Photograph 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.
John H. Appel, 32 Floyd Street, Dorchester
John Leo Appel was born in Boston, August 13, 1893, to Rudolph Appel , a tailor from German Poland, and Henrietta, who was born in Germany. John was the second child following Solomon, four years older, and Theresa, two years older. Six years after John’s birth, their sister Edith was born. By the time of the 1910 census, the family was living at 9 Dudley Street in Roxbury.
John’s draft registration card gave the family address as 32 Floyd Street, Dorchester. John was working as a book keeper for Bryant G. Smith & Sons on Beacon Street in Boston. He was described as single, of medium height and build with gray eyes and brown hair.
John enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force at the Navy Yard in Boston on December 13, 1917 at the age of 24. Her served on the USS Lake Eire from January to November, 1918, and achieved the rank of Chief Yeoman. After the war he was assigned to inactive duty on the receiving ship at Boston. During his inactive duty, John lived with his parents at 695 Washington Street, Brighton, and worked as treasurer of the Bryant G. Smith & Sons. He continued there until the late 1920s.
In 1926 he married Joseph Rita Gaquin in Concord, New Hampshire. She was 23 years old and worked as a cashier. The 1930 census showed that they had a son, John L. Appel, who was a year old. They were living in Newton, where they seem to have stayed until late in life. They seem to have owned a home on Cable Road, Rye, New Hampsire, where the retired. Their son John, Jr., was married in Rye in 1960.
The 1930 census also reports John senior’s occupation as office manager in a “boat” company, but this may be poor handwriting for “Buick” company. The Boston Globe for November 18, 1936, included an article about the Dorchester Buick Company on Talbot Avenue, where John L. Appel was the manager. The 1938 Boston Director has an entry for John as the manager at Dorchester Buick, 70 Talbot Avenue, Dorchester. The 1940 census listed his employer as the Noyes Buick Co. on Commonwealth Avenue. He became the company’s Vice President, and after the death of Noyes, John Appel and Harry Bruen succeeded as new owners under the name Appel-Bruen Company, Inc. This firm was the largest Buick dealership in New England and one of the largest in the country.
John Leo Appel, the World War I veteran, died in Rye, New Hampshire in 1988.
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:
Boston Directories on Ancestry.com
Boston Globe: November 18, 1936; Nov. 12, 1950; Feb. 22, 1951; Feb. 21, 1954
Death Record on Ancestry.com
Marriage record on Ancestry.com
US Census 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 on Ancestry.com
WWI and WWII draft registration cards on Ancestry.com
WWI service record card. Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.