Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Wallace Davis

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Davis, William Wallace

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Wallace Davis

 

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: William Wallace Davis.

Written by Julie Wolf.

William Wallace Davis was born in Dorchester on December 16, 1889, the youngest child of Maine natives John Allen Davis and Mary Starr Stockbridge. Their first daughter was stillborn in 1880, a year after they married in Medway, MA; daughter Marjorie Merriam was born in 1884. William’s mother had deep roots in colonial America; in Maine since at least the 1750s, several lines of her family had emigrated from England to Massachusetts by the mid-1600s. Although he bore the name of the famed Scottish independence leader, William Wallace’s maternal ancestry traces back not to Scotland but to princes and kings of Dark Ages Ireland and Wales.

Since birth, William and his family had lived at 45 Cedar Street, a home his father owned. Although John had been a farmer at the time of his marriage, by the time his son was born, he was a fireman at the Baker Chocolate Factory and would  continue there through at least 1900, when the census was taken. By the 1910 census, the household had expanded to include three Canadian boarders, young women working as Baker mill hands. William’s father was then a watchman at the factory, a position he held through at least 1926, and William, age 20, was a house painter. The 1910 Boston city directory, however, identified William as a clerk.

William registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917. Although he gave his residence as Bridgton, Maine, no house number or street name is included, and most subsequent records show his address as Dorchester, sometimes designated as Mattapan. (Years later, in the 1927 Bridgton city directory, his parents were listed as summer residents on Pond Street, and the 1930 census found them living in the town full-time, but no similar details were available for William’s whereabouts at the time of his registration.) William gave his age as 28 but his birth date as December 16, 1888, a year earlier than the date of record. Tall, slender, single, and lacking a “present trade,” he claimed no dependents, but he did claim an exemption from the draft, considering himself “disabled” on account of his “weak lungs.”

His claim wasn’t honored, and on July 26, 1918, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Westbrook, Maine, reporting afterward to Camp Devens in Harvard, MA. He was assigned to 45th Company, 12th Battalion of the 151st Depot Brigade until August 5. Depot brigades were responsible for training replacements for the American Expeditionary Forces and processing new draftees. He went on to serve as a mechanic with Company H of the 42d Infantry. (The VA Master Index indicates that he served with Company C.)

That fall, in the midst of the deadliest war in modern human history in terms of military and civilian casualties,  the deadliest pandemic in modern human history struck: the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. Its global spread was accelerated not only by the massive number of troops being deployed worldwide, but by the crowded conditions in which the troops lived. Toward the end of that summer, overrun with vast numbers of soldiers destined for U.S. military camps on their way overseas, Boston became a prime breeding ground for the disease. Camp Devens, about 40 miles away and housing some 50,000 soldiers awaiting departure to France, was particularly hard hit in terms of victims, and was unfortunately a notable contributor to the spread of the ferocious flu strain.

The statistics surrounding the influenza pandemic and its impact on the U.S. military were staggering. According to a report published in the official journal of the U.S. Surgeon General, “By the War Department’s most conservative count, influenza sickened 26% of the Army—more than one million men—and killed almost 30,000 before they even got to France.” The New England Historical Society and Boston Globe provided local figures comprising those daunting numbers. By Sept. 23, Camp

Devens alone had reported between 10,500 and 11,000 cases of flu.

William was one of those Camp Devens cases, one of those soldiers who never made it overseas. Records include him among the 70 or so men to die in camp on Sept. 24, only one of whom died from something other than pneumonia, the cause of death assigned in flu fatalities. (All told that week, Camp Devens lost 438 soldiers to the pandemic.) The very next day, reports noted that new influenza cases at Devens were on the decline, and by mid-October, the pandemic had begun to subside across Massachusetts.

Mechanic William Wallace Davis, age 28, was buried at Dorchester’s Cedar Grove Cemetery. The following words are inscribed on his card in Dr. Perkins’s World War I Photo Collection: “He served well until the call came for the service beyond.”

SOURCES:

American Experience: Influenza 1918: The Flu in Boston.

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. Maine, Military Index, 1917-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2000.

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

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.

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.

Byerly, Carol R. “The U.S. military and the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919.” Public Health Reports (Washington, D.C.: 1974), vol. 125, Suppl 3, Suppl 3 (2010): 82-91.

“Camps Have 20,211 Cases of Influenza: Disease at 25 Posts, With Devens Hit Hardest.” Boston Globe, September 24, 1918: 2.

Dr. Perkins WWI Photo Collection.

FamilySearch Family Tree, William Wallace Davis.

FamilySearch. Maine, State Archive Collections, 1718-1957, database with images.

FamilySearch. Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, database with images,

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

Farnam, Charles H. History of the Descendants of John Whitman of Weymouth, Mass. (New Haven, CT: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, Printers, 1889), 207.

“Grippe on Decline at Camp Devens: Death List of 60 Shows Big Decrease.” Boston Globe, September 27, 1918: 14.

List of Authorized Abbreviations: World War I Service Discharge Cards.

Maine State Documents. “Record of War Deaths in World War I” (2017). Personnel. 1.

“More Optimistic at Camp Devens: Good Progress in Checking Influenza Epidemic.” Boston Globe, September 26, 1918: 14.

Official U.S. Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 430, Oct. 5, 1918, 15.

Selective Service Regulation (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1917), 157.

“The 1918 Flu Epidemic Kills Thousands in New England.” New England Historical Society.

“When Fort Devens was ground zero of flu pandemic,” Telegram.com, November 5, 2006.

Wikipedia. 152d Depot Brigade (United States).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Wallace Davis

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leonard Joseph Dacey

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Dacey, William and Leonard Deacy

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leonard Joseph Dacey

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: Leonard Joseph Dacey.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

In the illustration, Leonard is on the righ.

Leonard Joseph Dacey was born on September 22, 1894, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His parents, William T. and Mary (Cummings) Dacey, were born in South Boston and Charlestown, respectively. Leonard had six younger siblings: William Valentine born in 1895, Francis, known as Frank, born in 1897, Dorothy in 1899, Marion in 1901, Gertrude in 1904, and Lawrence in 1911. Three of the siblings died as children: Marion at age 10, Gertrude at 16, and Lawrence at 17.

His father, William, was in the window shade and screen business. At the time of Leonard’s birth, William was a shade cutter. By 1900, he was a window shade salesman. Eventually, he became the president of the Crown Shade and Screen Company. Founded in 1905, with a showroom in Boston and a factory on Lochdale Road in Roslindale not far from Forest Hills Station, the company advertised shade cloth, “roller fly screens,” and made-to-order screens for windows, doors, and porches.

In 1894, the family lived at 11 Auburn Street in Chelsea. By 1910, they had moved a couple of blocks over to 39 Cherry Street. The family moved within the neighborhood again in 1912 to 131 Williams Street. In April 1917, his parents purchased a home at 7 Aberdeen Road in Milton.

That June, on his draft registration, Leonard gave his address as 9 Arlington Street in Chelsea. He was working for the Jordan Marsh Department store on Washington Street in Boston as a salesman. On December 10, 1917, at the Navy recruiting station in Boston, he enlisted as an Apprentice Seaman. He was immediately sent to the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island. In February 1918, he was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class and was assigned to Mine Force Detail in Newport. At the end of March, he spent one week on the USS Canandaigua, then was stationed on a receiving ship in New York for thirteen days. On April 16, 1918, he was transferred to the USS Santa Barbara, where he served until the Armistice. On his notecard for Leonard Dacey, Dr. Perkins noted that Leonard had “been overseas four times.” In July, he was promoted to Seaman, and in October to Quartermaster 3rd Class. He was honorably discharged on May 26, 1919, at the Naval Hospital in New York, on account of Physical Disability.

After the war he lived with his family at 7 Aberdeen Road in Milton, returning to Jordan Marsh as an interior designer. Leonard was married on October 12, 1924, to Sarah Marie Foley of Boston. They eventually had eight children: William, Marion, Gertrude, Leonard, John, Gerard, Ann, and Dorothy. The couple moved into 7 Aberdeen Road, Leonard and his growing family living in one unit and his parents and two unmarried siblings in the other. In 1930, he was paying $35 a month to rent his unit; the house itself was valued at $13,000. After 1930, the family is listed living at 23 Aberdeen Road; it is unclear if the street was renumbered at that time or if they moved. Leonard lived here for the rest of his life, working as a decorator and drapery maker at Jordan Marsh for thirty years.

In July 1948, the engagement of his daughter Marion was announced and a wedding date set for August 1. Leonard did not survive to attend, taking his life at his home on the afternoon of Saturday, July 17, 1948. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was celebrated at St. Mary of the Hills in Milton and he was buried in the Milton Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, children, and two of his siblings.

Sources

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

Family Trees, Ancestry.com

Death Record for Marion Dacey, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com

Death listing for Gertrude J. Dacey, 85th Annual Town Report of Milton, Mass. for the Year Ending December 31, 1921, page 50; Archive.org

Death listing for Lawrence Dacey, Town of Milton 92nd Annual Report 1928, page 101; Archive.org

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

“Crown Shade and Screen Co in Its New Quarters,” Boston Globe, 25 Jan 1930, 6; Newspapers.com

Chelsea, Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com

Deed, 7 Aberdeen Road, Milton, Norfolk County Registry of Deeds; Norfolkresearch.org

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

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

Marriage listing, 88th Annual Town Report of Milton Mass for the Year Ending December 31 1924, Compiled by The Auditors, Town of Milton, Boston, MA: Wright & Potter Printing Company, 1925; 84; Archive.org

“August Wedding Planned,” Boston Globe, 18 July 1948; 95

“Leonard J. Dacey,” Boston Globe, 19 July 1948; 19

Town of Milton, 112th Annual Report, 1948, Boston: Buck Printing Company, 1949; 155; Archive.org

Certificate of Death, Town of Milton, Norfolk County Registry of Deeds; Norfokresearch.org

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Leonard Joseph Dacey

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Martin Joseph Cusack

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Cusack, Martin J

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Martin Joseph Cusack

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: Martin Joseph Cusack.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

Martin Joseph Cusack (sometimes spelled Cusick) was born in Ireland in November 1889. Martin used different birth dates over the course of his life: as a younger man, November 10 or 11, and later in life, November 23. He was born in County Galway, according to the 1901 Irish census and his United States immigration records. His parents, John and Bridget (Sullivan), were born in County Clare. John was a wool weaver and farmer. Martin had at least two older siblings, James and Hanoria.

In 1901, the family lived in Gortacornane, Ardimullivan, County Galway. At that time, Martin, age 11, was in school; he attended school through the eighth grade. It is possible that he was the 20-year-old Martin Cusack who, in 1911, was living with and working for William Keane, a shopkeeper in Gort, a town about five miles from Ardimullivan.

In 1912, Martin sailed from Queenstown on the White Star Line’s SS Arabic, arriving in Boston on May 3. His initial destination was Roxbury, according to the Arabic’s passenger list. A little over a year later, on July 9, 1913, he declared his intention to become a United States citizen. By that time, he was living at 54 Cedar Street in Mattapan. On his citizenship Declaration of Intention, he gave his occupation as laborer; the Boston directory listed him as a gardener. In 1914, he moved to 3 Brunswick Street. He continued to appear in the directory as a gardener until 1917; that year he reported on his draft registration that he was a chocolate maker at the Walter Baker Company. In 1918, he moved to 1213 Adams Street, a boarding house run by Delia B. Ward. On January 28, 1918, he became a United States citizen, his oath of citizenship witnessed by Thomas Higgins, a chauffeur, and Peter O’Donahue, chocolate maker, both of Dorchester.

Not much is known about Martin’s military service during World War I. On his notecard for Marin J. Cusack, Dr. Perkins noted that Martin was at “Base Hospital 141, Ft. Ethan Allen, Vermont.” Fort Ethan Allen, about five miles from Burlington, located between the towns of Colchester and Essex, had been established as cavalry post in the 1890s; during the war these cavalry units became Field Artillery regiments. The fort also hosted a training camp for medical officers during World War I. The photo that Martin sent to Dr. Perkins was taken in Burlington at 67 Church Street, in the studio of photographer F.H. Tims.

In 1920, Martin was again boarding at 1213 Adams Street and working as a laborer in the chocolate mill. On November 16, he married Mary Katherine Loftus, also an Irish immigrant. They had two children, John born in 1922, and Martin, born in 1924. The couple initially lived at 15 Topliff Street, then moved to 30 Barry Street in 1922, 57 Whitfield Street in 1925, and 41 Aspinwall Road in 1926.

On March 15, 1921, Martin was appointed a Boston patrolman, with a yearly salary of $1,400. He was assigned to Division 16 in the Back Bay, based at the combined police and fire station on Boylston Street, near Hereford Street. In February 1924, he “performed meritorious work in leading persons to safety” from a burning building on Huntington Street. In September 1927, he was reprimanded for “taking it easy” in the Copley Square subway station during the “Sacco-Vanzetti disturbances,” and was “assigned to 70 hours extra duty, without pay.” Six months later, he was hit by a car while on duty at the corner of Clarendon and Beacon Streets, but was not seriously injured. By 1930, he was stationed at the La Grange Street Station; that year his car was stolen, along with his uniform which was in the car, when he paused for an early morning cup of coffee at a restaurant after finishing overnight duty. In 1932, he chased a burglar escaping from an attempted break-in on Huntington Street, apprehending the thief on West Newton Street. By 1934, he was working out of Division 13 on Seaverns Avenue in Jamaica Plain, and by 1942, he was stationed at Division 2 on Milk Street.

In the late 1920s, Martin and Mary purchased 26 Corona Street in Dorchester, valued at $9,000 in 1930. Living with them at that time were Mary’s sister, Anna Loughnane, as well as a boarder, Margaret McNamara, both of whom were Registered Nurses in private duty nursing. In 1940, the Cusacks still lived at 26 Corona, though they no longer had extended family or boarders in their household. During the Depression, the house valued dropped to $2,500, but Martin remained employed as a Boston police officer, making $2,100 a year. During World War II, both sons served in the military, John in the Navy and Martin, Jr. in the Marine Corps. By the mid-1950s, Martin and Mary were living at 94 Birch Street in West Roxbury. In 1959, around the time Martin retired, they moved to 83 Gladeside Avenue in Mattapan.

Mary died in May 1968. About a year and a half later, Martin died on November 4, 1969. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was celebrated for him at St. Angela’s on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan. He was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in West Roxbury, where Mary had also been laid to rest. Martin was a member of #251 American Legion Boston Police Post.

Sources

Census of Ireland: 1901, 1911. Archives of Ireland. www.census.nationalarchives.ie

Family Tree, Ancestry.com

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

Book Indexes to Boston Passenger Lists, 1899-1940, National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com

Boston directories, various years; Ancestry.com

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

Greene, R.L. “Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont,” US Army Recruiting News. Office of the Adjutant General. 15 August 1925; https://books.google.com/books?id=vCctAAAAIAAJ&dq=fort%20ethan%20allen&pg=RA41-PA7#v=onepage&q=fort%20ethan%20allen&f=false

“Practice of Medicine in WW1, Military Medicine in World War I,” WorldWar1Centennial.org. United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the World Wars, 2013-2019,

https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/practice-of-medicine-in-ww1.html

“Frederick Tims, Burlington Photographer,” Champlain College, 2013-2017,

http://specialcollections.champlain.edu/digital-collections/index.php/simpleGallery/Show/displaySet/set_id/21

City Council. Documents of the City of Boston for the year 1921, Volume 3, Issues 33-49 [number 36, pg 157]. City of Boston: Printing Department, 1922: Books.Google.com

“Huntington-Av Fire Drives 25 to Street,” Boston Globe, 26 February 1924, 1; Newspapers.com

“Officer Didn’t Know Boston’s Boundaries,” Boston Globe, 13 September 1927, 8; Newspapers.com

“Patrolman Cusack Hurt by Cliftondale Auto,” Boston Globe, 13 March 1928, 6; Newspapers.com

“Policeman’s Car Stolen As He Drinks Coffee,” Boston Globe, 18 March 1930; 23

“Hotel Guest’s Shots Cause Man’s Arrest,” Boston Globe, 26 Jan 1932; 22

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

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

Morning Death Notices, Boston Globe, 9 May 1968, 51; Newspapers.com

Deaths, Boston Globe, 6 November 1969, 41; Newspapers.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Martin Joseph Cusack

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: James T. Curran

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Curran, James T

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: James T. Curran

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: James T. Curran.

Written by Camille Arbogast.

James T. Curran was born on November 4, 1895, in Dorchester. His parents, William and Catherine (Bracken) Curran, were born in England to Irish parents. William immigrated to the United States in 1887 and Catherine in 1892.  Married in February 1893, at St. Peter’s Church in Dorchester, they had eight other children: Helen or Ellen born in 1893, William in 1897, Catherine in 1898, Francis in 1900, Richard in 1902, Joseph 1905, John in 1907, and Philip in 1910. At the time of James’s birth, William was a furniture mover.

By 1900, the family resided on Pierce Street in Milton. William worked as an express man. In 1909, James graduated from the Belcher School in Milton. By the next year, the family had returned to Dorchester and were living at 1661 Washington Street. William was working as a foreman at a chocolate mill, probably the Walter Baker Chocolate Company.

When James registered for the draft on June 5, 1917, his family was living at 1066 Washington Street. James was a riding instructor at the Milton Riding School in Milton. By the next year, they had moved to 2 Brunswick Street in Dorchester. On June 13, 1917, James entered the Army and was assigned to Company 1 of the 151st Depot Brigade, a training battalion based at Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. As of this time, nothing further is known about his military service. James was discharged on December 18, 1918.

On June 16, 1918, James wed Anna Walsh, an Irish immigrant who was working as a waitress. They were married in Dorchester by Reverend Richard F. Howard of St. Gregory’s Church in Lower Mills. James and Anna would go on to have four children: Helen, James, Mary, and Joseph.

In 1920, James, Anna, and Anna’s brother Stephen, lived at 14 New Heath Street in the Fort Hill section of Roxbury. That year, the census reported James was working in a shoe factory, while the Boston directory listed his occupation as chauffeur. By 1922, James and Anna had moved a couple of blocks to 4 Bromley Street. James was a chauffeur, his occupation for the rest of the decade. By 1925, they lived at 60 Chestnut Street in Jamaica Plain. Two years later, they were back in Roxbury at 1 Fenner Street. It is possible he was the James T. Curran of Roxbury who, in August 1930, was arrested in Wrentham when his car was found to contain “10 sacks of champagne, each sack containing 24 bottles; 24 loose bottles of champagne, three sacks of gin, each containing 36 bottles, and 12 loose bottles of gin.” For this violation of the Volstead Act he was fined $200.

In April 1930, the census taker reported James and his family were living at 20 Lafayette Street in Waltham and James was a clerk in the post office. It is possible that he was the James T. Curran of Waltham who, in 1932, was given a suspended sentence of two years in the House of Corrections and placed on two years’ probation for transporting liquor. In 1933, the Currans resided at 49 Gibson Street in Dorchester and James was a mechanic.

The next year, they moved to 224 Hyde Park Avenue in Jamaica Plain, where James lived for the remainder of his life. He worked as a chauffeur for over twenty years; in 1942 his employer was the Golden Arrow Motor Lines of 69 Bridge Street, Cambridge. In 1959, the Boston directory listed him as a civil engineer with the Massachusetts Department of Public Works. James died in Jamaica Plain on August 30, 1961. His wife survived him, dying at age 99 in 1986.

Sources

Birth Record, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988; Ancestry.com

Family Tree; Ancestry.com

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

73rd Annual Town Report of Milton Mass for the Year Ending December 31, 1909, compiled by the Auditors. Boston: Poole Print Co; 40; Archive.org

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

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

Marriage Record for James T Curran and Anna R Walsh, 16 Jun 1918; citing Marriage, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, certificate number 3199, page 247, State Archives, Boston; FamilySearch.org

Boston Directories, Various Years, Ancestry.com

“Roxbury Man Fined $200 in Wrentham,” Boston Globe, 26 Aug 1930: 54; Newspapers.com

“Inflict Sentences in Federal Court,” Boston Globe, 14 June 1932: 9; Newspapers.com

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

Deaths, Boston Globe, 31 August 1961: 26; Newspapers.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: James T. Curran

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Hugh White

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

White, Hugh

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Hugh White

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: Hugh White.

Hugh White (sometimes spelled Whyte) was born on October 28, 1888, in County Galway, Ireland. On his notecard for Hugh White, Dr. Perkins noted that Hugh graduated from the Irish National School in Kilkerrin. It is possible that Hugh was the Hugh Whyte who appears on the 1901 Irish census as a thirteen-year-old apprentice living in the household of John Halney, shopkeeper, in Carrowleana, Shankhill, County Galway, in the Kilkerrin area. The Halney household included six young men who appear on the census as apprentices, servants, and shop assistants.

According to Dr. Perkins’s notecard, Hugh arrived in the United States in 1914. It is possible he was the Hugh Whyte, hailing from Kilkerrin, who arrived in New York on March 22, 1914, aboard the White Star Line’s RMS Cederic. A Hugh White, born in Ireland and having only been in the United States for one year, appears in the 1915 New York census lodging at 34 Troy Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, and working at Montgomery and Ward. In 1917, Hugh was in Dorchester, living at 2096 Dorchester Avenue. He was a salesman at the R.H. White Company, a department store on Washington Street in Boston.

In June, when he filled out his draft registration at Dorchester’s draft board, Local Board 21, he reported that he was not sure exactly how old he was—he thought he might be 30—but had “sent for birth records.” Later documents, presumably filled out after he received his birth records, show that he was a year younger than he guessed. Hugh claimed an exemption from the draft, as his mother and sister were partially dependent on him for support.

By the time he was drafted and inducted into the Army on August 30, 1918, he had moved back to Brooklyn, boarding at 1362 Bergen Street, a boarding house run by Bridget Kilagallen. Hugh was sent to Camp Upton on Long Island, and assigned to the 152 Depot Brigade for training. On his notecard for Hugh White, Dr. Perkins noted that Hugh was in the camp medical detachment. He was still in the 152 Depot Brigade when the Armistice was declared. Hugh was naturalized an American citizen while at Camp Upton in 1918, probably shortly before his discharge on December 4, 1918.

In 1920, Hugh was again living at 1362 Bergen Street, working as a retail grocery clerk. On August 11, 1921, he married Mary K. Jennings, also an Irish immigrant, from County Mayo. They had four children: Dorothy, twins Kathleen and Hugh, Jr., and Evelyn.

In 1925, they were living at 150 Rogers Avenue, Brooklyn, and Hugh was working as a foreman. By 1928, they had moved about a mile away, to the garden-entrance row house they purchased at 13 Miami Court. In 1930, the home was valued at $8,000; it’s worth had dropped almost by half by 1940. By that time, Hugh was a clerk for the Public Works Administration, a New Deal program, making $780 a year. Two years later, when he registered for the World War II draft, he was employed by Spellman and Company of 58-62 Third Avenue, New York. In 1952, his wife Mary died suddenly. Hugh died on September 26, 1962.

Sources

1901, Census of Ireland; National Archives of Ireland; Census.nationalarchives.ie

New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 [database on-line], Year: 1914; Arrival: New York, New York; Ancestry.com

New York State population census schedules,1915, 1925. Albany, New York: New York State Archives.; Ancestry.com

United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.; Ancestry.com

New York State Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917–1919. Adjutant General’s Office. Series B0808. New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Ancestry.com

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

Index to Marriages, New York City Clerk’s Office, New York, New York; Ancestry.com

“Luke Andrew Jennings,” Times Union (Brooklyn, NY), 29 May 1928; 24; 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, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 14 June 1952; 5; Newspapapers.com

New York State Department of Health. Genealogical Research Death Index. Albany, New York; Ancestry.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Hugh White

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Daniel Wickes

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Wickes, William

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Daniel Wickes
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: William Daniel Wickes

William Daniel Wickes was born on July 1, 1901. His parents, Bernard Wickes and Mary (Nagle) Wickes, were living at 162 Linwood Street in Somerville at the time. In the 1900 census, the family had three older sons, and Bernard was working as a produce dealer.

In 1905, the family suffered a tragic loss. Their two-year-old son, Walter, was killed in a railroad accident near his home. This may have inspired the family to leave Somerville. Around 1906, Bernard changed professions and became a horse dealer. By 1910, the family had moved to Roxbury, and the family then had seven sons. In 1912, Bernard founded the Bay State Motor Car Company at 15 Berkeley Street in Boston, and was one of the pioneers in the used car branch of the automobile trade.

In the summer of 1917, William became fired with the spirit of the war. On his 16th birthday, while his schoolmates at Dorchester High School were making plans to celebrate the Declaration of Independence, William went to the East Armory, where the 9th Regiment was recruiting, and passed himself off as a man of 18 years old.

His parents knew of his intention, and after considerable argument on his part, they gave their consent, provided he could pass muster on his age. He filled out his draft registration card under the name William McKinley Wickes, and recorded his birth year as 1899. His papers passed scrutiny, and he was welcomed into the ranks of the 9th. He sailed to France with Company A, 101st US Infantry, on SS Tenadores on September 7, 1917. For a time he worked with a detail of men helping about the docks, and then returned to the regiment for training for the trenches.

Just before the 101st began its activities against the Germans, William was sent to the army hospital with trench foot, a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure to damp, unsanitary, and cold conditions. There, he became ill with scarlet fever. That proved to be a bar to his military ambitions, for he came in contact with an army doctor from Roxbury, who not only knew William’s father, but knew William’s age as well.

“Just my luck,” Private Wickes told a Boston Post reporter. “The day that I was to be discharged from the hospital and I had been dreaming of going to the trenches with the boys, the lieutenant informed me that I was to go back to the States. He told me why and then I knew it was all off. I left France March 3 [1918] with several other boys who were also under the age limit. After landing in America we were sent to Fort Jay [New York], and from there I was sent to Dorchester. Of course I’m disappointed, but when they’ve got you right what’s the use of putting up an argument?”

William resumed his studies in Dorchester High School after the Easter recess, but he found it hard to keep his mind on schoolwork while his former army mates were making new history for the world. He told the Boston Post, “Uncle Sam barred me from taking a crack at the Germans in France because of my age, but if the war is on when I am 18 – well, I’m going back!”

William worked for his father along with several of his brothers after the war. In an advertisement in the Boston Post in November 1918, his job title was listed as assistant sales manager. He lived with his parents at 14 Rosedale Street, near Codman Square in Dorchester, until his sudden death in an accident in 1927. The company he had joined briefly during the war, Company A of the 101st Infantry, headed a firing squad at his services. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden.

Sources:

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

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Year: 1900; Census Place: Somerville Ward 1, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0925; FHL microfilm: 1240665

Year: 1910; Census Place: Boston Ward 18, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_621; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 1538; FHL microfilm: 1374634

Year: 1920; Census Place: Boston Ward 19, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_738; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 482

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

Boston Post (Boston, Massachusetts) 31 Mar 1918, Sun Page 6

Boston Post (Boston, Massachusetts) 24 Nov 1918, Sun Page 16

The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 26 Mar 1919, Wed Page 5

The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) 13 Aug 1927, Sat Page 8

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Daniel Wickes

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Henry William Young.

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Young, Henry William

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Henry William Young.

 

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: Henry William Young

Henry William Young was born August 9, 1900, at 212 F Street in South Boston. He was the oldest child of Bostonians Mary A. (Birmingh) and William J.J. Young, a draftsman. They also had six younger children: Joseph, John, Mary, Helen, William, and Francis. By 1910, the family lived on Sewall Street (today’s Southwick Street and Salina Road) in Neponset.

In 1916, Henry was one of the “energetic Dorchester boys” who started a cadet group associated with Saint Peter’s church on Bowdoin Street. Perhaps caught up in the enthusiasm over the United States’ entry into World War I but too young to enlist, the boys drilled in Fields Corner’s Ronan Park, as well at the Columbia Road Gymnasium. They were supported by “public-spirited men and women,” whose donations enabled the group to be “equipped with uniforms and swords.” Henry was the Drum Major.

By 1918, his parents had purchased 94 Standard Street in Mattapan. That September, Henry registered for the second draft, for men who had turned 18 since the first draft in June 1917. At that time, he was a machinist helper at the Bethlehem Ship Building Corporation in Squantum.

On his notecard for Henry W. Young, Dr. Perkins noted that Henry was in Company B of the Harvard Student Army Training Corps (SATC), a program that allowed students to combine college studies with military training. Harvard was one of 525 schools to participate. Henry probably entered the SATC on its first day, October 1, 1918, when as many as 200,000 students were voluntarily inducted into its ranks. The program did not last long, as the Armistice occurred only a little over a month after the SATC’s formation. The Harvard SATC was disbanded in early December 1918. It is unclear if Henry had any further involvement with Harvard. According to a newspaper article written about him in the late 1920s, Henry was “graduate of Boston University and Harvard College;” on the 1940 census, it was reported he attended two years of college.

In 1920, he was living at 94 Standard Street and working as a clerk in a shipyard. By 1926, he was a custodian for the Boston Public Schools, his life-long career. He began at the Martha Baker School on Walk Hill Avenue. In May 1926, he applied for and received a transfer to the nearby Charles Logue School. In December 1927, he again applied for a transfer and moved to the Dwight School on West Springfield Street in the South End.

On the eighth of June 1929, he wed Helena Evelyn Sullivan of 21 Standard Street. Helena was a graduate of Notre Dame Academy in Roxbury. According to the 1940 census, she attended five years of college. They were married at Saint Gregory’s Church in Lower Mills. Henry’s sister, Mary, was in the wedding party. The officiant was Helena’s brother Edward, who was recently ordained. Henry’s brother, John, also had become a priest, in the Congregation of the Mission order. After their wedding trip, Henry and Helena settled at 14 Duxbury Road in Mattapan. They had four children: John, Henry, Kathleen, and Joan.

In February 1930, an illness kept Henry from work, and he applied for sick leave. He was given “one-half net compensation.” That fall, he transferred to the Warren School on Pearl and Summer Streets in Charlestown. In 1932, after a summer at the Norcross School House, he moved to the Emily Fifield School, where he remained for the rest of the decade. In the 1930s, Henry applied for a couple of other Boston Public School jobs, including Attendance Officer and Fuel Engineer, but it does not appear he was hired for them.

By 1940, Henry and Helena owned 54 Richview Street, valued at $5,000. By this time, Henry was earning $3,000 a year. In 1941, he was the custodian of the Robert Treat Paine School on Blue Hill Avenue near Harvard Street. After a couple of years, he transferred to the Francis Parkman School on Walk Hill Street in Jamaica Plain, then to the Lowell School, before settling at the Thomas J. Kenney School on Oakton Avenue near Adams Street. Henry was then  a Senior Custodian. Finally, in late 1947, he moved to the Henry L. Pierce school in Codman Square.

Henry died in Dorchester on June 19, 1976. A funeral mass was held for him at Saint Gregory’s Church, and he was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery. Henry was a member of Saint Gregory’s Holy Name Society, the Saint Vincent De Paul Society, the Lower Mills Knights of Columbus 180, and Bishop Cheverus 4th Degree Assembly.

Sources

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

 

Family Tree, Ancestry.com

 

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

 

G.W. Bromley & Co. Atlas of the City of Boston, Dorchester, 1910; DorchesterAtheneum.org

 

“Energetic Dorchester Boys Form St. Peter’s Church Cadets,” Boston Globe, 27 April 1916: 5; Newspapers.com

 

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

 

“Reserve Officers Training Corps,” Wikipedia.org, 23 September 2019, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_Officers%27_Training_Corps#Student_Army_Training_Corps_(SATC)>

 

“SATC Will End Wednesday,” The Harvard Crimson, 6 Dec 1918; TheCrimson.com

 

Donner, M.J., “Fifty Percent of SATC College Men” [editorial], The Harvard Crimson, 14 April 1919; TheCrimson.com

 

Manual of the Public Schools of the City of Boston, Various Years; Archive.org

 

Proceedings of the School Committee of the City of Boston, Various Years; Archive.org

 

“H.W. Young, Dorchester, and Miss Sullivan Wed,” Boston Globe, 8 June 1929: 2; Newpapers.com

 

“38 Eligible for School Job,” Boston Globe, 24 Nov 1931: 15; Newspapers.com

 

“Eleven Eligible for Deputy Fire Chief,” Boston Globe, 18 Aug 1934: 19: Newspapers.com

 

“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 21 Jun 1976: 27; Newspapers.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Henry William Young.

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

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

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

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: William Joseph Dunphy.

William Joseph Dunphy was born March 28, 1895.  His father was John J. Dunphy and his mother was Anna Whalen Dunphy.  William’s mother passed away from tuberculosis when he was 10 years old.

Although William and his family are not well documented in traditional sources, he is one of the heroes of World War I and was honored as such with the dedication of a Hero Square in June, 1921, at the junction of Hamilton and Bowdoin Streets. He shares the honor of this square with another Dorchester hero named Albert Gilbert. “William J. Dunphy and Albert Gilbert were pals in civilian life. They enlisted together in the old 9th Infantry. and were both killed in France–Dunphy on May 31 and Gilbert July 12 [actually 23], in the Chateau Thierry fight.   They were both great athletes, and were the battery of the Holy Name team of St Peters.” (Boston Globe, January 13, 1921.)  Dunphy enlisted and reported for duty on May 26, 1917 in Co. F, 9th Inf. Mass. National Guard (Co. F, 101st Inf., 26th Div).  He transferred on August 21st to Co. K, 101st Inf. and went overseas on September 7, 1917. On May 31, 1918, German forces reached the Marne river and captured Dormans and Chateau-Thierry.  Allied forces retook Chateau-Thierry on July 21, 1918.

On June 25, 1918, the Boston Globe reported: Private William J. Dunphy of 56 Hamilton Street, Dorchester, one of the most popular young men of the Meeting House Hill section, is reported missing in action May 31, in France. A telegram to that effect was received by his mother this morning.  Dunphy who is 23 years old, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Dunphy.  He enlisted in May, 1917, in the old 9th Regiment, and went to France from Framingham.

The Gold Star Record states that Dunphy was in a raid on Richecourt, Toul, sector.  He was never seen again after entering the lines, and no account of him was ever received.

William applied for an insurance policy with the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters on July 19, 1915.  At that time he was living at 203 Hamilton Street, and he listed his step-mother as his beneficiary.  His medical report states that he was 5 ft 8 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds.  He had a burn on his left arm incurred when he was 5 years old.  The certificate from the War Department included in the Forester records states he died May 31, 1918, and that he was living at 56 Hamilton Street.His father and step-mother died in the flu epidemic before the insurance policy was paid out, so the payment went to his sister Anna, who was then living on Mallet Street.

William J. Dunphy is listed on the Tablets of the Mission, St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France.

Sources:

For information about the dedication of the Hero Square, see Boston Globe June 2, 1921

For information about Dormans and Chateau-Thierry, see http://www.greatwar.co.uk/timeline/ww1-events-1918.htm

American Battle Monuments Commission https://abmc.gov/node/351749

Foresters Records. Healey Library, UMass Boston

The Gold Star Record of Massachusetts. Edited by Eben Putnam.  (Boston, 1929), 489.

New England Veterans in the Home Sector.” Boston Globe, January 13, 1921

“Private William J. Dunphy of Dorchester is Missing.” Boston Globe, June 24, 1918

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: William Joseph Dunphy

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Carl Henry Alsen

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Alsen Village

Alsen Village, named for Carl Henry Alsen

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Carl Henry Alsen

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: Carl Henry Alsen.

Carl H. Alsen was born in August, 1899, the youngest of four children to parents who had immigrated from Sweden. The 1900 US Census listed them in Lynn, and the 1910 US Census listed them in Somerville, and sometime in the next few years, they moved to Dorchester. As early as 1916, the family was living at 11-15 Spaulding Street, Dorchester, while Carl was living at home. They were probably renting an apartment in the house.

Carl enlisted in the National Guard on April 3, 1917.  He may not have been truthful when reporting his age: his service record states he was 18  years and 9 months of age, but he was really 17 years and 8 months old.  He reported for Federal service on July 25th of that year and by September he was in the American Expeditionary Force.  He was killed in action on April 12, 1918.  His record includes the following: “Awarded French C de G with gilt star ‘During the course of the combats of April 12, 1918, he displayed coolness, courage and zeal.  He was a member of a Stokes mortar platoon which contributed greatly by its fire to break the assault of one of the attacking lines, responding promptly to the demand from the front for a barrage and continuing its fire under the most violent bombardment of more than ten minutes until a counter artillery barrage could be launched.”  The following is from Wikipedia: “On 10, 12 and 13 April 1918, the lines being held by the troops of the 104th Infantry Regiment, of the 52d Infantry Brigade, of the 26th “Yankee” Division, in Bois Brule, near Apremont in the Ardennes, were heavily bombarded and attacked by the Germans. At first the Germans secured a foothold in some advanced trenches which were not strongly held but, thereafter, sturdy counterattacks by the 104th Infantry—at the point of the bayonet and in hand-to-hand combat—succeeded in driving the enemy out with serious losses, entirely re-establishing the American line.”

Alsen was honored when a newly-created park was named for him;  the city of Boston created an 11-acre playground that stretched from Victory Road northward to Park Street, it comprised of the man-made land where the part of Tenean Creek north of Victory Road was filled in.  On Victory Road, the armory now stands on part of the former playground.  After the second World War, this area was filled with  former barracks that were moved here for 763 temporary housing units for veterans and became known as Alsen Village.  The Alsen-Mapes Industrial Park off of Park Street is the remainder of this playground. [The playground to the south of Victory Road is the Philip McMorrow Playground.  A Dorchester native and graduate of Boston Latin School, Philip McMorrow was elected to the legislature in 1936 and served there 10 years. At the time of his death in 1948 he was chief assessor of the city of Boston.]

In 2017, at the playground on Victory Road, a square was named for Alsen . The citation on the City of Boston Veterans Services website listing Hero Squares says: ” By direction of the President, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, Private Carl H. Alsen, United States Army, is cited by the Commanding General, American Expeditionary Forces, for gallantry in action and a silver star may be placed upon the ribbon of the Victory Medals awarded him. Private Alsen distinguished himself by gallantry in action while serving with Headquarters Company, 104th Infantry Regiment, American Expeditionary Forces, in action near Seicheprey, France, 12 April 1918, during an enemy attack.”  His service record card says that he was in the Apremont Sector.

He is buried in the St. Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France, Plot C, Row 12, Grave 2.

Sources:

1900 U.S. Census on FamilySearch.org

1910 US Census on Ancestry.com

American Battle Monuments Commission https://abmc.gov/node/321976

“American Soldiers Who Died in France” in  The Official U.S. Bulletin, Thursday, November 21, 1918 (Washington, 1918), 22.

Boston. Municipal Register for 1948. (Boston, 1948), 61.

Boston Directory for 1916. (Boston, 1916), 184.

Hero Squares on City of Boston’s webpage for Veterans.

https://www.cityofboston.gov/veterans/herosquares/view.aspx?id=16

Sheehan, Daniel. “Dot playground to be re-named in memory of World War I hero.”  Dorchester Reporter. October 26, 2017 at https://www.dotnews.com/2017/dot-playground-be-re-named-memory-world-war-i-hero

Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, Book 4045, Page 219 July 24, 1917.

Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/104th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Carl Henry Alsen

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biographies: Arthur and Earle Means

Posted on November 28, 2019 by earltaylor

Means, Arthur H

Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biographies: Arthur and Earle Means

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

Our first biography features a pair of brothers: Arthur and Earle Means.

Written by Kayla Skillin.

Arthur and Earle Means were brothers who both served in the United States armed forces during World War I. Arthur was born in 1890 and 10 years older than Earle, who was born in 1900. They were raised in a large family in the Mattapan section of Boston on Sturbridge Street in Lower Mills. Like many other families in Lower Mills, their father, Fred, was a factory worker at the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory only a few blocks away. Fred was also a Civil War veteran and his sons, Earle and Arthur, would follow in his footsteps when the United States entered World War I in 1917. Arthur enlisted in the military and joined the U.S. Navy when he was 27 years old on April 17, 1917. We know Earle joined the military as well but not sure of the exact timeline. Not much is known about their time in the military but from various genealogical sources, we can see what their lives were like when they returned from war. In fact, after the war, it looks like Arthur and Earle went in separate directions; we find Arthur living in New York City and Earle staying close to his family in Boston.

Arthur was honorably discharged from military service on April 16, 1921. In the 1925 New York State Census, we find Arthur Means living in New York City with his wife Helen and working as an “organizer of automobiles.” In the 1930, according to the United States Census, he is still living in New York City but is now listed as an “automobile executive.” Finally, the 1940 census still has him living in New York, but now listed as a manager of a ship supply company. He died in 1947 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. His interment records record indicates he was a Chief Machinist Mate in the United States Navy Reserve Forces.

After returning from the war, it seems Earle was living at home in Lower Mills, working as a machinist. However, in the 1929 Boston Directory, Earle is listed as a physical instructor at 48 Boylston Street which, at the time, was the Boston Young Men’s Christian Union (BYMCU) and living in Norfolk Downs – more commonly known as Quincy – with his wife Catherine (Cook). Throughout the years, he is seen living in various towns on the South Shore of Massachusetts including Quincy, Weymouth, Randolph and eventually settling in Holbrook. All the records indicate he was some type of physical fitness instructor. Earle died, at the age of 42, in 1943; his death records list his occupation as “retired physical instructor, World War I.” He is buried at the Forest Hills Cemetery in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biographies: Arthur and Earle Means