No. 13072
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.
Percy E Blair Corp 45 Regiment Co A Battery E A.E.F. France Service no 579708
Percy Edward Blair was born on April 17, 1898, at 778 East Fifth Street, South Boston, to Milledge and Sophia Blair. Milledge was from Hampton, New Brunswick, and immigrated to the United States in the 1880s; Sophia was born in Massachusetts. On July 1, 1897, they were married in Chelsea, where Sophia was living at the time. Percy was the oldest of their four children. His younger sibling Milledge L. was born in 1900, followed by Clarence in 1902, Florence in 1907, and Arthur in 1916.
During Percy’s childhood the family moved around South Boston. In 1903, a city directory lists them at 106 N Street, the next year they were at 110 N Street. In 1910, the family lived at 738 Fifth Street, the following year they were at 139 N Street. The family moved to Dorchester by 1913, when they resided at 6 Bearse Avenue in Lower Mills.
Milledge was a machinist; a “brass finisher,” according to directories. The 1910 census reported he was a safety valve tester at a brass factory. Eventually, he would become a foreman at the Mason Regulator Company, 1107 Adams Street in Lower Mills. The Mason Regulator Company made balanced valves, steam traps, and speed and pressure regulators.
Percy attended school through the eighth grade. He then worked as a clerk in Boston. On November 5, 1916, Percy enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard. He reported for duty on July 15, 1917, and mustered as a Private on August 3. He initially served in the 11th Company Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) of the National Guard. The CAC manned coastal and harbor fixed artillery instillations and minefields. During the war, the CAC also was responsible for all manned heavy artillery. On December 18, 1917, Percy began serving in 23rd Company CAC at Fort Andrews on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor. As of April 6, 1918, he served with 26th Company CAC (the re-designation of the 11th Company he served in originally), also at Fort Andrews. Three days later, he was promoted to Private First Class; in May he made Corporal. On August 7, he was transferred to Camp Eustis, Virginia, to serve with the 57th Ammunition Train CAC. On October 21, 1918, he departed for France, on the USS Aoelus, along with the 45th Artillery CAC, under the command of Captain K.S. Stevenson. In his notecard for Percy Blair, Dr. Perkins noted that Percy was in Battery E. He served overseas until January 23, 1919, when he sailed from Bordeaux on the USS Siboney. He was discharged on February 12, 1919.
After his discharge from the service, he returned to live with his family. In 1920, they lived at 87 Richmond Street, Dorchester, and Percy worked as a machinist in a car shop. His brother Clarence was an optician in an optical shop, as was their boarder, Mrs. Devidia M. Patterson. A maternal uncle, James Charles Hooton, was also part of the household. In 1925, his parents purchased 96 Wrentham Street, Dorchester, and Percy lived with them there. By 1925, Percy was working as a cable splicer for the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company; he stayed with the telephone company for forty years.
In 1929, Percy married Beatrice Moran. Initially they lived with Percy’s parents at 96 Wrentham Street in Dorchester. But, in 1931, they moved to the Wollaston area of Quincy. The next year they purchased a home in the Montclair neighborhood of Quincy, at 39 Bowdoin Street. Their son, Robert, was born in 1936. In 1943, they moved to 125 Elliot Avenue, North Quincy. Percy retired in the mid-1960s: in the 1963 directory no occupation is given; in 1965 he is listed as retired. Around this time, his son, Robert, working as a mason, returned to live with his parents. In November 1970, Robert, now an accountant, married Judith Ann Reid of Quincy.
Percy died on January 1, 1973, at Quincy City Hospital. A Mason since 1927 and a member of the Macedonia Lodge, a Masonic service was held for him. He is buried in the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Dorchester.
Sources
Birth Certificate, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Family Tree, Ancestry.com
Census Records, Federal, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Ancestry.com
Boston directories, various years, Ancestry.com
Milledge Blair draft registration, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, National Archive and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA
Lists of Outgoing Passengers 1917-1938 & Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 2 Jan 1973: 32; newspapers.com
“Deaths,” Quincy Sun, 11 Jan 1973: 8; Archive.org
Massachusetts Grand Lodge of Masons Membership Cards 1733–1990. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com