Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Joseph William Crump

Posted on December 6, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Joseph William Crump

At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit that highlights these men and their service to our country.

Our next biography features: Joseph William Crump.

Written by Earl Taylor

Joseph William Crump was born in Boston on November 24, 1889, to Joseph and Jennie Graham Crump, both from Nova Scotia, Canada. He had a sister named Eva, who was seven years old at the time of his birth.

By 1900, the family was living at 63 Idaho Street, in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester. Joseph, the father, supported the family as a carpenter and by 1910, he was working as a carpenter at a chocolate factory, presumably the nearby Walter Baker Chocolate Factory. Eva had moved out, and the family had a boarder living with them.

Early on, Joseph seems to have been interested in travel. In 1912, he and a group of his buddies went on a cruise from Tenean Beach, Dorchester, to the Maine coast. In 1916, the Boston Globe reported that he had been the victim of robber in the Yosemite Valley, California, where he had travelled as part of an educational trip put on by the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Joseph William Crump registered for the draft in June, 1917. He was working for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a ticket agent. He was described as single, short, of slender build with brown eyes and brown hair, and already partially bald. His World War I service record adds two years to his age by recording his birthdate as November 24, 1887. In 1917, he also joined the Masons and indicated his occupation as assistant ticket agent. He served in 17 Co. 151 Depot Brigade from the time of his induction into the army on June 24, 1918, until his discharge from Camp Devens on December 4, 1919. His grade was Private.

Joseph married Martha E. Ware of 19 Hazelton Street, Mattapan, on May 28, 1919. The 1920 census reports that Joseph and Martha were living at 84 Southborne Road, Jamaica Plain; Joseph was an agent for the railroad. By 1922 Joseph’s listing in the Boston Directory shows that he had become the Manager of the ticketing department. Then in 1923 the Boston Directory indicates that Joseph had removed to Providence, Rhode Island. In 1930 the family was living at 62 Moorland Avenue, in the Edgewood section of Cranston, Rhode Island, and Joseph was a manager at a tourist agency. Joseph and Martha had a son, Stuart, 9 years old.

On his WWII draft registration, Joseph reported that he was living at 62 Moorland Avenue, Cranston, and that he was employed at Grinnell Company in Auburn-Cranston. He may have been working at Grinnell to help the war effort or because his travel business suffered during the war. In the 1930s he seem to have bought out the Colpitts agency where he had been the manager and continued as Crump Travel Service and later as Crump & Person. The Providence directories from the 1940s and 1950s show Joseph’s occupation as a travel agent at the Crump & Pearson Travel Agency.

Joseph died on November 20, 1963, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth Record on Ancestry.com

Boston directories on Ancestry.com

Boston Globe 7/11/1912 and 7/7/1916, on Newspapers.com

FindaGrave.com

Massachusetts Masons Membership Cards on Ancestry.com

Providence directories on Ancestry.com

US Census 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 on Ancestry.com

US Social Security Death Index on Ancestry.com

WW I draft registration on Ancestry.com

WWII draft registration on FamilySearch.org

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Joseph Crdump, Lower Mills, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: John Austin Campbell

Posted on December 6, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: John Austin Campbell

Our next biography features: John Austin Campbell.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

John Campbell was born on May 3, 1895. His name was initially recorded as Stanley John, but was later changed to John Austin. His father, David, immigrated from New Brunswick in 1881. David was a widower in 1888 when he married John’s mother, Lavinia, who was from Nova Scotia. David and Lavinia had five other children: Mabel, born in 1890, Marion in 1891, Martha in 1892, Ray Alexander in 1893, and David in 1907.

At the time of John’s birth, in 1895, his family lived at 48 Norfolk Street in the Codman Square neighborhood of Dorchester. By 1900, they owned 32 Magdala Street in Ashmont. John’s paternal grandmother, widow Isabelle Campbell, lived in the other apartment in the building with her two youngest sons. John’s father and his brothers were carpenters and builders.

By 1910, John’s immediate family lived at 10 Hillside Terrace. His siblings Mabel and Martha were milliners, Marion a typewriter, or secretary, and Ray a cement maker. John attended school through the eighth grade. Before the First World War, he worked as an order clerk at an S.K. Liggett Drug Store on North Street in Boston. When war was declared, he and his family still lived in the same home, though Hillside Terrace had been renamed Clermont Street in 1913.

In June 1917, John registered for the first draft; those eligible for service were given the option to enlist instead of being drafted , which offered them more choice in what capacity they served. John took advantage of this offer, deciding to enlist just before the December 20th deadline. He was directed to Fort Slocum, a recruiting station in New Rochelle, New York. The town was overrun with seven thousand men seeking to join up in the final days before the deadline. During what came to be called “Recruit Week,” men were housed all over town while they waited days to enlist, a processed slowed down by a blizzard.

On December 15, John enlisted in the Quartermaster Corps, the branch of the Army responsible for stores, supplies, and provisions. He was sent to Camp Joseph E. Johnston outside of Jacksonville, Florida on the Saint Johns River. Named for a former U.S. Army Quartermaster, in 1918, it was the largest Army Quartermaster training camp. John made Private First Class in February 1918. He remained at Camp Johnston for the duration of the war and was demobilized there in February 1919.

After the war, he returned to live with his family at 10 Clermont Street, resuming work as a drugstore order clerk. He married Viola Teresa Dahlquist of Brockton. They had three children: Marion, born in 1922, Eleanor in 1926, and Robert in 1928. They settled at 29 2nd Street in Brockton, sharing a two-family house with Viola’s mother, the building’s owner, and two of Viola’s siblings. John took up the family trade, working as a carpenter. In 1930, he was self-employed as a building carpenter. By 1940, he was a carpenter at the Walter Baker Chocolate factory.

John died in Brockton on September 3, 1968. He is buried in Brockton’s Melrose Cemetery.

Sources:

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

Family Tree, Ancestry.com

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

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, National Archive and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA

Otto, G.C. “Recruit Week” New Rochelle, Her Part in the Great War. New Rochelle, NY: W.C. Tindall, 1920 pages 36-55, 61; Archive.org

Kelly, Tyler. “Camp Joseph E. Johnston” Florida in World War One, University of Central Florida, 2015-2019 <https://floridawwi.cah.ucf.edu/?page_id=89>

World War II Selective Service Registration Cards, National Archives and Records Administration, Ancestry.com

Findagrave.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Codman Square, Dorchester, John Austin Campbell, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Carl Noah Burdick

Posted on December 6, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Carl Noah Burdick

Our next biography features: Carl Noah Burdick.

Written by Julie Wolf.

Carl Noah Burdick was born at 119 Warren Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on August 16, 1895, to William Burdick, originally of Danville, Vermont, and Mabel Crowther (sometimes Cowther, sometimes Crocker), originally of Penacook, New Hampshire. Multiple censuses indicate that Carl, the eldest of six children,almost always lived with extended family, from boyhood through adulthood. In 1900, 4-year-old Carl lived in a full house at 12 Sumner Terrace (right behind the James Blake House) in Dorchester with his maternal grandparents, James S. and Amelia J. Crowther; his parents and sister Alice, who diedthe following year at age 2; and three boarders and their children. In 1910, he lived at 27 Bailey Street in Dorchester with immediate family only, which now included Arthur, 8; Beatrice, 6; Edna, 4; and Grace, not yet 1. By 1920, Carl’s widowed grandmother, Amelia, had moved in.

This was Carl’s home when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. His draft card described him as a “grille worker (helper)” at the Hub Wire Cloth & Wire Work Co. in Cambridge. Unmarried, he was of medium height and slender build, with gray eyes and brown hair. A Boston Globe article identifies Carl as one of some 80 young Dorchester men out of a total 2,000-plus “limited service men” comprising “the final shipment of draftees under the September calls.” They were heading to Syracuse, New York, “where they will be trained, sworn in and assigned to duty in various parts of the country.” For Carl, whose enlistment date was September 16, 1918, that meant Ordnance Training Camp at Camp Hancock in Georgia, followed by Ordnance Supply School, 2dBattalion at Camp Amatol in New Jersey. Honorably discharged on December 31, 1918, as a private at Camp Dix, New Jersey, he did not serve overseas.

For at least the next several years, Carl was a member of Dorchester’s Charles F. Hammond, Jr., Post 78 of the American Legion. In 1921, he assisted in a ceremony at the renamed James M. Kennedy Square, at “the junction of Columbia road and Washington street,” in memory of the Dorchester soldier killed in action during Phase II of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Carl served as the post’s historian in 1922 and in 1924 as its finance officer.

At least since1922, Carl belonged to Tremont Lodge #15 I.O.O.F. (International Order of Odd Fellows). As his father had, Carl rose through the fraternal organization’s ranks. In 1922, he participated in an officers’ swearing-in ceremony as a “banner bearer, first degree.” In 1928, the title of “noble grand”—presiding officer of the lodge—was conferred upon him.

Also during the 1920s, Carl got married. On September 25, 1926, Carl, age 31, wed Lillian Mildred Holbrook, age 33, of Holbrook, Massachusetts. It was the first marriage for both of them. The 1926 City Directory shows them living at 178 North Franklin Street in Holbrook. This was the home of Lillian’s parents, Lester Holbrook and Fanny (Fannie) Belcher. At the end of the decade, Carl and Lillian would have their only child, Phyllis. The family continued to live with the Holbrooks until at least 1950. According to the 1930 census, Carl’s occupation was “assistant super” in an office building; in 1940 he was a school janitor, which waslikely the job he still held in 1950.

On April 27, 1942, Carl, age 46, registered with the U.S. Selective Service as part of the “Old Man’s Draft,” a requirement for “men born on or after April 28, 1877, and on or before February 16, 1897.” Described as having gray eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion, Carl, employed by the Massachusetts Department of Education at 200 Newbury Street in Boston, wore glasses and was 5’4” and 160 pounds.

Carl died in Brockton, Massachusetts, on March 27, 1958. His obituary revealed what appeared to be a lifelong affiliation with the Tremont Lodge #15 I.O.O.F: “we regret to announce the sudden death of Bro. Carl. N. Burdick P.G.” P.G. stands for “past grand,” or past presiding officer. Carl was 62 years old.

SOURCES:

Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004.

Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002.

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com. U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

“Burdick.”Boston Globe, March 28, 1958: 32.

“Dorchester District.”Boston Globe, December 21, 1922: 7.

FamilySearch.org. United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, database with images.

“New Officers at the Helm in Tremont Lodge , I.O.O.F.,” October 18, 1928: 19.

“Over 2000 Go for Unlimited Service: Crowd at Station When Men Left for Syracuse.” Boston Globe, September 6, 1918: 9.

“Tremont I.O.O.F. Lodge Confers Third Degree.” Boston Globe. December 21, 1922: 7.

“Will Dedicate Square Sunday in Memory of Dorchester Soldier.”Boston Globe, May 6, 1921.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bailey Street, Carl Noah Burdick, Dorchester, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leo Vincent Bennett

Posted on December 6, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leo Vincent Bennett

Our next biography features: Leo Vincent Bennett.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

Leo Vincent Bennett was born January 18, 1897, at 2209 Dorchester Avenue. He was the youngest child of Harriet and Simon Bennett, both Canadian immigrants. He had seven older siblings: Nellie, Annie, Mary, Edward, Alice, Agnes, and Charles.

In 1900, the family lived at 1059 Washington Street in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester. His father and oldest sister worked in the nearby chocolate factory, most likely the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory. By 1910, the family had moved across the street to 1062 Washington Street. Leo was in school, but his older siblings were then employed: Annie was a hotel waitress; Agnes, a railroad office telegraph operator; Charles, a grocery clerk. Nellie worked as a dressmaker from home, along with Mary and Alice.

In his first year of high school, older boys convinced Leo he was sought by the police for trespassing on a Lower Mills farm. His only option, they told him, was to run away with them, which he did, leaving school and disappearing. He was gone long enough for his parents to worry and for an article to run in the Globe with his photo and a description of the outfit he was last seen wearing: blue serge suit, corduroy trousers, and red sweater. He eventually returned home, graduated from Dorchester High School, and became a telegraph operator. He worked for Western Union, a position that enabled him to spend a summer in Bar Harbor, working at the telegraph office there. Later he was a telegrapher in the Boston office of Brown Brothers and Co., a private banking firm.

In June 1918, he registered for the second draft. At the end of August, he was drafted and inducted into the Army at the Local Board 21, Dorchester’s draft board. He was sent to the 156 Depot Brigade in South Carolina, to be trained before being assigned to a regular unit. According to paperwork submitted for his veteran headstone, he served in the Billeting & Supply Company, 2nd Detachment. In December 1918, he made Corporal; in May 1919 he was promoted to Sergeant.

He was discharged in July 1919 and returned to his job with Brown Brothers, while attending Suffolk Law School at night. In October 1919, Leo wed Catherine Coffin Sheridan. They were married by Father James V. Cronin of St. Catherine’s Church in Somerville. The couple lived for a time in Watertown. Their daughter Catherine Leona was born in 1921, followed by Leo in 1924. By then, they had moved to Dorchester, first at 9 Fairmont Street, then 93 Mora Street, up the road from 1062 Washington Street, where his family still lived.

In 1927, Leo passed the bar exam and opened his own law practice. He and Catherine bought a home in Quincy, 72 Edwin Street, close to Quincy Bay. He joined the Quincy American Legion and was elected 3rd Vice Commander. He ran for councilor of Ward 6, but in a crowded field, he did not win.

By 1933, Leo and his children were living with his sister Agnes, who then owned 1062 Washington Street. Catherine appears to have died. Leo’s law career seems to have been put aside. He went back to work as a telegraph operator, eventually working at the Post Office. In 1940, he was a postal sub-clerk. He became a carrier clerk and was active with the Post Office Clerks’ Association.

In 1943, at the young age of 43, he was stricken at work and died at Boston City Hospital His obituary lists him as a post office clerk and a veteran of World War I. He was a member of the Post Office Clerks Association, the William L. Harris Post of the American Legion, and the Dorchester Lower Mills Council of the Knights of Columbus. He was survived by a daughter, Mrs. John Gibbons, and a son Leo, Jr. serving in the U.S. Navy in Norfolk, Virginia. His funeral was held at St. Gregory’s Church, and he is buried in Milton Cemetery.

Sources

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

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

“Dorchester Boy Gone” Boston Sunday Globe, 23 April 1911: 8; newspapers.com

“Dorchester District,” Boston Evening Globe, 23 June 1915: 4; newspaperarchive.com

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

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

Marriage Record, Massachusetts State Vital Records; Familysearch.org

“Atlantic World War Vet Passes Bar Examination” Boston Globe, 14 Sept 1927: 8; newspapers.com

“Quincy Legion Post Officers Installed” Boston Globe, 3 October 1929: 12; newspapers.com

“One Precinct Holds Up Count,” Boston Globe, 13 November 1929: 4; newspapapers.com

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

“Leo V. Bennett” Boston Globe, 26 June 1943: 9; newspapers.com

Boston City Directories, Ancestry.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Leo Vincent Bennett, Lower Mills, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Thomas Matthew Battell

Posted on December 6, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Thomas Matthew Battell

Our next biography features: Thomas Matthew Battell.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

Thomas Matthew Battell was born on December 30, 1898, at 111 River Street in the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester. His father, Michael, was Irish; his mother, Sarah, was born in England to Irish parents. Their first child, James, was born in 1887 and that same year, Michael immigrated to the United States. Sarah and James followed him two years later, arriving in Boston on the SS Catalonia. In 1893, a daughter, Margaret, was born in Massachusetts, followed by Catherine in 1895, Anne in 1892, Thomas in 1898, and William in 1907. They also had a daughter, Mary, who was born in 1900, but died in infancy at only four months old.

In 1900, Michael was a jobber at a paper factory, perhaps at the nearby Tileston and Hollingworth paper factory. By 1904, the family had moved to 53 Bearse Avenue in Lower Mills. Michael appears in Boston directories as a papermaker in 1904 and 1907. In 1909, Michael was working as a machinist, but only a few years later, he died of chronic tuberculosis of the lungs in 1911.

By 1918, the family was living at 2151 Dorchester Avenue. That spring, on May 17, Thomas enrolled as a Seaman, Second Class, at the Navy Recruiting Station in Boston. He was called for service on July 27. On August 26, he was sent to the Naval Training Camp on Bumpkin Island, in Boston Harbor, where he remained until the Armistice. On July 16, 1919, Thomas was assigned to the USS Patricia, a troop transport ship commissioned in March 1919. In his notecard for Thomas Battell, Dr. Perkins noted that Thomas served on two trips to France on the USS Patricia. Shortly after the USS Patricia was decommissioned, Thomas was honorably discharged on September 30, 1921. His service record cites “lack of funds” as the reason for his discharge.

Before his discharge, in 1920, Thomas spent some time in Plymouth, New Hampshire. He and his eldest brother, James, worked as steam railroad laborers, probably for the Boston and Maine Railroad. Thomas also appears in Boston directories in the early 1920s, listed in 1921 and 1923 as living with his mother at 2151 Dorchester Avenue. On November 3, 1923, he married Alice May (Fadden) Kelly in Plymouth, who was fourteen years his senior. A native of New Hampshire, born in 1874, Alice had been widowed in 1920 and when she married Thomas, she already had four children of her own. They were married by Reverend John R. Copplestone of Plymouth.

In 1930, they owned a home on Webster Street in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Thomas worked as a painter and Alice was the landlady of a lodging house. Living with them were two of Alice’s sons from her previous marriage, Robert, 11, and Cedric, 34. Cedric’s wife Beatrice lived with them, as well, and was employed in the lodging house as a domestic.

By 1940, they owned 56 Main Street in Plymouth; Alice was still running a lodging house. Living with them on Main Street were two unmarried men, one worked for the local sporting goods company and the other was an electric power lineman. Thomas was still a painter. In 1939, he was employed for only 20 weeks. In 1940, he was in “government work,” painting government buildings, perhaps a part of the Works Progress Administration. In 1942, he reported that he was unemployed. Three years later, in 1945, Alice died of breast cancer.

Thomas remarried in 1947; on August 1, in Massachusetts, he married Allatar Lydia Herrale, known as Alta. Born in Minnesota in 1910, Alta moved to Brookline in 1936 to attend Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery. She was a pastry chef at the Mount Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods and at Wellesley College before her thirty-year career at the Walnut Hill School in Natick. In 1949, Thomas and Alta had a daughter, Greta Ann Laura.. At that time, Thomas and Alta lived at 40 Bennett Street in Natick.

After suffering from Alzheimer’s, Thomas Matthew Battell died on October 21, 1983 in Natick. He was survived by his second wife, Alta, and by his daughter, Greta.

Sources

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

Family Trees, Ancestry.com

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

Michael Battell death record, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, National Archive and Records Administration; Ancestry.com

Boston Directories, Various Years, Ancestry.com

Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA

Marriage Record, New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire; Ancestry.com

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

Alice Battell Death Record, New Hampshire, Death and Disinterment Records, 1754–1947. New England Historical Genealogical Society. Citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire; Ancestry.com

“Allatar Battell, Bedford, NH” Obituary, Legacy.com

“Greta Battell Engaged to Wed at New Ipswich,” Fitchburg Sentinel, 5 January 1971:11; Newspapers.com

Death Record, Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health Services; Ancestry.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Lower Mills, Thomas Matthew Battell, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Lawrie Reid

Posted on December 4, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Lawrie Reid

Our next biography features: William Lawreie Reid.

Written by Donna Albino.

William Lawrie Reid was born on May 31, 1896, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His parents, Thomas Reid and Janet (Lawrie) Reid, were both born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1891. They had two children, Agnes and Robert, while they still lived in Scotland, and three more children, Thomas, James and Marion, in the United States before William was born. William’s father Thomas was an iron moulder.

In the next few years, the family moved to South Boston. The 1900 census revealed they lived in a rented house at 9 Swallow Street. William’s oldest sister, Agnes, was working as a button coverer, but the other children were too young to be in the workforce yet. By then, there was a seventh child in the family, a daughter, Wilhelmina, who was one year old.

In 1910, the family had moved to 105 Mercer Street in South Boston. William’s father had passed away in 1907, and his mother was now the head of the household, with two more children, Helen, age 9 and George, age 7. Several of William’s siblings were old enough to work outside the home and help with expenses. William’s brother Robert was an iron worker in a foundry, his sister, Marion, was a box maker in a factory, and his brother, James, only 15 years old, was a telegraph messenger.

On June 17, 1917, when he was 21 years old, William registered for the war draft. He was a tall man with a medium build, brown hair and brown eyes. He worked as a clerk for Western Union, and already had served in the military as a private in the 8th regiment. The 8th Infantry Regiment of the United States, also known as the “Fighting Eagles,” is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. The 8th Infantry Regiment served in the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines in 1913, but it was unlikely that William was active then because of his age.

Little is known about William’s wartime assignments. According to his service card, he served with Troop E 11th Cavalry in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Fort Oglethorpe served as a war-time induction and processing center, and also housed German prisoners of war. The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, also known as the “Blackhorse Regiment,” was also a unit of the United States Army. Just before William enlisted in the draft, the regiment participated in the 1916 Pancho Villa Expedition, fighting unsuccessfully in Mexico. When the United States declared war on Germany in April, 1917, the regiment was in Fort Bliss, Texas. Concerned that Mexico might urge Japan to join Germany in the war effort, the 11th sent several detachments to California to protect the border, and the remainder of the regiment went to Fort Oglethorpe. The next two years saw various elements of the 11th Cavalry scattered throughout the South and West.

There were several newspaper accounts however, that linked William with Company A of the 104th Infantry Regiment. On April 5, 1919, The Boston Globe listed William with the regiment returning to Massachusetts. On April 25, 1931, the Fitchburg Sentinel printed an index of Company A 104th, and William again was listed. The 104th Infantry Regiment was formed from National Guard units from New England, and fought in France in six major campaigns. However, William’s name was not found on any roster of the company traveling by ship to France before these campaigns, so it is unclear where William was actually stationed during the war.

By 1920, William was living with his mother and some of his siblings in South Boston at 17 Vale Street. His brother, Robert, was a cord maker, his sisters, Wilhelmina and Helen, were bundle girls in a department store, and his brother, George, was an errand boy in a broker office. William’s occupation was listed as an office clerk; perhaps he was still working for Western Union, as he had been before the war. AcINAL

cording to city directories, William worked as a machinist in 1921 and 1922. In 1924, William married Mary Roche, but they were not listed in the city directories again until 1930. In the 1930 census, William, still married, was living alone at 8 Vale Street in South Boston. He was not listed in the 1940 census.

In 1942, William registered for the WWII draft. He was living at 18 Vassar Street in Dorchester and working for Hunt Spiller on Dorchester Avenue in South Boston. His card indicated he was married.

William’s wife Mary died on Nov 30, 1984. She had lived in North Quincy, Chelmsford, and Billerica, and was cremated at Linwood Crematory in Haverhill. William passed away on August 3, 1990 in Lowell. At the time of his death, he lived in Chelmsford, and his obituary mentioned that he had lived in Quincy and Dorchester. William is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Chelmsford.

Sources:

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Birth Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Marriage Index, 1901-1955 and 1966-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Index, 1970-2003 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Boston Ward 14, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 1364; FHL microfilm: 1240682

Year: 1910; Census Place: Boston Ward 15, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_619; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 1479; FHL microfilm: 1374632

Year: 1920; Census Place: Boston Ward 11, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_734; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 294

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Wikipedia, 8th Infantry Regiment (United States)

Wikipedia, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

Wikipedia, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

Blackhorse Association, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment History

Wikipedia, 104th Infantry Regiment (United States)

The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 05 Apr 1919, Sat Page 6

Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) 25 Apr 1931, Sat Page 7

The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 02 Dec 1984, Sun Page 87

The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 05 Aug 1990, Sun Page 75

Ancestry.com, McCarn-MacDonald Tree by Marilyn Stanley

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Uncategorized, Vassar Street, William Lawrie Reid, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Francis O’Brien

Posted on December 4, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Francis O’Brien

Our next biography features: William Francis O’Brien.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

William Francis O’Brien was born on May 27, 1900, at 154 West Third Street in South Boston. His father, John, was a teamster, who immigrated from Ireland in 1865; his mother, Elizabeth, was born in Boston. His parents had been married 11 years. He had five older siblings: John, Frederick, Annie, Matthew, and Mary.

By 1910, William’s father had died and the family moved to 40 Langdon Street, Roxbury. His mother was a hotel chambermaid. His older brothers were working, too: John as a street concrete worker and Frederick as a shoe-cutter in a factory.

At age 18, in August 1918, William enlisted in the Navy. His family now lived at 11 Fairmount Street in the Codman Hill area of Dorchester. He enlisted at the Naval Recruiting Station in Boston and was sent to the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. On September 11, he was stationed on a Boston receiving ship; a ship in harbor that received new sailors before they were assigned to a crew. William was still on the receiving ship when the Armistice was declared on November 11, 1918. He had achieved a rank of Seaman Second Class. He was discharged by special orders under honorable conditions in March 1919, and was demobilized at the District Detail Office in Boston.

After his time in the service, he returned to the family home at 11 Fairmount Street and worked in as a shipbuilder in a shipyard. His mother was no longer working outside the home. His brother Frederick was still living with the family and still employed as a shoe-cutter. His sister Anna was a telephone operator.

William Francis O’Brien was a relatively common name in Boston and, once he left his family home, it is difficult to pinpoint him in the historic record. However, through extensive genealogical research, we believe he was the William F. O’Brien listed in the 1940 census living in Medfield. He had married in 1935, to Catherine Grady, an Irish immigrant. They were married in the Chestnut Hill area of Newton. By 1940, they had three young daughters: Mary, Anna, and Katherine. Later William Junior, Paul, and Eleanor would be added to the family. William was a fireman and watchman in a ginger ale factory, possibly the nearby Clicquot Club factory in Millis. He earned $1,560 a year. The couple owned their house at 39 Granite Street in Medfield.

The family eventually returned to Dorchester, living at 27 Juliette Street and then at 80 Carruth Street. William was a member of the Ensign J. J. O’Connell Post 85 of the American Legion. He died on May 23, 1953. His funeral was held at Morrissey Brothers Funeral Home on Stoughton Street in Uphams Corner and a High Mass of Requiem was celebrated for him at St. Brendan’s Church.

Sources

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

Census Records, Federal, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1940; Ancestry.com

Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA

Family Trees; Ancestry.com

“Death Notices, Boston Globe, 24 April 1991; 31

“Death Notices” Boston Globe, 25 May 1953

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Fairmouint Street, Uncategorized, William Francis O'Brien, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Francis Edgerton Murdoch

Posted on December 4, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Francis Edgerton Murdoch

Our next biography features: Francis Edgerton Murdoch.

Written by Julie Wolf.

Frank (Francis) Edgerton Murdoch was born in Dorchester, MA, on January 11, 1892, to William A. Murdoch, a fireman, and Louisa C. Erhard Murdoch of 2187 Dorchester Avenue. An only child, Frank was 3 when his father became a patrolman for the Boston Police Department, attached to Station 11 at Fields Corner. Over his decades-long career, William was considered “one of the most popular officers in Dorchester.”

At 25, Frank registered for the World War I draft. Unmarried, he was employed as a “commercial salesman” for the Camden, New Jersey–based Joseph Campbell Company (Campbell’s Soup). He was still living with his parents, so the precise location or nature of his work is unclear. From his enlistment in the U.S. Army on October 5, 1917, until November 9 of that year, Frank, a corporal, served with Company G of the 301st Infantry; he was soon promoted to sergeant and served with Company C of the 161st Infantry until November 29 and then with the 39th Depot Service Company No. 39 Army Service Corps. On July 6, 1918, he sailed to Europe aboard the USS Cedric with Company F of the 301st and served for a year in France, departing from Brest and arriving on U.S. soil aboard the Dutch ship Rijndam on August 4, 1919. Sgt. Frank Murdoch was honorably discharged upon demobilization at Fort Devens on August 15, 1919.

Five days after his 32nd birthday, on January 16, 1924, Frank married Ethel Boyd Sweeney of Stockton Street in Dorchester. Their wedding announcement describes Frank as being “in the shoe business.” The Boston city directories for 1923 through 1926 corroborate this, identifying him as vice president of the Shawmut Shoe Company at 170 Summer Street.

For at least part of 1924, Frank’s address was still his parents’. In 1925, however, he and Ethel moved next door, to 2185 Dorchester Ave, a “frame house with 9720 square feet of land” near Richmond Street that Frank’s father had purchased in 1906. They lived here until at least 1943; by 1946, if not earlier, Frank and Ethel moved to Milton with their three children.

For the twenty or so years that Frank lived at 2185 Dorchester Avenue, he held various sales positions. In 1929, he worked at the “Textile Building,” 99 Chauncy Street in Boston, located in the heart of what was then Boston’s textile industry. The 1930 census describes Frank as a “salesman, commercial,” while the 1940 census specifies “salesman, neckwear.” According to his 1942 World War II draft registration card, Frank’s employer was Lewis Steiger & Company, a men’s clothing manufacturer located in the Empire State Building. In the 1940 census, company owner Steiger also described his industry as “neckwear.” As with Campbell’s in New Jersey, we cannot pinpoint exactly where Frank worked; it is possible he was a local company representative.

The Murdochs, it seems, were members of the fashionable set, no strangers to the society page. In March 1942, the family, still in Dorchester, was essentially the opening act for a skating performance: “Setting the pattern for the revue,” the article states, “will be the opening scene imitating a Currier and Ives print of 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Murdoch and their children, Lois, Carol and William, will all take part.” In 1946, Frank and Ethel were among a select few couples invited to luncheon at Maine’s exclusive Poland Spring House. Frank, as a young man a member of Dorchester Lower Mills Council, the Knights of Columbus, and Quincy Lodge of Elks, joined the Milton Yacht Club and the Wollaston Golf Club. Ethel served as president of the Milton Catholic Women’s Club, a position previously held by Catherine O’Hearn Fitzgerald, the daughter-in-law of Boston mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and niece by marriage of Rose Kennedy. Their daughter, Carol, drew notices for social appearances and for her fashion sense, described as “a breath of Spring chic” in 1953’s Boston Easter parade.

Frank lived to see the birth of several grandchildren, including his namesake, Lois’s son, Francis Murdoch Wallace, born in 1954. Ethel died in 1956. Frank died “suddenly” on May 4, 1962. Funeral services were held at his and Ethel’s home, 18 Longwood Road in Milton, with High Mass of Requiem afterward at the Church of St. Mary of the Hills.

SOURCES:

“A fourth child….” Boston Globe: July 1, 1954: 11.

Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004.

Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002.

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, Operations, Inc., 2016.

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005.

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

FamilySearch.org. Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915.

“Ex-Patrolman Murdoch to Be Buried Tomorrow.” Boston Globe, February 5, 1935: 12.

“Made Regular Patrolmen.” Boston Globe, October 12, 1895: 5.

“Miss Sweeney Weds Francis E. Murdock.” Boston Globe, January 17, 1924: 10.

“Murdoch.” Boston Globe, May 5, 1962: 22.

“News of Women’s Clubs.” Boston Globe, January 29, 1950: 100.

“News of Women’s Clubs.” Boston Globe, October 19, 1952: 49.

“Real Estate: West Roxbury-Dorchester.” Boston Globe, September 18, 1906: 2.

“Today in Society” column. Boston Globe, August 27, 1946: 32.

“Today in Society” column. Boston Globe, March 3, 1942: 19.

“What Several Bostonians Will Wear in Easter Parade,” Boston Globe, April 5, 1953: 63.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Francis Edgerton Murdoch, Frank Murdoch, Lower Mills, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Russell Gilbert Munroe

Posted on December 4, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Russell Gilbert Munroe

Our next biography features: Russell Gilbert Munroe.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

Russell Gilbert Munroe was born on December 28, 1895, in North Pepperell, Massachusetts. He was the first child of Gilbert and Minnie (Russell) Munroe, who married in Dorchester earlier that year. Gilbert was from Nova Scotia and was farming in Pepperell. Minnie was from Milton. Russell eventually had nine siblings, born over twenty years.

In 1900, the family lived on Blue Hill Avenue in Milton. Gilbert worked as a farm laborer. Ten years later the Munroes had made their home at 15 Miller’s Lane in Lower Mills and Gilbert was a teamster working for a hay and grain company.

On May 17, 1917, Russell enlisted in the National Guard. He mustered as a Private on August 10, serving in Company A of the 5th Infantry, which later became Company A of the 101st Infantry. He shipped overseas on September 13, sailing from Hoboken, New Jersey. In October, he made Private 1st Class. He returned from Europe in April 1919, sailing from Brest on the USS America, and was discharged from Camp Devens on April 28, 1919.

After the war, Russell returned to live with his family, then residing at 66 Temple Street in Lower Mills. Russell’s occupation on the 1920 census was listed as “traveler” working on his own account in the confectionery industry. Boston directories beginning in 1920, list him as a gardener. Gardener was also the occupation reported for him on 1930 and 1940 censuses. On his World War II draft registration he named G.G. Whitney, 75 Highland Street, Milton as his employer. This was probably Geoffrey G. Whitney, a stockbroker who owned parcels along Highland and Canton Avenues. Russell’s father and a younger brother worked as gardeners, as well.

In 1922, the family moved to 985 Adams Street in the Cedar Grove neighborhood. By 1930, they had purchased 117 Richmond Street. Russell was not the only sibling still living with their parents; the 1920 and 1930 censuses show all of his brothers and sisters at 117 Richmond. Jessie Marion, born in 1897, was a teacher before taking on the family housekeeping. Ethel, born in 1899, was a bookkeeper at a wax brush business, then a stenographer in a bank. Charlotte, born in 1901, was a clerk at Youth’s Companion, before becoming a bookkeeper at a wholesale lumber company. Donald, born in 1904, was a grain company chauffeur. Lawrence, born in 1907, was an exchange clerk at the Edison Light office. Robert, born in 1909, worked in a bank, progressing from teller to credit manager. Ralph, born in 1914, was a wholesale liquor salesman. Howard, born in 1916, was a gardener. Ruth, born in 1918, was another bookkeeper, working in an insurance office. By 1940, only Ethel, Donald and Lawrence had moved out of their parents’ home at 117 Richmond Street.

In the late 1940s, directories show Russell working as shipper at Fellowcrafters, Inc. Located at 64 Stanhope Street in Boston, the company sold supplies for hobbyists. In the mid-1950s, he is listed as a stock clerk. In the early 1960s, he moved to 1138 Adams Street and was again working as a gardener.

Sometime before his death, Russell moved to Cambridge, MA. There, he died on June 21, 1966. His obituary does not list a wife, but rather all of his siblings.

Sources

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

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

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

Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA

Lists of Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, The National Archives at College Park, Maryland; Ancestry.com

World War II Selective Service Registration Cards, National Archives and Records Administration, Ancestry.com

Boston Directories, various years, Ancestry.com

Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

“Munroe.” The Boston Globe, June 22, 1966, p. 46.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Dorchester, Lower Mills, Russell Gilbert Munroe, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Richard Henry Moore

Posted on December 4, 2019 by earltaylor

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Richard Henry Moore

Our next biography features: Richard Henry Moore.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

Richard Henry Moore was born May 9, 1895, at 34 Fuller Street in the Ashmont section of Dorchester. His mother, Sarah Dowling, immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1884. His father, Richard F. Moore, arrived in 1887 and worked as a laborer for the city of Boston. They married in 1891 and had seven other children: Owen born in 1891, John in 1893, Anne in 1897, Mary in 1899, Francis in 1901, Alice in 1903, and Thomas in 1907.

By 1900, the family owned 22 Bailey Street, only one street over from where Richard was born five years before. Richard’s older brothers had gone to work: Owen, 18, was a streetcar conductor; John, 16, was a plumber’s apprentice. Richard was still in school; he attended four years of high school.

In 1917, Richard was employed as a billing clerk for the Boston and Albany Railroad, working in their office at 187 Kneeland Street in Boston. On his draft registration that he filled out that spring, he was described as being tall, with blue eyes and dark hair. On December 6, 1917, he was drafted and inducted into the National Army at Local Board 21, Dorchester’s draft board. He was sent to the 151st Depot Brigade based at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. At the time, the 76th Division was training at Camp Devens and was largely comprised of draftees from New England. On February 6, 1918, Richard was transferred to the Medical Department of the 302nd Infantry. On May 25, he was attached to the Medical Department of the 301st Infantry. He was promoted to Private First Class and began serving in Sanitary Squad #50 in June. On July 6, Richard departed for France, sailing from New York on the USS Cedric. On January 21, 1919, he was promoted to Corporal. In February, he began serving with Evacuation Hospital 27. Richard was promoted to Sergeant on May 29, and Sergeant First Class on April 16. On August 30, he sailed from Brest, France, on the USS Kroonland, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on September 10. He was demobilized on September 16, 1919.

After the war Richard returned to 22 Bailey Street and to his job with the Boston and Albany Railroad. In 1922, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and only two years later, when he was 29, he married Maybelle Meeker, born in Butler County, Ohio, and a longtime resident of Muncie, Indiana. The couple settled in Chicago and by 1928, they were renting 2911 Shakespeare Avenue; they were still living there in 1930. By 1935, they owned 6652 North Rockwell Street. In the late 1950s, they lived at 6129 North Winchester Avenue. By 1930, Richard was a public accountant with his own accounting business.

On June 5, 1957, Richard died after a brief illness. He was buried in New London Cemetery, Shandon, Butler County, Ohio. He was survived by his wife, Maybelle, and four of his siblings.

Sources

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

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

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

Boston Directory, Boston, MA: Sampson & Murdock, 1922; 1233

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

“Dies in Chicago,” Muncie Evening Press, 6 June 1957: 25; Newspapers.com

“Death Notice,” Chicago Tribune, 7 June 1957: 66; Newspapers.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bailey Street, Dorchester, Richard Henry Moore, Uncategorized, World War 1 | Comments Off

Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Joseph William Crump

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: John Austin Campbell

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Carl Noah Burdick

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leo Vincent Bennett

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Thomas Matthew Battell

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Lawrie Reid

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Francis O’Brien

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Francis Edgerton Murdoch

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Russell Gilbert Munroe

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Richard Henry Moore

Recent Posts

Archives

Blogroll

Categories