No. 13093 Thomas L. Monahan
Photograph 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.
Thomas L Monahan Born June 21, 1900 Enlisted March 26, 1917 Overseas Sept 8, 1917
Thomas L. Monahan. Written by Camille Arbogast.
Thomas L. Monahan was born June 21, 1900, at 64 Walker Street in Charlestown. His parents, John W. and Elizabeth (Kyle) Monahan were Bostonians of Irish ancestry, married in 1883. John was a cigar maker. Thomas had a number of older siblings: Elizabeth born in 1884, Ellen in 1886, John in 1888, Joseph in 1889, Catherine in 1891, Mary in 1893, and Georgiana in 1895, his youngeroung brother Edward was born in 1902.
The family moved regularly. In 1902, they lived at 33 Cook Street in Charlestown; in 1904 they were a few doors down at number 29. By 1905, they lived in Dorchester, at 59 Armandine Street. They moved to 15 Hecla Street in 1908. By 1910, the family was living at 9 Leedsville Street. In 1916, they resided at 1845 Dorchester Avenue. By then, Thomas was employed as a clerk up the street at 1836 Dorchester Avenue.
Thomas enlisted before war was declared, joining the National Guard in Boston on March 20, 1917. He reported for duty on March 28, mustering as a Private on March 31. He served in D Company, 9th Massachusetts National Guard, which was later reclassified as the 101st Infantry, 26th Division aka “the Yankee Division.” D Company sailed for France on September 7, 1917, leaving from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the USS Tenadores. Thomas’s engagements were in the Defensive sectors Chemin-des-Dames and Toul-Boucq.
On March 27, 1918, he was slightly wounded and was hospitalized until July 2. He was then sent to B Company, 116 Train Headquarters and Military Police, 1st Depot Division, where he served until July 20, when he was transferred to the American Regulating Station APO 921. On December 15, he began serving with Port Commander, Coblenz, Germany, where he remained until July 4. He returned home with Brest Casual Company 2706, sailing on the USS Minnesota, and arriving in the United States on July 28, 1919. He was demobilized and discharged at Camp Lee, Virginia.
In 1920, Thomas lived with his parents at 1814 Dorchester Avenue, in the Ashmont neighborhood of Dorchester, and he worked as a grocery store clerk. Also living in the household were older siblings Joseph, an auto driver, and Mary, an accountant. In 1923, 1924, and 1925, the Boston directory lists Thomas as a student; the last two years he resided at 7 Ashmont Street.
By 1930, Thomas’ parents were deceased. On the 1930 census he appears in Lakewood, Ohio, living with his sister Georgiana’s family. Her husband, James Mullen, also a World War veteran, was a hosiery salesman. Thomas was in a similar line of work, selling lingerie. He worked as a salesman throughout the 1930s.
Thomas married Elizabeth Hunt, known as Rita, on January 5, 1932, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Elizabeth grew up in Boston, the daughter of a sign writer. She had been previously married and was divorced. Thomas and Elizabeth raised four children together: Janet, Nancy, Jane, and Thomas Junior. The family moved back to Thomas’s old Ashmont neighborhood as the Boston directory lists them living at 64 Florida Street in 1936. The next year they moved a block away to 22 Dawson Street, where Thomas lived for the rest of his life. According to the 1940 census, Rita’s siblings Leo, a special officer, and Catherine, a hospital clerk, were also part of the household.
Thomas’s occupation on the 1940 Census was “classified labor” for the Navy. He appeared in the Boston directory in the 1940s as a helper at the Navy Yard. By 1953, he was working as a bartender. In 1957, he appeared in the directory as an attendant nurse at the Long Island Hospital, a job he kept through 1960. The next year, the Boston directory lists him as a janitor at Old Harbor Village.
Thomas died on April 23, 1962. A Solemn High Mass of Requiem was held at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Dorchester. He was survived by his wife and children.
Sources
Birth Certificates, Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
Family Tree, Ancestry.com
Boston Directories, various years; Ancestry.com and Archive.org
Census Records, Federal, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940; Ancestry.com
Service Record; The Adjutant General Office, Archives-Museum Branch, Concord, MA
Lists of Outgoing & Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, The National Archives at College Park, Maryland; Ancestry.com
“New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659–1947.” New England Historical Genealogical Society, Citing New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records, Concord, New Hampshire; Ancestry.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 24 April 1962: 38; Newspapers.org