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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Nicola Albascente

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Nicola Albascente

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Nicola Albascente, also known as Nick or Nicholas, was born in Manhattan, New York, to Maria (Bella) and Pietro Albascente. On official documents, he reported his birthdate as August 24, 1893, though his birth record stated he was born on August 26. He had at least two siblings: Catherine born in 1879, and John in 1881. His older siblings were born in Armento, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in 1885. Members of the family used differing spellings of their last name, including Albacento and Albascenti.

Not much is known about Nick’s childhood. He attended school through the first grade, according to the 1940 census. In 1911, a Nicolo Albascente sailed on the White Star Line’s S.S. Romanic, embarking at Naples, Italy, and arriving in Boston on November 22. By the early 1900s, Nick’s brother and sister were living in Boston’s South End. John lived at 29 Seneca Street; Catherine, her husband, Joseph Angerami, and their children lived nearby on Oswego Street. (Today the neighborhood is the location of the Ink Block development.) In 1912, Catherine died of valvular heart disease, which she had suffered from for four years.

In June 1917, Nick was living at 5 Oneida Street with Catherine’s daughter Antonetta, known as Nellie, and her husband Joseph Ierardi. Nick was a harness maker with James Forgie, 17 Merchants Row, Boston. When he was inducted into the Army a little over a year later, on September 6, 1918, Nick gave his address as 15-A Norwell Street, Dorchester, and named Joseph Ierardi as his next of kin.

Nick initially served as private in the 105th Company, 26th Battalion, at Camp Syracuse in New York. On October 21, he was transferred to the Salvage Company, Quartermaster Corps, at Camp Devens, in Ayer, Massachusetts. He remained at Camp Devens for the remainder of his service. According to his entry in the Veterans Administration Master Index, Nick served as a cook in the 2nd Detachment Demobilization Group. He was discharged on July 12, 1919.

Nick returned to the South End and in 1920 was living with the Ierardis at 85 Seneca Street. He worked as a boot black at a street stand. By 1922, Nick and the Ierardis had moved a short distance to an apartment on the third floor of 17 Oswego Street, where Nick ran a variety store in the basement of the building. Two years later he had a new job, employed as a “chief engineer” in the Publicity Building at 44 Bromfield Street in Boston. He remained at this occupation for the next 15 years. On the 1930 census his profession was described as “janitor, apartment.” Nick moved a few blocks to 11 Waltham Street in 1925. He relocated to Dorchester in 1927, residing at 257 Washington Street, where he lived with another branch of the Ierardi family. He moved to 267 Washington Street in 1933.

In the early 1940s, Nick ran a grocery at 251 Washington Street and lived at number 255 with his relatives, the Morottos. In 1942, he was working at the Watertown Arsenal where he was employed through 1945. In the 1950s, he was listed in the Boston directory as a laborer with the U.S. Public Building Service and General Services Administration. He had retired by the mid-1960s. In the 1970s, he moved to Dedham, Massachusetts.

Nick died on April 29, 1977. His funeral was held at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Dedham and he was buried in Saint Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury.

Sources

“New York, New York City Births, 1846-1909,” database, citing Manhattan, New York Municipal Archives, New York; Family Search.org

“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 14 February 1967: 32; Newspapers.com

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

Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists, 1899-1940. Microfilm, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 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.

Veterans Administration Master Index, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 – 2007. National Archives at St. Louis, MI; Ancestry.com

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

“Street Gas Perils Score in Apartment,” Boston Globe, 25 December 1922: 4

Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com

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

“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 30 April 1977: 25; Ancestry.com

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Harry Joseph Akins and Charles Jeremiah Akins

Posted on January 24, 2021 by earltaylor

Harry Joseph Akins and Charles Jeremiah Akins

World War I  Veterans

By Camille Arbogast

During the First World War, brothers Harry Joseph and Charles Jeremiah Akins both served overseas as part of the 26th Division. They were born in Waterbury, Connecticut, to John and Mary (Sullivan) Akins; Harry on April 26, 1895, and Charles on September 26, 1896. Their siblings included Francis Xavier born in 1900, Helen in 1910, Benedict Gregory in 1914, and Margaret Mary in 1919, as well as four siblings who died before 1910.

The Akins were living in Jersey City, New Jersey, by 1910. John, a New Jersey native, worked as a japaner at a button works. Harry, while still attending school, was an errand boy at a grocery store. Around 1913, the family moved to Dorchester, where they lived at 80 Wrentham Street in the Ashmont neighborhood. The 1916 Boston directory listed John as a button maker and Harry as a steamfitter.

During the Mexican Expedition of 1916, Harry and Charles enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard. Harry joined up at the guard’s summer training ground in Framingham, Massachusetts, on June 27. He served with Troop D, 1st Separate Squad Cavalry, also known as the Roxbury Horse Guards. Charles had some difficulty initially being accepted for service. An article in the Boston Globe reported, “since the Militia was first mobilized at the Framingham camp two weeks ago the boy has persistently sought to have his name set down on the rolls of the regiment. He accompanied the [Massachusetts] 9th [Regiment] to its camp and stayed there patiently, petitioning the authorities daily to be taken in.” On July4, he visited “the recruiting station in the 9th Regiment Armory on East Newton st,” where he put “forth his need for a pair of shoes and his desire to shoot Mexicans as his reasons for desiring to enlist. Akins … bore prima facie evidence that he was sadly in need of a new outfit. In the blank on the enrollment petition reserved for ‘occupation’ Akins wrote ‘unemployed.’ The bellicose enthusiasm and physical strength of the lad counted much in his favor, however, and if he passes the doctor’s requirements he will be sent to Framingham Wednesday morning.” According to his service record, Charles entered the Massachusetts National Guard on July 8. It seems he added a year to his age in order to enlist, as his military records use a birth year of 1895. Both Troop D and the 9th Massachusetts served along the Mexican border.

Guardsmen were called for service again on March 20, 1917, shortly before President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Charles reported for duty on March 25, 1917, and mustered as a private in Company C of the 9th Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard on April 4, 1917. War was declared two days later. Harry reported for duty on July 25, 1917, and on July 31 mustered as a private in Troop D, 1st Squad Cavalry, Massachusetts National Guard. According to an article in the Boston Globe, “When the call came to go to France, Harry told his mother he was going, saying if he did not get into action at once he would never wear the uniform again.” In August 1917, the Massachusetts National Guard units were reorganized; the 9th Massachusetts became the 101st Infantry, and Troop D of the 1st Squad Cavalry became Company D of the 102nd Machine Gun Battalion. Both units were part of the 51st Infantry Brigade of the 26th Division, or Yankee Division.

On September 7, 1917, Charles sailed for France with Company C on the USAT Tenadores, leaving from Hoboken, New Jersey. Harry sailed from Hoboken on the USACT Antilles on September 22. After further training at Neufchateau, France, the 26th Division went to the front in early February 1918, in the Chemin des Dames defensive sector. In early April, they moved to the Toul-Boucq defensive sector.

On April 20, Harry was at Seicheprey, on the Saint Mihiel salient, when the Germans attacked. According to The History of the Yankee Division, they were “German ‘Sturntruppen,’ or Hindenberg’s Traveling Circus … These were a body of picked shock troops, who traveled from place to place, along the German line and delivered raids at regular intervals. After a heavy bombardment they came over, about 400 in number, with about 2,500 Germans following.” General Clarence Ransom Edwards described the attack, “The Germans swept down into the middle of the town. They overran our machine guns … Three of our machine-gun crews were found sitting on their machines with their heads down. Only one man got away alive.” Harry was killed in action that day.

Mary Akins shared some of her feelings about her son’s death when, in the spring of 1919, a parade was held in Boston to honor the 26th Division. There was discussion of including caskets in the parade, and in March 1919 Mary wrote to voice her objection. “Every man and woman, boy or girl, that has loved ones sleeping in France will miss them from the parade and our hearts are broken going out to see this parade and we don’t want to see those coffins. When the coffins come over with the dead heroes, we then will watch and march to their last burying place in the United States … I have my dearly beloved boy over there, but his spirit will be with us on the day of the big parade. I watched him march away from Framingham that beautiful evening, Sept 21, 1917, never to return again, and I think my heart went with him as he told me, ‘Mother, don’t cry now.’ I told him I wouldn’t and didn’t, for his sake. I have one real boy with Co C, 101st Infantry— God bless him! and send him and all our boys safe home to their own home town. A proud mother but with a heart wound that will never heal.”

On March 30, 1922, Harry’s body was returned to the United States on the USAT Cambrai. His remains were initially delivered to his parents, who then lived at 18 Shepard Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On April 15, his body was moved to the Council Chamber in Cambridge City Hall where, along with the bodies of two other Cambridge soldiers, it lay in state with an honor guard provided by the Cambridge Post of the American Legion. The next day, Harry’s body was carried to Saint Peter’s Catholic Church in Cambridge, where a service was held in his honor. The caskets of the three soldiers were then “borne on gun caissons” and escorted by a cavalry troop and men from the Cambridge and Old Dorchester posts of the American Legion to the soldier’s lot in the Cambridge Cemetery for burial. As his parents had moved to Cambridge since his death, Harry was honored in that city, but Dorchester also considered him a local hero, and it was noted Harry “is the first ‘gold star’ man of St Mark’s Parish.” A service was held for him at Saint Mark’s on April 16, as well.

Charles remained with the 101st Infantry through the end of the war. On July 10, 1918, the 101st entered the Pas Fini defensive sector at Chateau Thierry. They were part of the Champagne Marne defensive July 15 through 18, then the Aisne-Marne offensive July 18 through 25. September 12 through 16, the 101st fought in the Saint Mihiel offensive. During that time, Charles was made a mechanic. They were stationed in the Troyon defensive sector September 17 through October 8, and participated in the Meuse Argonne offensive October 18 until the Armistice on November 11. On December 1, 1918, Charles was again made a private.

Charles did not participate in the spring 1919 parade in Boston for the 26th Division. Though he appeared on the transport list of USS America along with the rest of Company C, 101st Infantry, he did not sail with them on March 28, 1919. His name was scratched out on the passenger list; he had been “transferred to Belgian Camp, Le Mans.” On May 24, 1919, Charles was transferred to Company M, 321st Infantry. He returned to the United States in June 1919, sailing from Saint Nazaire, France, on the USS Manchuria. He was demobilized at Camp Devens and discharged on June 27, 1919.

On August 31, 1919, at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Cambridge, Charles married Marie Elizabeth Schindler, a waitress from Roslindale. Charles and Marie moved in with his family at 18 Shepard Street in Cambridge and he worked as a pipefitter. In the mid-1920s, he lived at 65 Hammond Street in Cambridge. He may have been the Charles J. Akins, sprinkler fitter, living at 140 Grove Street in West Roxbury in 1929. By 1940, he had moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued to work as a pipefitter. For a time in 1942, his brother Francis lived with him at 307 East Hamburg Street in Baltimore, where Charles was a boarder. That year, Charles reported on his World War II draft registration that he worked at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in the Curtis Bay area of Baltimore. He later married Gertrude Mae (Moore) Johnson of Baltimore, who had two children from previous marriages. At the end of his life he lived in Arbutus, Maryland, outside of Baltimore. Charles died on October 25, 1978. He was buried in Meadowridge Memorial Park Cemetery in Elkridge, Maryland. He had been a member of Steamfitters Local Union Number 430 and the Morrell Park Post 137, American Legion.

Sources

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

Putnam, Eben, ed. The Gold Star Record of Massachusetts. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1929: 454; Archive.org

“Cambridge,” Boston Globe 1 April 1922: 4; Newspaper.com

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

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

“Six New England Men Give Up Lives,” Boston Globe, 27 April 1918:2; Newspapers.com

Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com

“Persistence Wins Chance,” Boston Globe, 4 July 1916: 8; Newspapers.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

Benwell, Harry A. History of the Yankee Division. Boston: The Cornhill Company, 1919; Archive.org

“26th Division to March 5 1/2 Miles,” Boston Globe, 28 March 1919: 10; Newspapers.com

“Bay State Heroes Back to Homeland,” Boston Globe, 30 March 1922: 13; Newspapers.com

“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 14 April 1922: 26; Newspapers.com

“Honors for Three Cambridge Vets,” Boston Globe, 17 April 1922: 9; Newspapers.com

“Two Heroes to be Buried at Cambridge,” Boston Globe, 14 April 1922: 2; Newspapers.com

“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 17 April 1922: 4; Newspapers.com

“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database, citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

“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

“Death Notices,” Baltimore Sun, 28 October 1978:23; Newspapers.com

“Charles J. Akins,” BillionGraves.com

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William Frederick Akerman

Posted on January 23, 2021 by earltaylor

William Frederick Akerman

World War I  Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

William Frederick Akerman, sometimes known as Fred, was born on May 26, 1888, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Isabella (Watkins) and Joseph W. Akerman. Joseph and Isabella had married in Portsmouth in 1868. They had four additional children: Joseph born in 1872, Grace in 1875, Clara in 1880, and Lucy in 1884. The Akermans owned a property along Spinney Road between Middle Road and Islington Street, on the outskirts of Portsmouth.

Joseph, a farmer, was 34 years older than Isabella and was 75 when William was born. Joseph died of heart failure in 1890. In 1892, Isabella remarried; her second husband, William Mitchell, was a Canadian, originally from Bridgeton, Nova Scotia. Isabella and William had a son, George, born in 1892. William attended school through the eighth grade, according to the 1940 census. In 1907, he was employed as a clerk. He was also a member of Portsmouth’s Franklin Pierce Veteran Firemen’s Association, a fire brigade and social organization.

On May 25, 1907, William married Vivian J. Grover in Portsmouth. Vivian was the daughter of a paperhanger. On their wedding day, they were celebrated by the fireman’s association. According to the Portsmouth Herald, 50 of the organization’s members, “headed by the Eagle drum corps and plenty of red fire” arrived at William’s home, where they engaged in “songs, recitations, and different varieties of amusement.” In 1908, William and Vivian lived at 22 Maplewood Avenue in Portsmouth; by 1910, they had moved to 140 Maplewood Avenue.

William and Vivian were divorced on December 20, 1911. Vivian sought the divorce on the grounds of “extreme cruelty.” Vivian married again in April 1912; her second marriage ended in divorce in 1928, again due to “extreme cruelty,” though she and her second husband appear to have later reconciled and were living together in 1940.

In 1912, William moved to Milton, Massachusetts, where he lived at 40 Maple Street and worked as a clerk at 1157 Washington Street in Dorchester. From July 6, 1912, until January 5, 1915, William served as a fireman 1st class in the U. S. Navy. By 1917, he had returned to 40 Maple Street in Milton. He was a packer at the Mason Regulator Company, which made balanced valves, steam traps, and speed and pressure regulators. William worked for the company for the rest of his career. On his First World War draft registration, in June 1917, he claimed he was “doing government work;” a Navy photograph from this era shows “testing apparatus and material for Navy Department” in the assembly room at the Mason Regulator Company. By early 1918, William had moved to 5 Taylor Terrace in Mattapan.

On February 15, 1918, William enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force at the Boston Navy Yard as an engineman 2nd class.  Before he was called to service, on May 31, 1918, he wed for a second time, marrying Ruth Wilhelmina Gustafson at the Salem Lutheran Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. Ruth was born in Boston and was living in Milton at the time of her marriage. On June 4, William was sent to the Naval Training Camp in Hingham, Massachusetts. He was transferred to the Navy’s training Camp on Bumpkin Island in Boston Harbor on June 25, and then to the Rifle Range at Wakefield, Massachusetts, on July 8. While William was in the Navy, in September 1918, his mother died of influenza. That month, William was assigned to the “Machine Shop Boston Section Base Boston,” where he remained until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. William was placed on inactive duty on January 25, 1919, at the Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. He was honorably discharged due to lack of funds on September 30, 1921.

After being placed on inactive duty, William returned to 5 Taylor Terrace, and the Mason Regulator Company, where he was employed as a machinist. William’s wife Ruth was living with her parents at 9 Linden Street. She died there on January 15, 1924.

On May 29, 1925, William married Marjorie (Hawes) Hutchinson. Marjorie had been married before and had a five-year-old daughter, Lydia. William and Marjorie were married at Marjorie’s home, 9 Taylor Terrace, by Warner P. Lander, a clergyman from Milton. William, Marjorie, and Lydia lived at 5 Taylor Terrace; their rent in 1930 was $30 a month. They moved to 52 Old Morton Street in 1931, then to 32 Sanford Street in 1933. By 1940, they were living at 178 Eliot Street in Milton. Lydia, 20, was working as a clerk in the chocolate factory, making $780 a year. William earned $1,500 annually at the Mason Regulator Company. In 1942, William and Marjorie lived at 27 Huntoon Street. By 1951, they had moved to North Easton, Massachusetts, where they lived at 210 Washington Street. Marjorie died on March 25, 1961. William moved to Brockton, Massachusetts where he lived until his death on May 20, 1979.

Sources

New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, “Index to births, early to 1900.” New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

Beers, F.W. Map of the City of Portsmouth New Hampshire, 1876; LeventhalMap.org

“New Hampshire, Death and Disinterment Records, 1754–1947.” New England Historical Genealogical Society, citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com

New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, “Death Records, 1654–1947. Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com

New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, “Marriage Records.” New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; Ancestry.com

1880, 1900, 1920, 1930, 1940 US Federal Censuses; Ancestry.com

“New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947,” New England Historical Genealogical Society, citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, NH; Ancestry.com

“Forgot to Bring the Handtub,” Portsmouth Herald, 25 May 1907: 9; Newspapers.com

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

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

Curtiss Photographers, “NH 115112 Mason Regulator Company,” photograph, c1910-1919, Naval History and Heritage Command,

<https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-115000/NH-115112.html>

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

“Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” database citing Marriage, Quincy, Norfolk, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths/Burials (Swedish Churches), Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN; Ancestry.com

“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 16 January 1924: 9; Newspapers.com

“Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915,” database; citing Boston, Suffolk, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917 – 9/16/1940. Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 – 2007. National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; FamilySearch.org

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

“Miss Grace M. Akerman,” Portsmouth Herald, 19 March 1951: 3; Newspapers.com

“Morning Death Notice,” Boston Globe, 27 March 1961: 29; Newspapers.com

“Morning Death Notices,” Boston Globe, 10 April 1969: 28; Newspapers.com

State of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003. Boston, MA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health Services, 2005; Ancestry.com

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James Augustus Aicardi and Beatrice Marie Aicardi

Posted on January 23, 2021 by earltaylor

James Augustus Aicardi and Beatrice Marie Aicardi

World War Veterans

By Camille Arbogast

Siblings James Augustus and Beatrice Marie Aicardi were born at 285 Broadway in South Boston. Beatrice was born on July 2, 1893, and James on October 10, 1896. Their parents, Giacomo, known as James, and Angelina (Guinasso) Aicardi, were both born in Italy. Angelina immigrated to Boston when she was about a year old. Originally from Porto Maurizio in Liguria, James, Sr. came to the United States in the early 1880s, when he was about 15 years old. He initially settled in Brockton, Massachusetts. James, Sr. and Angelina were married in Boston in 1886. They had four other children: Frank born in 1887, Catherine in 1892, Leonard in 1898, and a second Catherine in 1901. Leonard died at 7 months of pneumonia; the first Catherine also died of pneumonia at age 2.

In the 1890s, the family lived at 285 Broadway in South Boston, where James, Sr. had a fruit store. By 1902, the Aicardis resided around the corner at 164 ½ Silver Street, though James, Sr.’s store remained at 285 Broadway. That year, older brother Frank ran away because his parents were upset with his “smoking cigarettes and reading cheap novels every spare moment.” He made it as far as Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he was spotted by a police officer. He eventually returned home, because in 1905 Frank was fined $10 for “playing dice on the Lord’s day.” James and Beatrice attended school in South Boston, James graduating from the Lincoln School in 1904 and Beatrice from the Norcross School in 1907.

In 1913, James, Sr. and Angelina founded the Aicardi Food Products Company. I-Car-De Mayonnaise, their signature product, was advertised as “positively different!” Their factory was located at 93 Stoughton Street in Dorchester. In 1915, the Aicardis moved to Dorchester, and lived at 124 Adams Street.

During the First World War, both Beatrice and James served in the military. Beatrice was a female Yeoman in the US Naval Reserve Force. Called “Yeomanettes,” 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. Beatrice enrolled in the Navy at the Boston Enrolling Office on June 4, 1918. She served in the Boston Navy Yard (today known as the Charlestown Navy Yard) from August 28, 1918, until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. She probably lived at home during her service, as the Navy did not have female barracks and women had to make their own living arrangements. Generally, they were assigned work in their home communities. Beatrice was included in a group photograph, “Panorama of Yeowomen before Drill,” taken at the Boston Navy Yard on December 16, 1918. The women wore long dark skirts, dark single-breasted jackets, and brimmed hats, the attire specified by the Navy for Yeowomen. There was no officially-issued female uniform, and the women were responsible for acquiring the required items themselves. Beatrice was placed on inactive duty on June 26, 1919, and discharged on June 4, 1920.

At the time of the second draft in June 1918, James was working for the United States Quartermaster Department, at Warehouse G, on Commonwealth Pier in Boston. He was inducted into the Army on August 17, 1918, and initially served in Company 13, 4th Training Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade. In October 1918, he was transferred to the Cantonment Headquarters Detachment. He was made a Corporal on December 5. James was discharged from Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, on March 14, 1919.

On October 10, 1920, James married Bertha V. Batts, a brush factory worker. They were married by Father William B. Whalen of St. Monica’s Church on Dorchester Street in South Boston. The couple had three children: Bertha born in 1921, James in 1926, and Donald in 1928. Initially, James and Bertha lived with his parents, who, by 1920, were living at 66 Romsey Street. In 1923, James and Bertha moved to 3 Pearl Street, then the next year to 15 Sumner Street. James worked for the family business.

In 1923, James, Sr. and Angelina moved to 91 Stoughton Street, where they remained until 1927, when they returned to South Boston, purchasing 1726 Columbia Road. In 1927, Beatrice married Thomas F. Keating. Thomas, who had also grown up in South Boston, was a salesman at a wholesale leather company and a World War I veteran. Later, Thomas was active in Boston politics. In July 1927, James, Sr. died. In 1930, Beatrice and Thomas were living at 1726 Columbia Road. Angelina, the owner of the building, lived in another unit. James and his family were next door at number 1724. 

James died on December 19, 1936. According to an article in the Boston Globe, an employee found him on the floor of his office. The family physician pronounced him dead, telling reporters that James suffered from heart attacks and had probably died of one. A solemn high mass of requiem was celebrated for him at South Boston’s Gate of Heaven Church and he was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Roslindale. He was given full military honors at his funeral.

In 1940, Beatrice, Thomas, and Angelia still lived at 1726 Columbia Road. It appears the I-Car-De mayonnaise factory closed in 1944. By 1954, Beatrice and Thomas were listed in the Boston Directory living at 1728 Columbia Road. Angelina died in 1956. In the early 1960s, Beatrice and Thomas moved to an apartment at 1800 Columbia Road. Thomas died in 1981.

Beatrice died on January 18, 1984. Her funeral mass was held at St. Brigid Church in South Boston.

Sources

Birth, marriage, death records: Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society; Ancestry.com.

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

Boston directory, various years; Ancestry.com

Family trees; Ancestry.com

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

“Frank Aicardi Missing,” Boston Post, 6 May 1902:2; Newspapers.com

“Frank Aicardi Missing,” Boston Globe, 20 May 1902: 14; Newspapers.com.

“South Boston,” Boston Globe, 9 Nov 1905: 20; Newspapers.com

Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of Boston 1904, Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1904: 210; Archive.org

Documents of the School Committee of the City of Boston for the Year 1907. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1907: 71; Archive.org

Taylor, Earl. “Dorchester Illustration 2263 I-CAR-DE Mayonnaise,” Dorchester Historical Society blog, 21 August 2016; DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org

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–.html>

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>

“World War I Yeowomen at the Charlestown Navy Yard,” National Park Service Boston, US Department of the Interior, last updated 12 June 2017; NPS.gov

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

Marriage Record, “Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920,” Massachusetts State Archives; FamilySearch.org

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, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

“James A. Aicardi Sr of South Boston Dead,” Boston Globe, 22 July 1927: 3; Newspapers.com

“James Aicardi Dies Suddenly,” Boston Globe, 19 December 1936: 2; Newspapers.com

“Military Funeral For James Aicardi,” Boston Globe, 22 Dec 1936: 7; Newspapers.com

“Mrs. Angelina Aicardi,” Boston Globe, 8 March 1956: 13; Newspapers.com

“Thomas Keating, 83,” Boston Globe, 1 December 1981: 24; Newspapers.com

Death notices, Boston Globe, 21 Jan 1984: 31; Newspapers.com

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Samuel Adler

Posted on January 23, 2021 by earltaylor

Samuel Adler

World War I Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Samuel Adler was born at the Boston Lying-In Hospital at 24 McLean Street, Boston, on June 13, 1901. His parents, Joseph and Natalie (Nollman) Adler were from Russia. According to family sources, Nellie was from Kamnetz-Podolsk (today’s Ukraine). Their eldest son, Morris, was born in 1899, in Austria. Joseph, Nellie, and Morris immigrated to the United States around 1900. Samuel had four younger siblings: Harry born in 1902; Wolf, who also went by William, in 1905; Goodman, also known as George, in 1907; and Edith in 1909. At the time of Samuel’s birth, the Adlers lived at 22 Hale Street in the West End. By 1908, they had moved a few blocks to 5 Parkman Street.

Joseph was a carpenter and a member of the Carpenters’ Union 954. He died on the job in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1908, while working on 175-183 Winnisimmet Street. The building had been largely destroyed in the recent Great Chelsea Fire, with only one wall remaining. When openings were cut in the bottom of the wall for new floor girders, the wall collapsed, killing Joseph along with seven others. In one of the Boston Globe articles about the accident it was noted, “The families of the unfortunate men are left in very straitened circumstances, and it is the intention of the unions of which the men were members to formulate plans for their relief and aid at once.”

After Joseph’s death, the Adler family was separated. By 1910, Samuel and Morris were living with a foster family, the Tannenbans, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Their foster father was a baker and one of their three foster siblings, 16-year-old Clara, was a spinner at the silk mill. Samuel’s younger brothers, Harry and Goodman, were sent to live with a family in Westford, Massachusetts. Youngest sibling Edith, who was born after her father’s death, was also taken in by a family in Westford.

Samuel attended school through the seventh grade. In 1916, his mother Nellie died of pulmonary tuberculosis. That year, Samuel appeared in the Boston directory residing at 45 McLean Street. He enrolled in the Navy the next year, on March 24, 1917. At that time, he reported his address as 23 Lorne Street in Dorchester, the home of his uncle David Nollman, a junk peddler, with a wife, Ida, and their four children.

Samuel joined the Navy before the United States declared war on Germany on April 16, 1917. He possibly lied about his age, as his military records give his birth date as June 13, 1898. He enrolled at the Boston Navy Yard (now known as the Charlestown Navy Yard) and was initially stationed on the USS Virginia. On May 29, 1917, he was sent to a receiving ship in Boston to await transfer. On August 9, he was assigned to the USS Michigan for one day, then transferred to the USS Illinois where he remained until September 21, 1917. According to his service record, he was next stationed on the USS Antigone on September 21, 1918, though the year is possibly a typo. He remained on the Antigone until the Armistice, November 11, 1918. He was placed on inactive duty on September 8, 1919, and discharged on March 23, 1921, having attained a rank of Fireman 2nd Class.

In 1920, Samuel and his brother Harry were living in the household of their uncle David Nollman at 23 Lorne Street. Wolf lived with another Nollman uncle, Hyman, at 38 Floyd Street, while Goodman was a ward of the Home for Destitute Jewish Children on Harvard Street in Dorchester. Morris appears to have been an inmate in the Suffolk County Jail.

On December 25, 1921, Samuel wed Matilda Bennett in Chelsea. They were married by Rabbi Meyer Rabinowitz. Matilda, known as Tillie, was a bookkeeper. Samuel and Matilda had two sons, Edward and Norman.

Initially, Samuel and Matilda lived with her parents, Simon, a real estate broker, and Henrietta, at 16 Murray Street in Chelsea. In 1932, they moved to Malden, where they made their home first at 155 Linden Avenue, and then, by 1935, at 42 Starbird Street. Around 1960, they moved to 39 Glenrock Avenue, Malden. At the time of his marriage, Samuel was a butcher. He later had his own grocery business, the Oak Grove Market of 5A Grove Street, Malden.

Samuel died on February 19, 1966. Services were held for him at Malden’s Temple Tifereth Israel and a memorial week was observed at his late residence. Samuel was buried in the Lebanon Tiferth Israel Cemetery in Peabody. He was a member of the Everett C. Benton Masonic Lodge in Chelsea.

Sources

“Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915,” Massachusetts Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

“Eight Dead, 13 Injured,” Boston Globe, 26 August 1908: 1; Newspapers.com

“Three Victims Buried,” Boston Globe, 26 August 1908: 7; Newspapers.com

“Search Abandoned,” Boston Globe, 27 August 1908: 4; Newspapers.com

1910, 1920, 1930 US Federal Census; 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.

US Veterans Administration Master Index, Military Service, NARA microfilm publication, Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985; FamilySearch.org

Marriage Record, Chelsea, Suffolk, MA, State Archives, Boston, MA; FamilySearch.org

Boston, Chelsea, Malden 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

Deaths, Boston Globe, 20 Feb 1966: 66; Newspapers.com

Samuel Adler, FindAGrave.com

Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards 1733–1990. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

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Julius David Adler

Posted on January 23, 2021 by earltaylor

Julius David Adler

World War I  Veteran

By Camille Arbogast

Julius David Adler was born in Sudylkiv, Russia (today’s Ukraine). He used different birth dates over his lifetime, sometimes giving December 13, 1891; others December 13, 1893; or December 18, 1893. His parents were Samuel and Bertha (Shefert) Adler.

Julius sailed from Bremen, Germany, on the Prince Frederick Wilhelm in June 1910, arriving in New York City on June 21, and travelling to Massachusetts the next day. Julius began the naturalization process in September 1912, when he declared his intention to become an American citizen. His 1915 petition for citizenship was witnessed by his cousin Harry D. Goldstein, a tailor, of East Boston and Julius Sawyer, a salesman living in Dorchester. On the petition, Julius renounced any allegiance to Nicholas, Emperor of all the Russias. On that document, his birthplace was given as Wolyn, Russia, (today’s Poland). The petition was dismissed in December 1919 due to “Lack of Knowledge of Government,” perhaps referring to the still uncertain Russian political situation following the 1917 revolution.

In 1912, Julius resided at 228 Havre Street in East Boston. He had moved to 622 Massachusetts Avenue in the South End by 1915. In 1917, Julius lived in Dorchester at 214 Norwell Street. He ran a grocery and provisions store in Dorchester Center, located at 105 Harvard Street.

On August 2, 1918, Julius was inducted into the Army at Local Board #19. He was sent to Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts, and assigned to Company 13, 4th Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade for training. On October 9, he was transferred to the Medical Department, 36th Infantry. Julius filed a second petition for citizenship while at Camp Devens, witnessed by Lieutenant Frank E. Smith and Corporal Joseph N. Mongeon of the 4th Battalion, Depot Brigade, National Army, Camp Devens. This time Julius renounced allegiance to “The Present Government of Russia.” On October 29, 1918, Julius was naturalized as an American citizen. He was discharged from the Army in January 1919.

On August 10, 1919, Julius married Sarah Leona Shechet at 6 Smidt Avenue in Peabody, Massachusetts. Sarah, a saleswoman, had also been born in Russia. They were married by Rabbi Judah Walters of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Julius and Sarah had one child, a daughter, Blanche.

In 1920, the Adlers lived at 82 Nightingale Street in Dorchester. Julius then had a grocery at 108 Harvard Street. In 1925, they appeared in the Boston directory both living and working at 108 Harvard Street. The next year, Julius and Sarah moved to Beverly, Massachusetts, where Julius was a meat cutter at 14 Cabot Street; they resided at 19 Bennett Street. In 1929, he was a manager at 105 North Street in Salem, Massachusetts. The Adlers appeared in the 1930 census living at 8 Jacobs Street in Peabody, which they rented for $40 a month. Julius was a clerk at a grocery company. In 1931, they moved to 95 Main Street, Peabody.

Julius appears to have died by 1932, when Sarah begins to appear in the Peabody directory as his widow. It is possible he was the Julius D. Adler who died on April 13, 1931, and  buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Peabody. Sarah died in 1979 and was buried in the Independent Workmen’s Circle Cemetery in Peabody.

Sources

Immigration records, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C and National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts; 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.

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

“Marriage Intentions,” Boston Globe, 5 August 1919:2; Newspapers.com

Marriage Record, Peabody, Essex, Massachusetts, State Archives, Boston, MA; FamilySearch.org

1930 US Federal Census; Ancestry.com

Boston, Peabody directories, various years; Ancestry.com

Julius D. Adler, Sarah Adler, FindAGrave.com

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George Walter Adlard

Posted on January 23, 2021 by earltaylor

George Walter Adlard

World War I Veteran

By Camile Arbogast

George Walter Adlard was born on April 16, 1894, in Brooklyn, New York, to Charlotte M. (Geezer), known as Lotte, and Walter Adlard. Lotte and Walter were born in Brooklyn and were married in 1886 in New York. Walter worked in the insurance industry, eventually serving as the vice president and secretary of the Massachusetts Fire and Marine Insurance Company. They had five other children: Florence born in 1887, Leroy in 1890, Edward Livingstone in 1899, Frederick in 1904, and Adele in 1907.

By 1899, the Adlards had moved to Dorchester, where they lived at 14 Bird Street. By 1909, they had moved a short distance to 490 Columbia Road. That year, Florence married; her wedding was held in the family home and George served as an usher. The family employed a live-in servant at both 14 Bird Street and 409 Columbia Road, according to the 1900 and 1910 censuses. In 1910, the household also included a lodger, Richard Luscombe, a drugstore clerk. George graduated from Dorchester’s Edward Everett School in 1910. He then attended Dorchester High School, where he served in Company D of the Dorchester High School Regiment. By 1917, the Adlards had moved to 29 Virginia Street. At that time, George was an insurance clerk.

George enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force at the Boston Navy Yard on June 1, 1917, a couple of days before he registered for the First World War draft. On June 9, he was sent to the Receiving Ship in Boston. From December 8, 1917, until February 25, 1918, he was at the Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He then returned to the Boston Receiving Ship, where he remained until March 12. He was stationed at the Naval Detention Training Camp on Deer Island in Boston Harbor until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. George served as an Oiler for 304 days before being promoted to a Machinist Mate 2nd class, his rank for 224 days. On January 11, 1919, he was placed on inactive duty at the Detention Training Camp on Deer Island as a Machinist Mate 1st class. George was honorably discharged on May 31, 1921.

In 1920, George was again living with his family at 29 Virginia Street, employed as a clerk in a cigar store. LeRoy and Edward were working in insurance; Frederick was a helper in a plumber shop; Adele was still attending school. The lodger who had been living with the family in 1910 at 490 Columbia Road, Richard Luscombe, had moved with them to 29 Virginia Street and was still part of the household. By 1923, George, too, was working in the insurance industry. He remained in insurance for the rest of his career. As a young man, George frequently participated in amateur theatricals. He performed in a number of Masonic Minstrel shows, was a featured performer in the Dorchester Women’s Club’s production “Fifi of the Toy Shop,” and also performed with the Insurance Society of Massachusetts.

On September 5, 1925, George married Edna Felecia Ferguson in Roxbury. Edna, a clerk, was a Roxbury resident. They were married by Reverend G.S. Macaulay of the Presbyterian Church of Roxbury.  By 1927, the couple was living at 38 Orkney Road in Brighton. In the early 1930s, George and Edna lived in homes in Newton, Massachusetts, residing at 32 Taft Avenue in 1930, 140 Carleton Street in 1932, and 105 Morton Street in 1934. In 1937, they purchased 6 Vane Street in Wellesley, Massachusetts, a home which was valued at $7,800 in 1940. In 1942, George reported on his World War II draft registration that he was self-employed, working at 120 Milk Street in Boston. By 1955, George and Edna had a home in Sarasota, Florida, and Edna worked as a saleswoman and instructor at Sarasota’s Spinning Wheel yarn shop.

George died on November 14, 1973, in Sarasota, Florida. He was buried in the Sarasota Memorial Park. When Edna died in 1979, she was buried beside him.

Sources

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

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

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

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

“Many Brides Led to Altar,” Boston Globe, 3 June 1909: 13; Newspapers.com

“7911 Diplomas in Boston Schools,” Boston Globe, 23 June 1910: 5; Newspapers.com

“Field Day of Their Own,” Boston Globe, 15 November 1913: 3; Newspapers.com

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

“Roxbury District,” Boston Globe, 18 Sept 1924: 14; Newspapers.com

“Dorchester Masonic Lodge Minstrels and Dancing Party,” Boston Globe, 11 April 1916: 6; Newspapers.com

Paula Patterson, “Social Events of the Week,” Boston Post, 17 Oct 1920: 101; Newspapers.com

“Insurance Men Present ‘The High Spots of 1921,’” Boston Globe, 2 April 1921: 12; Newspapers.com

“Insurance Society of Mass to Give ‘The Centennial Revue,’” Boston Globe, 29 April 1922: 8; Newspapers.com

“Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915,” database, citing Boston, MA, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

Directories: Boston, Newton, and Wellesley, Massachusetts, and Sarasota, Florida, various years; Ancestry.com

“Deeds,” Boston Globe, 30 October 1937: 19; Newspapers.com

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

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

George W. Adlard; FindAGrave.com

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