Crawford 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.
Walter G. Crawford 1132 Washington Street. U.S.N.
Walter George Crawford
Walter George Crawford was born in Roxbury on October 19, 1891, although he often misstated the year when he filled out official documents in his adult life. His parents were Almont G. Crawford and Gertrude A. Crawford.
In 1900 Walter’s family was living with his grandfather Angus Crawford at 32 Temple Street. Walter’s father and grandfather were both carpenter/builders. It is unclear what may have happened to his mother, who is not mentioned in this family in the 1900 census. By 1910, the whole family had moved to 148 Welles Avenue and included Angus, his daughters Susan, 49, and Luly, 36, Walter and Walter’s younger brother Almont. Both Walter and Almont worked as clerks in a broker’s office. It is unclear what happened to Walter’s father between 1900 and 1910, since he is not mentioned in the 1910 census.
When Walter registered for the draft in June 1917, he was living at 1132 Washington Street and worked as a clerk for Hallet & Davis on Marsh Street in Neponset. He gave his birth date as October 19, 1893. He was described as short and slender with brown eyes and black hair. When he enlisted in the US Naval Reserve Force on September 12, 1917, he was still living at 1132 Washington Street. He served in the accounting department in Boston until his discharge on April 19, 1919.
The 1920 census tells us that he married Ethel B. Bigelow, and they had a son Kenneth a little over a year old and a daughter, just 1 month old. They were living with Ethel’s parents at 124 Morton Street, in the Lower Mills section of Mattapan. Walter was employed as a bookkeeper in a leather business. In 1920 Walter joined the Algonquin Lodge of the Masons, giving his occupation as bookkeeper and his birth date as October 19, 1892. By 1930 Walter had become a gas fitter. The family was still living with Ethel’s father, but they had moved to 63 Morton Street. Walter G. Crawford Jr. had been added to the family and was 8 years old in 1930. In 1940, Ethel’s father was gone, and the census indicates that Walter and his family then owned the house at 50 Old Morton Street. The oldest child, Kenneth, was a helper in a manufacturing company; his sister Gertrude was a feeder in a laundry.
Ethel died unexpectedly in 1949, and her funeral services were held at the First Methodist Church in Lower Mills. Walter remarried in 1955 to a woman named Mary, a nurse who moved to Mattapan from Cambridge. He continued his job as a gas fitter until he retired in the early 1960s. He died on September 13, 1970.
Sources:
Birth Record, Ancestry.com
Boston Globe, April 5, 1949, on Newspapers.com
Boston. Annual List of residents
Boston directories on Ancestry.com1933, 1944, 1946, 1952, 1958 1960, 1964, 1965, 1966.
Masons. Membership card on Ancestry.com
US Census 1900, 1910, 1920 1930, 1940 on Ancestry.com
US Social Security death index on Ancestry.com
US Veterans Affairs. BIRLS death file on Ancestry.com
WWI draft registration card 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.