John H. Askin

John Leo  Askin

Askin has an entry among index cards kept by Nathaniel R. Perkins, MD, who examined thousands of men who were going into the war, 1914-1918. Given by Mrs N. R. Perkins in accordance with instructions from her late husband, Dr. Nathaniel P. Perkins of 1122 Adams St, Dorchester.

John H. Askin 12 Whitman Street, Dorchester

John Leo Askin was born in Chelsea on July 27, 1889, to William H. Askin and Mary Elizabeth Burdge Askin.  Both William and Mary had immigrated to Boston from Prince Edward Island.  William was described as a stone mason, and in later years he would be described as a brick layer and construction supervisor.  William and Mary already has one child, a daughter named Mary L. Askin.  Other children came along after John: Harriet I. , Helen R., William F., and Henry L. Askin.

At the time John registered for the draft, the family was living at 12 Whitman Street, Dorchester.  John was working as a carpenter at National Engineering, Inc. at 40 Central Street, Boston.  He was described as single, tall, of medium build, with blue eyes and black hair.

William and Mary divorced in approximately 1916.

John enlisted in the US Naval Reserve Force on March 4, 1918, and went to the Naval Training Camp at Hingham, Massachusetts, where he served from March 28, 1918 to April 22, 1918 a Carpenters Mate 1st Class.  From there he went to the Receiving Ship at Philadelphia, and on May 8, 1918, he went to the Naval Air Station in Queenstown, Ireland, where he stayed until November 11, 1918.  He was then assigned to the Naval Training Camp at Pelham Bay Park, New York, until his discharge on September 30, 1921.

When he returned home, he stayed with his mother and siblings Mary and Helen and Henry at 12 Whitman Street.  His occupation was carpenter through the 1920s.  In 1928 John became an industrial inspector, a job he held until his death.  His mother died in 1929, and John his siblings stayed at 12 Whitman through 1930. In 1931 John, Mary and Henry moved to 9 Alaska Street, Roxbury.

John died on August 30, 1940, and was buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in West Roxbury on Saint Patrick’s Avenue, Section E, Grave 765.

Index card in a collection of photographs and service records maintained by Dr. Nathaniel Royal Perkins.  During World I, Dr. Perkins was employed by the draft registration board to examine young men for the draft.  During this job, he befriended many servicemen and kept track of their military service during the war.  Dr. Perkins died in 1922, and his widow, Clara, donated the collection to the Dorchester Historical Society in 1924.

Sources:

Birth Record on Ancestry.com

Boston Directories on Ancestry.com

Boston Globe July 19, 1916 on newspapers.com for parents’ divorce; April 20, 1929 for mother’s death

Boston Lists of Residents, 1928, 1930, 1931 available online through Boston Public Library

Death Record on Findagrave.com

US Census, 1900 on FamilySearch.org, 1910 and 1920 Ancestry.com

WWI draft registration on Ancestry.com

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

Skills

Posted on

March 23, 2022

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