No. 13089 Joseph Phillip Ripley and Lorenzo A. Ripley
Lorenzo is on the right.
Lorenzo A Ripley 49 Idaho St, enlisted Nov 4, 1917, called Nov 20, 1917 Sailed for France Dec 19, 1917 Stationed Naval Aviation Field France Carpenters mate 3d class
Joseph Phillip Ripley
Joseph is on the left. Joseph P Ripley 49 Idaho St Selected Apr 25, 1917,Now 302d regiment ? Now in France
No. 13090 Herman J. Ripley
Contained in an album at the Dorchester Historical Society of about 150 photos 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. Index catalog has entries for the individuals.
Herman J Ripley 49 Idaho St Enlisted June 28, 1917, Called Sept 1, 1917, On U.S.S. Proteus 1 year 2 mos Transferred to U.S.S. Luella Made ? to S.A. Scotland Ireland and Canada. Fireman
Lorenzo Ripley, Joseph Ripley and Herman Ripley.
Written by Camille Arbogast.
Lorenzo, Joseph, and Herman Ripley were the three sons of Joseph Senior and Annie Ripley. Joseph Senior and Annie (Eger) were both born in Dorchester of German ancestry. Joseph Senior was a cabinet maker, building piano cases at a piano factory. Oldest son Lorenzo Fidel was born January 11, 1891, followed by Joseph Phillip Junior on April 6, 1894. At the time of the two oldest sons’ births, the family was living at 44 Sanford Street in Mattapan. By 1896, they purchased a home at nearby 49 Idaho Street, where Herman was born on April 7, 1896. The family was completed with the birth of a sister, Esther, in 1899. In 1902, Joseph Senior began working as an inspector in the Sanitary Department for the City of Boston, where he continued for the rest of his life.
Lorenzo initially went to work as a cabinetmaker. By 1910, he was a wholesale dry goods clerk. In 1917, Lorenzo was in the leather business, employed at Harrison & Co., of 90 South Street, Boston. On November 5, Lorenzo enrolled in the Navy at the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown. Two weeks later, he was stationed on a receiving ship in Boston; in December he was transferred to a receiving ship in Philadelphia. He sailed for France on December 17 and was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Pauillac, where he remained until the Armistice. Back in the United States, at the Naval Training Station at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, he was placed on inactive duty on February 25, 1919. He was honorably discharged on March 30, 1921, having attained a rank of Carpenter’s Mate, 3rd Class.
Joseph was a clerk at the Roxbury Carpet Company when he registered for the first draft in June, 1917. He noted his “weak eyes” as reason for possible exemption. In his notecard for Joseph Ripley, Dr. Perkins noted Joseph was “selected,” probably meaning drafted, entering the National Army on April 25, 1917. He served with H Company of the 302nd Infantry Regiment. On July 5, 1918, he sailed for France on the RMS Aquitania. During the war he achieved a rank of Corporal. He returned to the United States along with men from the Hospital Center Kerhuon, near Brest, France, who were classified as “walking cases requiring no dressing.” They sailed on the USS Leviathan, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on April 25, 1919.
Herman was a chocolate maker for the Walter Baker Chocolate Company in 1917. He registered for the draft on June 5. On his notecard for Herman Ripley, Dr. Perkins noted Herman enrolled in the Navy on June 28 and was called to report for duty on September 1. Herman was stationed on the collier USS Proteus for one year and two months. He was then transferred to the USS Luella. His first trip was to South America, followed by voyages to Scotland, Ireland, and Canada. He served as a Fireman.
After the war, the brothers returned to 49 Idaho Street. In 1920, Joseph Junior was a bookkeeper at a marble business, Lorenzo returned to the leather business, and Herman to Walter Baker Chocolate. Their father died in 1923, and in 1930, Joseph and Herman still lived at 49 Idaho Street with their mother. Joseph continued as a bookkeeper at the marble company and Herman was a laborer working for the state. Their mother died in 1936.
Lorenzo had married Alice V. Davye in 1920. They lived with her parents at 11 Huntoon Street in Lower Mills. Lorenzo continued in the leather business, working in a number of positions, such as a sorter, a shipper, and a salesman. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he and Alice moved to 9 Huntoon Street, then to 44 Old Morton Street. By 1940, they had returned to 11 Huntoon Street and were living with Alice’s widowed father. Lorenzo was unemployed; he had worked only 14 weeks in 1939. In 1942, he was employed by Bethlehem Steel at the Fore River Plant in Quincy. He was hired by the Metropolitan District Commission as a laborer in 1946. In the mid-1950s, Lorenzo and Alice moved to 87 Maple Street in Hyde Park. Lorenzo died of a stroke on November 27, 1957, and was buried in the Milton cemetery. He had been active with a number of charitable and social organizations, including: St. Gregory’s Total Abstinence and Mutual Relief Society; Knights of Columbus Council #180; St. Gregory’s Holy Name Society; St. Gregory’s Court #24 of the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters; and Old Dorchester Post #65 of the American Legion.
Herman married Dorothy C. Kernell in 1938 and when they were first married,they lived with Joseph at 49 Idaho Street. In 1940, Herman was a chauffeur for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1942, he worked for the Metropolitan District Commission at Blue Hills Station. In 1944, directories list him as a clerk; in the 1950s, he appears as a laborer. He retired in the early 1960s. During the 1950s and 1960s, Herman and Dorothy lived at 331 Ashmont Street. By the end of Herman’s life, they moved to 68 Butler Street. He died in Dorchester on February 15, 1967. He was a member of Old Dorchester Post #65 of the American Legion, as well as the Lower Mills Memorial Post #8699 of the Veterans of a Foreign War.
Joseph married Pauline Isobel Sullivan in 1940. At the time, he was working for the National Youth Administration (NYA), a New Deal program. The couple moved to 25 Adanac Road in Milton. When the NYA ceased to exist in 1943, Joseph began working as an inspector for the U.S. Department of Labor. In 1945, the Milton Directory lists him as an expeditor. In the late 1940s, Joseph and Pauline moved to Weymouth. They had two children, Regina and Paul. Joseph died in Brockton on February 26, 1978.
Sources
Birth Records Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Family Tree; Ancestry.com
Boston City Directories, Various Years; Ancestry.com
Officials and Employees of the City of Boston and County of Suffolk, with Their Residence, Compensation, Etc, 1909. Boston: Printing Department, 1909; pg 174; Archive.org
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
Lorenzo Ripley, Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA
Joseph Ripley Transport Records, Lists of Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938 & List of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, The National Archives at College Park, Maryland; Ancestry.com
Metropolitan District Commission Minutes, Volume 16, [1946], pg 157; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 29 November 1956; 50
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 15 February 1967: 26; Newspapers.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 27 February 1978: 34