Dorchester Historical Society

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biographies: Arthur Clarence McIntosh, George Edward McIntosh, James Albert McIntosh

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: Arthur Clarence McIntosh, George Edward McIntosh, James Albert McIntosh.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

We have a photo of only George Edward McIntosh.

Three McIntosh brothers served in World War I: Arthur Clarence, born May 9, 1894, George Edward born February 24, 1897, and James Albert born April 3, 1900. Their father, Arthur Franklin McIntosh, was born in Dorchester; in childhood he lived on Cedar Street. As an adult, he worked for plate glass manufacturers in Boston, including as a glass cutter at 61 Portland Street, and later as a superintendent at the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. In January 1893, he married Annie Marie (Elliott) of Charlestown, who worked as book folder before her marriage. In addition to Arthur, George, and James, they had four other children: Annie born in 1895, Robert in 1907, Edith in 1909, and Franklin in 1912.

At the time of Arthur’s birth, the family resided at 10 Buttonwood Street. They were living at 864 Dorchester Avenue by when George was born. A year later, they moved to Avondale Place. When James was born, they were at 1069 Washington Street; seven years later they were just up the street at number 1071. In 1910, they lived at 24 Idaho Street and in 1912 at 19 Grant Place. By 1914, they had purchased 6 Monson Street in the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester.

George was the first to join military service. On his notecard for George E. McIntosh, Dr. Perkins noted that George wanted to enlist and attempted to do so “several times, rejected each time as underweight.” Eventually, he made his way to Fort Warren on Georges Island in Boston Harbor, the headquarters of the Coast Defenses of Boston. There, he was accepted, enlisting on December 13, 1917. He trained at Fort Warren, remaining there until September 18, 1918. On September 23, he sailed overseas, leaving from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the USS Mongolia. According to Dr. Perkins’s notes, George arrived in France on October 6, 1918.  He was a private in the Fort Warren September Automatic Replacement Draft, Unit 3, Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), serving in Battery D, Tractor Artillery Replacement Battalion. In late January 1919, he returned home on the RMS Cedric, as part of Headquarters Company, 44th Artillery, CAC, sailing from Brest, France, and reaching New York on February 4, 1919. George was discharged on February 15, 1919.

Next to join the service was the oldest brother, Arthur. At the time of the first draft registration in June 1917, he reported that he was self-employed as an electrical contractor, working out of 45 India Street in Boston; the Boston directory lists this address for Brown and Company, electricians. He was a graduate of the Mechanic Arts High School, as well as the Franklin Union (now the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology), where he later taught. He enrolled in the Navy on March 28, 1918. On his notecard for Arthur C. McIntosh, Dr. Perkins noted that Arthur was a “Chief Electrician” at the “Naval Experimental Station New London [Connecticut]. … stationed at the Marine Ironworks, New London.” Arthur was later a chief petty officer, according to his obituary. He was discharged on January 29, 1919.

James, also a graduate of the Mechanic Arts High School, enrolled at the Boston Navy Yard, in Charlestown, on May 13, 1918, as a Seaman Second Class. He was sent to the Naval Training Station at Newport, Rhode Island on May 21, and remained there until June 14. For three months, he was stationed at the Second Naval District Patrol Section Base. On September 13, he was transferred to the Receiving Barracks, New London, where he remained until the Armistice. On his notecard for James A. McIntosh, Dr. Perkins noted James was in the “Production Section” at New London, Connecticut. James was placed on Inactive Duty from the Naval Experimental Station in New London on April 18, 1919, and was honorably discharged on September 30, 1921, due to lack of funds.

In 1917, Arthur had married Margaret J. Watson of Dorchester. By July 1919, they were living at 90 Argyle Road in East Braintree, and he was working as an electrician. In Braintree, he served as the founding scout master of Boy Scout Troop 7. By 1920, he and Margaret had a daughter, Edna.

Also living at 90 Argyle Road in January 1920, was his brother James and his wife. James had married Margaret B. Wilkie on November 24, 1919, in Rhode Island. The couple did not remain long at 90 Argyle Road, moving to Milton by February, when their son James, Jr. was born. In 1920, James was a machinist in a shipyard. Six years later, he began working as a clerk at Walter Baker Chocolate, where he remained for the rest of his career.

After the war, George returned to 6 Monson Street. He was a clerk at the Walter Baker Chocolate Co., where, he too, worked for the rest of his career, later as a bookkeeper, accountant, and, eventually, assistant head of the order and billing department. In 1922, George married Mary Elizabeth Murphy, a Boston telephone operator, in a ceremony in Nashua, New Hampshire. They had two children: Gertrude and John. In 1924, they lived at 26 Homefield Avenue in Hyde Park, then returned to Dorchester, living in 1927 at 54 Semont Road, and in 1928 at 102 Glenrose Road. In 1931, they moved to 9 Rector Road, where they lived through the early 1970s.

By 1924, Arthur and his family were living in Quincy, in a home they owned at 47 Vershire Street. Arthur was an electrical instructor; it was probably at this time that he taught at the Franklin Union. In 1930, he and his family moved to Walpole, where Arthur began working at the L.F. Fales Machine Company at East and Elm Streets. He remained with the company for the rest of his life, eventually becoming the president. In 1940, he was making $8,000 a year. By that time, Arthur owned 8 Prospect Street in Walpole, valued at $7,500. In 1942, the family lived at 8 Lake Avenue, Walpole.

James remained in Milton, living on Essex Street. By 1930, his brother-in-law, David Wilkie, had joined the household. A civil engineer, David was out of work, performing odd jobs when he could. David was still unemployed in 1940. James’s steady work at Walter Baker brought in a salary of $2,000 a year. His son, James, Jr., a college student, worked 28 weeks in a boarding house, earning $300. In 1958, James’s wife Margaret died. In the early 1960s, he remarried, wedding Mary Eisenahuaer. James died on February 11, 1973, at the Milton Hospital after a long illness. He was buried in the Milton Cemetery.

In 1975, George’s wife Mary died. By then, they had moved from 9 Rector Road, their home for 40 years, and were living at 74 Georgetowne Place in Hyde Park. George had retired in the early 1960s. By 1979, he lived on O’Neill Drive in Dedham. It was there that he died of a heart attack on April 19, 1979. He was buried Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton. He was a past commander of World War I Veterans Barracks of Boston, as well as a member of the Odd Fellows of Dorchester; the Jacob Jones Post, Veterans of a Foreign War, Dedham; and the Dedham American Legion.

Arthur died on April 17, 1980, at Norwood Hospital after a long illness. His wife Mary died a month later. They are interred in the Rural Cemetery in Walpole. Arthur was a member of the Azure Masonic Lodge.

Sources

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

Family Trees; Ancestry.com

U.S. Federal Census, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Ancestry.com

Boston, Braintree, Quincy Directories, various years; Ancestry.com

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

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

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

Fort Warren, Wikipedia.org <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Warren_(Massachusetts)>

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

“Several Mechanic Arts Seniors Wear Khaki,” Boston Globe, 22 Jun 1917: 8; Newspapers.com

“Braintree,” Boston Globe, 2 July 1919: 4; Newspapers.com

Marriage Records, George McIntosh & John McIntosh: New England Historical Genealogical Society; New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire; Ancestry.com

Rhode Island, Marriage Index, 1851-1920; Ancestry.com

“U.S. Will Still Be Best Fed, Asserts General Foods Head,” Boston Globe, 24 Dec 1941: 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

Deaths, Boston Globe, 31 July 1958: 29; Newspapers.com

“J.A. McIntosh,” Boston Globe, 13 February 1973: 41; Newspapers.com

Death Notices, Boston Globe, 1 Oct 1975: 63; Newspapers.com

“George McIntosh, 82,” Boston Globe, 22 April 1979: 95; Newspapers.com

“Arthur C. McIntosh, 85,” Boston Globe, 18 April 1980: 39; Newspapers.com

Arthur McIntosh, George McIntosh, FindAGrave.com

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