eva (sometimes reported as Evangeline) Melissa (Wetmore), was born in Clifton, New Brunswick; her mother was originally from Massachusetts. Eva immigrated to the United States in 1868. She and Daniel married in March 1886, in Hyde Park. They had six other children: Daniel, Jr. born in 1889, Samuel in 1898, John in 1892, Eunice in 1897, Ruth in 1898, and Sarah in 1901.

Daniel changed careers frequently and appears to have suffered some financial troubles. In the 1880s, he served “several years” in Dedham as “Constable, Engineer, and Janitor of High School.” His occupation on his marriage record is machinist, his father’s profession. In 1893, he was appointed a Weigher of Hay and Coal in Dedham. That same year, he was listed in the Dedham directory as a clerk in C.S. Churchill’s coal office. He was a salesman at the time of Roger’s birth. In 1899, he worked in Norwood as a builder’s finisher while residing on Curve Street in Dedham. He was a farmer the next year, living with his family in a rented house in Duxbury; a farm laborer boarded with them. By 1904, the Bonneys were again living in Dedham, at 114 Oakdale Avenue, and Daniel was a clerk, the occupation he kept for the rest of his life. A year later, in 1905, he declared bankruptcy. He declared bankruptcy again in 1910; a business he started with son Daniel, D.W. Bonney & Son, real estate and insurance brokers, had failed.

In 1911, Roger graduated from Oakdale Grammar school. He may have become an apprentice optician around this time. In October 1911, it was reported that a Roger Bonney “has returned to his duties with the Boston Optical Co, after a serious operation.” As early as 1913, the Dedham directory listed his occupation as an optician. His employer in 1917, was the Federal Optical Company, of 387 Washington Street in Boston.

In 1916, the family moved to Dorchester, purchasing 18 Edson Street. The following year both Daniel, Sr. and Daniel, Jr. died. Sometime prior to the First World War, Roger served three and a half years in the state military.

During the First World War, Roger was a Sergeant in Battery C of the 71st Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps (CAC). The 71st Artillery was formed out of pre-existing Coast Defense companies in May 1918. Battery C was stationed at Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor.

On July 31, 1918, in a pouring rain, Roger sailed for Europe, leaving from Pier 3 in East Boston on the HMS Margha, one of nine hundred and ninety-two men on board. In France, they trained in Saint-Sylvan, near Angers, Maine et Loire. The 71st was still training when the Armistice was declared on November 11, 1918. Roger returned to the United States on the transport ship Manchuria, sailing from Saint-Nazaire, France, on February 11, 1919, and arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on February 22. At Camp Devens, he witnessed naturalization papers for a number of his subordinates who became American citizens.

After the war, Roger returned to 18 Edson Street and resumed work as an optician and lens grinder. His younger sisters were stenographers. Also living with the family was his sister-in-law, Hazel M. Bonney, his brother, Daniel’s widow, who was a telephone company clerk.

In the mid-1920s, Roger moved back to Dedham, living with his mother and youngest sister, Sarah, at 99 Munroe Street, which they owned. Lodging with them in 1930 was Frances Thumin, a public school teacher. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Roger occasionally appeared in Dedham news accounts. When a friend was seriously injured, Roger donated blood for a blood transfusion. He was a member of The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves. Founded in 1810 to combat horse thievery, by the 20th century it was a purely social organization. In 1933, he was appointed a Rider with the Society, a position open only to men weighing more than 200 pounds, so as to be heavy enough to sit on a horse thief and prevent his escape.

Roger was married in 1938 to Jean C. (Hird) Davidson, a widow whose first husband had died a year earlier. In 1940, they resided at 94 Monroe Street. Living with them was 18-year-old student Elizabeth Davidson, a sister-in-law according to the 1940 census. Still working as an optician and lens grinder, Roger was employed by the Pinkham & Smith Company of 286 Boylston Street in Boston.

Roger died on December 22, 1949. A funeral service was held for him at Saint John’s Methodist Church in Oakdale Square, Dedham. He was buried in Brookdale Cemetery in Dedham, in the Bonney family lot.

Sources

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

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

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

Boston and Dedham directories, various years; Ancestry.com

Marriage Record for Daniel Bonney & Eva Wetmore; Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

Historical Catalogue of the Dedham High School, Dedham MA: High School Association, 1889: 89; Books.Google.com

“Business Troubles,” Boston Globe, 6 May 1905: 9; Newspapers.com

“Business Troubles,” Boston Globe, 11 February 1910: 13; Newspapers.com

“Appendix of School Report,” 275th Annual Report of the Town Officers of Dedham, Massachusetts and the Town Records for the year Ending January 31, 1911. Dedham, MA: The Transcript Press, 1922; Books.Google.com

“Boston,” The Optical Journal and Review of Optometry, 12 October 1911: 881; Books.Google.com

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

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

Elder, Bowman, compiler. An Illustrated History of the 71st Artillery (CAC). Indianapolis: Press of Wm. S. Burford; HathiTrust.org

“Two Hurt as Auto Hits Wrecked Cars,” Boston Globe, 29 Aug 1927: 3; Newpspapers.com

“What, No Horses Stolen! Yet Society Keeps Vigil,” Boston Globe, 7 Dec 1933: 14; Newspapers.com

Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Marriages [1916–1970], Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics; Ancestry.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, 24 December 1949:12; Newspapers.com

Roger E. Bonney, FindAGrave.com

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Charles Stephen Bolster

Posted on February 1, 2021 by earltaylor

Charles Stephen Bolster

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Charles Stephen Bolster was born in Dorchester on December 20, 1894, the only child of Edith Rebecca (Lynch) and Percy Gardner Bolster. Percy was born in Roxbury; Edith in Boston. They were married in Dorchester on January 1, 1894. Charles was born at their home, at 217 Norfolk Street.

Percy was a lawyer, the family profession. His father, Solomon Alonzo Bolster, was a judge of the Roxbury District Court. His brother, Wilfred Bolster, served as chief justice of the Boston Municipal Court. Percy was also an entomologist, particularly interested in beetles; when he died, Charles donated his father’s collection to the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

Edith’s mother, Lavinia, and her sister, Caroline, lived with the family at 217 Norfolk Street. Caroline was a Smith College graduate who tutored in Dorchester, and was later a reader in Archaeology at Bryn Mawr. In 1900, the census recorded that the family employed a live-in servant, Ellen Sayers, a 21-year-old Irish immigrant. In 1910, the household included a boarder, Kate Harding; the census did not record any domestic help in the household at that time.

Charles was a student at the Roxbury Latin School, graduating in 1911. He then attended Harvard, graduating in the class of 1915. A member of the Harvard Pierian Sodality, one of the oldest musical organizations in the country, he served as conductor of the Pierian Orchestra. In 1915, he attended Harvard Law School, as had his father and grandfather. While at Harvard Law School, in 1916, he served in the Harvard Regiment (later called the Harvard Battalion) for a year: in the spring semester in Company G and in the fall semester in Company C.

Charles enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Forces and was provisionally appointed an Ensign on April 6,

1917. Just as Charles was not the first lawyer in his family, nor the first Harvard graduate, he was also not the first to serve in the United States military. His grandfather had enlisted in the Army in 1862, serving as a Second Lieutenant in the 23rd Regiment, Maine Volunteers, during the Civil War. An earlier ancestor, Isaac Bolster II, was a Captain in the Revolutionary Army.

On June 12, 1917, Charles was called to active duty. He was given command of the Patrol Boat USS Skink, a motorboat on patrol in the Boston area. On August 28, 1917, he was transferred to the Patrol Boat USS Malay, a steam yacht patrolling the east coast, on which he served first as Executive Officer, and then as Commanding Officer. He was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) on November 20, 1918. He served as Navigating Officer on the icebreaker USS Rogday beginning on December 27. For much of the time he was assigned to the USS Rogday it was inactive in Boston. In early June 1919, the ship traveled to Bermuda to aid a damaged cargo ship. The Rogday was decommissioned on June 18. On the 25, Charles was placed on inactive duty. He was honorably discharged on April 5, 1921, when his enrollment expired.

Charles graduated from Harvard Law School in 1920 and was admitted to the bar, joining the law firm Burnham, Bingham, Gould and Murphy (later Bingham, Dana, and Gould), specializing in admiralty law. He practiced before the United States Supreme Court at least twice: in 1944 and 1955. He was also very active with Unitarian organizations, most notably serving as the president of the Young People’s Religious Union.

In early October 1930, Charles married Elizabeth Winthrop Monroe at the First Church, Boston, on Marlborough Street. Originally from Lexington, Elizabeth was a graduate of Radcliffe College, class of 1920. They honeymooned in Canada and Newfoundland, then made their home at 57 Grozier Road in Cambridge. Five years later in his Harvard class report, Charles updated his classmates, “Since the 15th Reunion I have acquired a wife, a daughter, and a son in the order named. Not bad for an old man!” Charles and Elizabeth had three children: Sarah, Stephen, and Katherine.

In 1935, Charles purchased the home of the late dermatologist Dr. Townsend W. Thorndike, an 11-room house with a two-car garage at 75 Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge. The Bolsters also had a 15-acre summer property in Newagen, Maine, near Boothbay Harbor. “Give me an axe and a saw and old clothes and my woods up at Newagen and you have a happy man,” Charles was quoted in The Boston Globe.

In Cambridge, Charles was active in the Republican party, serving as the chairman of the Cambridge Republican City Committee. On a state level, he chaired the Resolutions Committee at the Massachusetts Republican Convention in 1950. He was a delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago, which nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1954, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress.

Governor Christian Herter appointed Charles to the Massachusetts Superior Court in 1956. For ten years he sat as a trial judge, hearing civil actions, labor disputes, murder and criminal cases. In 1966 he retired, as required by Massachusetts statute.

Charles and Elizabeth were involved with a number of charities; Charles served in official capacities for organizations including the New England Grenfell Association, the Boston Young Men’s Christian Union, and the Boston Port Seaman’s Aid Society. In Maine, he was a member of the Star Island Corporation. The Bolsters belonged to the Cambridge Historical Society and, in April 1962, Charles delivered a paper before the membership on the history of Cambridge court houses.

Elizabeth died on July 8, 1980, while they were in Newagen. At the end of his life, Charles lived in a retirement community in Lexington. He died there on June 17, 1993, at age 98. He was buried in Mount Auburn cemetery on Narcissus Path, beside his wife and alongside his parents.

Sources

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

1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 United States Census; Ancestry.com

Harvard College Class of 1915, Second Report, Cambridge, MA: Printed for the Class, Crimson Printing Co, 1919: 20; Archive.org

“Has 108th Anniversary,” Boston Globe, 7 March 1916: 7; Newspapers.com

“Regimental Announcements,” Harvard Crimson, 19 January 1916; TheCrimson.com

“Battalion Orders,” Harvard Crimson, 16 October 1916; TheCrimson.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.

Mead, Frederick S., ed. Harvard’s Military Record in the World War. Boston: Harvard Alumni Association, 1921: 100; Ancestry.com

“USS Skink (SP-605),” Wikipedia. 24 February 2018. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Skink_(SP-605)>

“USS Malay (SP-735),” Wikipedia. 24 February 2018.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Malay_(SP-735)>

“USS Rogday (ID-3583),” Wikipedia. 25 February 2018

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rogday_(ID-3583)>

“Bolster Heads Religious Union,” Boston Globe, 29 May 1926: 20; Newspapers.com

“Mr. & Mrs. C.S. Bolster to Live in Cambridge,” Cambridge Tribune (Cambridge MA), 11 October 1930: 1; Cambridge Public Library

Harvard Class of 1915. Cambridge: Printed for the Vicennial, 1935; HathiTrust.org

“Real Estate and Building News,” Cambridge Tribune, 19 July 1935: 7; Cambridge Public Library

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

Republican National Committee. Permanent Roll of Delegates and Alternate Delegates to Republican National Convention. Chicago, IL: July 7, 1952; 15; HathiTrust.org

“Judge Beaudreau Resigns, Herter Names Atty. Bolster,” Boston Globe, 1 December 1956: 1, 11; Newpspapers.com

Godsoe, William D. “Title ‘Judge’ Not New for Atty. Bolster,” Boston Globe, 2 December 1956: 30; Newspapers.com

Bolster, Charles S. “Cambridge Court Houses,” Cambridge Historical Society Proceedings for the years 1961-1963, Vol 39, Cambridge, MA, 1964: 55; Cambridge Historical Society

“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 1 October 1980: 24; Newspapers.com

Connolly, Richard. “Is State Law A Bar To Better Court Practice?” Boston Globe, 18 Feb 1970: 2; Newspapers.com

Deaths, Boston Globe, 19 June 1993: 22; Newspapers.com

Witherell, Warren F. “Charles S. Bolster 1894-1993,” Star Island Newsletter, Fall 1993, Vol XIX #1: 2; StarIsland.org

Charles S. Bolster, FindAGrave.com

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Peter Gregory Blessington

Posted on February 1, 2021 by earltaylor

Peter Gregory Blessington

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Peter Gregory Blessington was born on March 4, 1894, at 764 Washington Street in Dorchester. His mother, Anne E. (Lally) Blessington, immigrated from Ireland in the late 1870s and worked as a domestic prior to her marriage. His father, Peter Blessington, Sr., also immigrated from Ireland, arriving in New York in 1882. They were married in Boston in 1888 and had six other children: Charles born in 1891, Martin in 1892, Mary in 1895, Francis in 1897, James in 1899, and Anna in 1902.

Peter, Sr.was a laborer for the City of Boston. First hired in 1898, in 1900 he was working in the sewer department. He was still employed by the city in 1920; at that time he was making $4 a day.

The family frequently moved around Dorchester , living at 148 Whitfield Street in 1900, 270 Kilton Street (now Norwell Street) in 1902, and 49 Torrey Street in 1905. By 1912, they had moved a block away to 50 Norfolk Street, and then in 1916 they moved again, but only a short distance to 42 Wentworth Street. The Boston directory for that year lists Peter, Jr.working as a chauffeur.

In June 1917, the Blessingtons were living at 154 Norfolk Street. On his World War I draft registration,

Peter reported that he was a gasoline motor mechanic in business for himself at 741 Washington Street. On May 28, 1918, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve Force as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class. Later he was a Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class. In both positions he was probably maintaining engines and machinery. He was discharged on March 22, 1919.

After his discharge from the Navy, Peter again lived at 154 Norfolk Street with his family. In 1920, he was a chauffeur for a crockery company, possibly the Dorchester Crockery Company at 1366 Dorchester Avenue. His siblings were also still living in the family home: Charles was a plumber, Martin was a teamster for a coal company, Mary was a stenographer at a cotton house, Francis was a riveter at a shipyard, James was a salesman of woolen cloth, and Anna was a typist at a bonding company. Also part of the household was a seven-year-old boarder, Richard McCarthy. Peter remained at 154 Norfolk Street through at least 1924. During this time, directories list him as an instructor at the U.S. Veterans’ Bureau Vocational School at 1010 Commonwealth Avenue in Brookline.

In the mid-1920s, Peter moved to Michigan. In 1927, he was a defendant in a case brought by Colonial Filling Stations/Beacon Oil Company of Massachusetts, claiming he owed them $772.43. By 1930, Peter was living and working at United States Veterans Hospital 100 in Bedford, Michigan. He was the garage foreman.

 On August 18, 1930, he married Sybella Estella Timbers, known as Stella, in Wisconsin. Stella was a dietician with the Veterans Administration, originally from Menomonie, Wisconsin. She was a graduate of Menomonie’s Stout Institute (now the University of Wisconsin-Stout), and received a master’s degree from Western Michigan University. Peter and Stella had a daughter, Patricia.

By 1935, the Blessingtons lived at 111 East Michigan Avenue in Galesburg, Michigan, a house that they owned. Peter worked as a machinist at nearby Fort Custer. In 1940, he earned $2,010 a year. Stella continued working as a dietician at the Veterans Hospital in Battle Creek according to her obituary, though the 1940 census lists her as a homemaker.

Peter died on August 15, 1948, at his home in Galesburg, Michigan. After returning from a drive, he did not feel well so he went to bed, and his wife called the doctor. By the time the doctor arrived around 4:45 p.m., Peter had died of “a heart ailment.”  He was buried in Menomonie, Wisconsin. His wife Stella died in 1999.

Sources

Birth Record, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

Boston and directories, various years; Ancestry.com

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

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

Officials and Employees of the City of Boston [Document 73-1920], City of Boston: Printing Dept., 1920: 195; Books.Google.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;” FamilySearch.org

1925 Brookline Directory, Boston: W.A. Greenough Co., 1925: 38; collection of the Brookline Historical Society

“Marshall Notes,” Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI) 20 Oct 1927: 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

“Peter Blessington,” Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, MI), 16 Aug 1948: 10; Newspapers.com

“Stella T. Blessington,” Dunn County News (Menomonie, WI) 29 August 1999: 6; Newspapers.com

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Alice Ethel Bland

Posted on February 1, 2021 by earltaylor

Alice Ethel Bland

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Alice Ethel Bland was born on August 12, 1885, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, to Alice Lavinia (Shay) and Samuel Bland. Samuel, who was born in England, married Alice Lavinia around 1884. They also had a younger daughter, Ida, born in 1892. Samuel was a machinist; directories specify he was a rivet maker.

The Blands immigrated to the United States on October 4, 1897, taking the train from Sherbrooke to Boston. They settled in Quincy, Massachusetts. In 1900, they lived on Highland Avenue; a year later they moved to 25 North Central Avenue. Alice graduated from the Wollaston School in June 1902. She also attended two years of high school, according to the 1940 census. In February 1904, Alice Lavina died of phthisis pulmonalis (or tuberculosis) in Gardner, Massachusetts. Samuel and his daughters remained in Quincy, living at 5 Prospect Avenue in 1906. He remarried in September 1907, wedding Margaret Lycett, a millworker from Weymouth, Massachusetts. In 1910, Samuel, Margaret, Alice, and Ida were living at 245 Newbury Avenue. Alice was a leather worker and Ida was an order clerk at a leather firm. Ida married in June 1913. Around that time, Samuel, Margaret, and Alice moved to 107 East Squantum Street. Alice was hired as a nurse at a Massachusetts state infirmary on October 8, 1913. She graduated from the nursing program at the State Infirmary at Tewksbury, Massachusetts, on September 23, 1916.

Alice entered the Army Nurse Corps on December 21, 1917. When she enlisted, she gave as her address 20 Mount Vernon Street in Dorchester, the home of her cousin Agnes O’Court. Her stepmother, care of a post office box in Hanover, Connecticut, was her next of kin. Alice was initially sent to the Army Base Hospital at Fort McPherson, in Atlanta, Georgia.

On July 27, 1918, she moved to the Mobilization Station in New York. One of Alice’s colleagues later described the conditions there: “The nurses stood patiently in long lines in the super-heated corridors of the mobilization station, with hundreds of others, waiting for assignment.” Alice was assigned to Base Hospital 51, a unit formed in Boston. The nursing staff consisted of a “Chief Nurse, ninety-nine nurses, and one dietitian.” At their initial meeting, the nurses decided by vote to “be a democratic Unit, that in every subject affecting the good name or general comfort of Unit No. 51, the majority should rule, the Chief Nurse giving the final vote.” They had a song they sang to the tune of Yankee Doodle: “We’re a Boston Unit going out, To help beat the Kaiser; And when we’ve finished up our work, He’ll sadder be and wiser.”

Alice sailed with the nurses of Base Hospital 51 on the troopship France IV on August 25, 1918, arriving in Brest, France, on September 4. From there, the nurses traveled by train to Toul, the location of Base Hospital Number 51, which was part of the Justice Hospital Center. The hospital had a bed capacity of 2,000 and treated 12,505 patients.

The hospital was near to the action of the Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. So close were they, that the hospital often served as an evacuation hospital rather than a base hospital, receiving wounded directly from the battlefield. During the Saint Mihiel offensive “the flame of the barrage lighted the windows and buildings vibrated to the shock, as the great guns boomed.” As the battle continued, “lines of ambulances” delivering a “steady stream of our wounded” began arriving, continuing “for four terrible days and nights.” According to her obituary, Alice “was gassed while on duty with combat troops in France.” She may have been part of one of the two smaller groups of Base Hospital 51 nurses who were sent closer to the front during the offensives.

After the Armistice on November 11, 1918, the hospital cared for many ex-prisoners of war, as well as influenza patients. The chief nurse estimated that about ten percent of the nurses fell ill with influenza. Base Hospital 51 ceased operations on March 31, 1919. On May 20, Alice sailed from Brest, France, on the USS Mobile, with the Casual Nurse Detachment Number 25. She arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 30. Back in the United States she worked at a Demobilization Station until her discharge on July 19, 1919.

After the war, Alice continued to work as a nurse in general practice. She lived with her cousin Agnes, Agnes’s children, and another cousin at 20 Mount Vernon Street. While Alice was overseas, in April 1918, her sister Ida had died of bronchial pneumonia. Ida’s obituary suggested that their father, Samuel, had also died by 1918. On March 27, 1920, Alice became an American citizen. Her petition for citizenship was witnessed by two fellow nurses, Elizabeth E. Mahon of Brookline, and Bessie A. Wadleigh of Jamaica Plain.

By the late 1920s, Alice had moved to California, living in Los Angeles at 837 Westlake Avenue. She may have moved to California for her health, as her obituary stated that due to having been gassed during the war she “suffered ill effects from the poison the remainder of her life.” In April 1930, she was sharing an apartment at 1736 West 24th Street, Los Angeles, with another nurse, Lillian C. McAdams, a widowed Canadian. Lillian was a trained nurse working in a hospital. According to the 1930 census, Alice, too, was a trained nurse but she was currently unemployed.

On November 25, 1930, Alice married Ralph Choate Shepherd in Los Angeles. Born in 1882, Ralph was originally from Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he had run his family’s market, J.C. Shepherd Meat and Grocery on Main Street. Previously married, he had three children. His middle child died in 1915 at age seven. He and his first wife moved to California in 1927 where he managed a grocery store.

In 1932, Alice, Ralph, and Ralph’s adult son Joseph lived at 930 North Haywood Avenue. By 1938, they had moved to 12206 Cantura Avenue in Studio City, North Hollywood, Alice’s home for the rest of her life. Alice was active with the Los Angeles unit of the Women’s Overseas Service League; of which she was the service chairman. The organization was dedicated to “philanthropic and patriotic activities,” which included purchasing war bonds, working with the Red Cross, USO and “kindred organizations,” as well the “raising and disbursing of funds for disabled ex-service women.”

Alice died on March 29, 1953, at the Veterans Administration Hospital on Wilshire and Sawtelle Boulevards in West Los Angeles. A funeral service was held for her at the Sawtelle Veterans Chapel. She was buried in the Veterans Administration cemetery in Los Angeles, now known as Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Sources

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

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

Quincy, Massachusetts, directories, various years; Ancestry.com

City Document NO. 14: Inaugural Address of the Mayor City Government of 1903 Together with the Annual Reports of the Officers of the City of Quincy, Massachusetts, For The Year 1902. Quincy: Advertiser Steam Job Print, 1903 :102; Archive.org

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

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

List of the Officials and Employees of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1914-1915. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co, State Printers, 1915: 195; Books.Google.com

Sixty-Third Annual Report of the Trustees of the State Infirmary at Tewksbury. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co, 1917: 17; Ancestry.com

Coleman, Laura E. “Experiences of the Justice Hospital Group, Base Hospital 51.” The American Journal of Nursing. Vol 19, No 12 (Sept 1919), Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: 931-939; Jstor.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

Ford. Joseph H. “Base Hospitals,” The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War, Volume 2: Administration American Expeditionary Forces. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1921-1929; Archive.org

“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database, citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), various roll numbers; FamilySearch.org

“California, County Marriages, 1850-1952,” database; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, CA; FamilySearch.org

“New Englanders Move Here,” The Van Nuys News, 10 May 1927: 4; Newspapers.com

State of California. Great Register of Voters. Sacramento, CA: California State Library; Ancestry.com

Los Angeles Directories, various years; Ancestry.com

“W.O.S.L. Holds Supper Meeting Saturday, June 6,” San Fernando Valley Times, 9 June 1942: 8; Newspapers.com

United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147. National Archives and Records Administration.

“California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994,” database; FamilySearch.org 

“Last Rites Held for Mrs. Shepherd,” Valley Times (North Hollywood, CA), 2 April 1953: 10; Newspapers.com

National Cemetery Administration. Nationwide Gravesite Locator; Ancestry.com

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Frank Lemuel Black

Posted on February 1, 2021 by earltaylor

Frank Lemuel Black

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Francis Lemuel Black, known as Frank, was born on May 30, 1892, in Roxbury. A twin, he was born just before his brother Robert, Jr.. Their parents, Robert LeBaron and Cecelia V. (McManaman), were immigrants from New Brunswick, Canada, who married in Boston in 1889. Prior to her marriage, Cecelia was a tailoress. Robert was a painter and a piano finisher before becoming an electric railway motorman. Robert and Cecelia had four other children: Cecelia L. born in 1889, William in 1896, Minnie in 1895, and Vincent in 1899.

At the time of Frank’s birth, the Blacks lived at 14 Adams Street in Roxbury. By 1895, they were living in Dorchester, residing at 5 Ballou Avenue. Five years later, they had moved a short distance to 90 Chapman Avenue (today’s Callender Street). They lived at 150 Canterbury Street (today’s American Legion Highway) at the edge of Franklin Park by 1910.

Frank attended three years of high school, then apprenticed as a machinist. By 1917, he was employed as a machinist toolmaker by the Nelson Blower & Furnace Company of 11 Elkins Street in South Boston. At that time, he was living with his family at 3 Oak Terrace (today’s Oakhurst Street).

At this point, little is known about Frank’s First World War service. On his draft registration in June, 1917, he gave his name as Frank Laurence Black and stated that he had already served four years as a Machinist in the Navy in Boston. It is likely he served in a similar capacity during the war. His obituary reported that he was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War I.

In 1920, Frank was living at 3 Oak Terrace and working as a toolmaker at a tool company. On May 29, 1924, he married secretary Irene Fawcett at Trinity Church in Haverhill. Irene was born in Everett to English immigrant parents. John Fawcett, her father, had been a harbor pilot, guiding ocean liners through Boston harbor. At the time of his death in 1908, he was “the owner of considerable real estate in Dorchester.”

In 1930, Frank and Irene were living with her mother, Marion Fawcett, in Brighton at 1657 Commonwealth Avenue, in an apartment they rented for $50 a month. By 1935, they lived in Newton. Two years later, Frank purchased 131 Bailey Road in Somerville, a home worth $3,600 in 1940.  Frank and Irene had moved to 93 Oxford Street in Arlington by 1942. In the early 1940s, in Somerville and Arlington, Irene’s brother Joseph Fawcett lived with them.

At the time of his marriage, Frank was a mechanical engineer. This was the occupation reported for him on the 1930 census. In 1940, he was a dye maker. Two years later, he worked for switch manufacturer Ucinite of 459 Watertown Street in Newtonville. At the end of his career he was a machinist at United Car Fastener.

In the late 1940s or 1950s, Frank and Irene moved to Needham. Around 1962, they relocated to Florida, living at 2107 Bayshore Gardens Parkway in Bradenton. There, Frank was a member of the Bayshore American Legion Post 217 and Irene belonged to the English Order of Odd Ladies of Massachusetts. Irene passed away in October 1966. Frank died on August 18, 1971, in Bradenton, Florida.

Sources

Birth Record, Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook); Ancestry.com

Robert L. Black Naturalization Papers, National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA; 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

Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915; FamilySearch.org

“Mourn With Family,” Boston Globe, 8 July 1908: 11; Newspapers.com

“Deeds,” Boston Globe, 21 May 1937: 39; Newspapers.com

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

“Deaths in Tampa, Other Cities on the West Coast,” Tampa Tribune, 26 Oct 1966: 13; Newspapers.com

Obituaries, Tampa Bay Times (St Petersburg, FL) 20 August 1971: 27; Newspapers.com

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Dorchester Illustration no. 2496 Grove Hall Universalist Society Church and Parish House

Posted on February 1, 2021 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration no. 2496  Grove Hall Universalist Society Church and Parish House

The illustration comes from the April 14, 1894, issue of American Architect and Building News.

The drawing of the proposed church and parish house does not exactly match the church as it exists today.  Was the building constructed as in the drawing and then altered?  Or was it built as it exists today?

The Holy Tabernacle Church is located at 70 Washington Street and has a legal address on the side street of 14 Bishop Joe L. Smith Way.  This section of Washington Street is between Columbia Road and Blue Hill Avenue.

The society that built the church was the Grove Hall Universalist Church, following the design of Francis R. Allen.

The following is from Parish Register of the Grove Hall Universalist Church, Dorchester, Massachusetts and Favorite Recipes.  1913.

“The Grove Hall Universalist Church came into existence March 3, 1878, being an off-shoot of the Roxbury Universalist Church, and in its inception received the cordial support of that parish.  On January 9, 1878, a meeting was held at the residence of Mr. Franklin S. Williams for the purpose of organizing a church.

Starting as a mission church, holding its first or preliminary meetings at the residents of various interested persons, it soon wanted a centrally located temporary home, and began holding its meetings in Wetherell Hall, at or near the junction of Washington Street and Blue Hill Avenue.  That served its needs for a time, but the desire for a home having more the churchly appearance prevailed, and the church on the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Schuyler Street was built.

This amply served the purposes of the society until about 1892, when the subject of a new larger church was agitated, resulting in the building of the present edified.  At about this same time it also ceased to be a mission church, and since then has been able to maintain services without calling upon the state Convention for aid.

The present edifice was completed in 1895, and cost, furnished, about $45,000: $25,000 of this was provided for by a mortgage; the balance was raised by canvassing our parishioners.  To our good member, kind and generous neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Ivers W. Adams, we are largely indebted, both for their liberality in subscribing for the building and in their continued liberality in contributing to the wiping out of the mortgage debt, which has lately been accomplished and made possible largely through their instrumentality.”

Ivers Adams, mentioned above, is described in George V. Tuohey (1897). A History of the Boston Baseball Club – A concise and accurate history of Base Ball from its inception. Boston, MA: M.F. Quinn & Co., 1897,  p. 64.  His house faced Columbia Road at the corner of Washington Street.

Ivers Whitney Adams (born in Ashburnham, Massachusetts in 1838) was an American baseball executive and businessperson, and founder of the first professional baseball team in Boston, the Boston Red Stockings.

Adams was the Founder, Organizer and First President of the Boston Base Ball Association, the legal corporation that operated the baseball club initially known as the Boston Red Stockings. The club was Boston’s first professional baseball team, continues to operate today as the Atlanta Braves, and is the longest continuously operating team in Major League Baseball. On January 20, 1871, the Boston Base Ball Association was legally organized by Adams with $15,000 raised from investors and the commitment of Harry Wright, manager of America’s first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, to manage the new Boston club. ”

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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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