Born in England on 5 Nov 1879 (according to his World War I Draft Registration), he may have immigrated here in 1891 [1930 census]. That same census says he was naturalized, but this was crossed out, and his parents were listed as born in Georgia, US, so there may be problems with the data on that page.
On 7 May 1932, while working at the Portsmouth Gas Company plant, he fell from the runway, and fractured his skull. He would die at the hospital two hours later. His death record lists his burial place as the Sagamore Cemetery in Portsmouth, but his grave is not marked by a stone. I have yet to find the location of the plot. He left a widow and four children (3 of them from his first wife), who went to live in other households when their Clinton Street home for foreclosed on and sold off at auction in Nov '32.
(above) The Portsmouth Gas Company (a 1921 photo, when the Memorial Bridge was being constructed beside it) - from http://www.portsmouthathenaeum.org/ William's death notice (left) mentions that he was a member of the Franklin Pierce V.F.A. (Volunteer Firemen Association). I am still looking through Portsmouth annual reports to see if he did serve as a fireman in this city, or maybe this was before he moved here. |