As the old family photo albums that once belonged to my grandparents contained several pictures of my Great-Uncle Lawrence T. Dow, I thought I'd write a blog post about him on this Veterans Day (not finished until Jan '18)
LAWRENCE TAYLOR DOW, the son of John Taylor and Dorothy Meloon (Yeaton) Dow, was born in New Castle, New Hampshire on 8 July 1896. He moved with his parents to Portsmouth, NH a few years later.
On 22 March 1917, he enlisted with the army, and was a private in the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), stationed at Fort Constitution in New Castle. The following year, the government began sending companies of CAC over to Europe. Lawrence departed New York on 17 Sept 1918, but was only overseas a few months, as he left Saint Nazarre, France on the USS Antigone on 21 Dec 1918. The US Army Transport Service Records listed him as being a private in Battery B, 52nd Artillery (CAC). His obit said he was a corporal, so his promotion must have been received following his return to the States. He was discharged from the army on 24 Jan 1919. When the Emerson Hovey VFW Post was organized in Portsmouth that year, Lawrence was a charter (and life) member.
On 22 March 1917, he enlisted with the army, and was a private in the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), stationed at Fort Constitution in New Castle. The following year, the government began sending companies of CAC over to Europe. Lawrence departed New York on 17 Sept 1918, but was only overseas a few months, as he left Saint Nazarre, France on the USS Antigone on 21 Dec 1918. The US Army Transport Service Records listed him as being a private in Battery B, 52nd Artillery (CAC). His obit said he was a corporal, so his promotion must have been received following his return to the States. He was discharged from the army on 24 Jan 1919. When the Emerson Hovey VFW Post was organized in Portsmouth that year, Lawrence was a charter (and life) member.
 |  "Yours for luck, your sister Frances" - inscription written on the back of the above photo. She is here with her (first) husband John J "Jack" Totman (left) and her brother Lawrence, visiting the location where he was stationed. There were no dates or locations written down for either of these photos. |
On 21 June 1919, in Portsmouth, he would marry Isabel (or Isabelle) Goggins, and they had a daughter Dorothy. He worked as a shipfitter/shipwright at the navy yard in the early 1920's, was a manager of the Arcade Bowling Alleys on Daniel Street circa 1926, and would become a Portsmouth police officer by 1928. He served the city until 1945, when he resigned from the police force. By then, he and Isabel had divorced, and he remarried in 1942, to Marguerite Monroe. He had a daughter Susan with his 2nd wife.
He returned to the navy yard by 1952, and was listed as retired in the 1961 city directory. He died on 2 Apr 1976 in Portsmouth, and was buried in St Mary's Cemetery in Dover, NH.
He returned to the navy yard by 1952, and was listed as retired in the 1961 city directory. He died on 2 Apr 1976 in Portsmouth, and was buried in St Mary's Cemetery in Dover, NH.
1939 photo of Lawrence Dow as a Portsmouth, NH police officer
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