An earlier blog entry on this family can be seen here: John T Dow of Portsmouth, NH
My New England Ancestors |
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In memory of my Great-Grandmother, DOROTHY MELOON YEATON, who was born in New Castle, New Hampshire on 11 Jan 1870, the daughter of Nathaniel B and Louisa M (Meloon) Yeaton. She died in Portsmouth, NH on 2 Dec 1927, and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, New Castle. She was married, in Portsmouth, NH on 14 Sept 1889, to JOHN TAYLOR DOW, the son of John T.H. and Mary A (Riley) Dow. They had seven sons and two daughters while they lived in New Castle and Portsmouth. The above photo was taken at Harold Dow's house in South Eliot, with Dorothy and John T Dow in the background. Three of their sons are in front, along with Harold's wife Lora.
An earlier blog entry on this family can be seen here: John T Dow of Portsmouth, NH
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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 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. My Great-Grandfather, WILLIAM HORACE SMITH, who was killed in a workplace accident on 7 May 1932. 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. In the 1916 and 1918 Portsmouth, NH Street Directories, William was boarding at 117 Maplewood Ave, employed as a carpenter. That same year, he filled out a draft registration card. On it, he indicated he was a chauffeur for August Hett (who also lived on Maplewood and had a business on Bridge St). When he married in 1921, William was still working as a chauffeur, though 1920 street directory shows him as a carpenter. He may have been doing both. Note: in this time frame, there were 4 William H Smith's in Portsmouth. Luckily, William's draft card had his address on it, so I could match him with the listings in the city directories. He was not found in the 1920 census. Of interest on the above draft card is his nearest relative, Frederick Smith of the US Army. Perhaps he was a brother of William. These names are so common, it could be some time (if at all) to find a connection between the two men. There was a Frederick who was stationed at Fort Constitution in 1912, and a a person of that name lived in Portsmouth in 1918 and 1920, before moving to California. William is not listed in the 1923 or 1925 directories for Portsmouth, but is back for 1926, now living at 249 Maplewood Ave. He lived here until 1929, the year his wife Annie was struck and killed by an auto (see http://www.mynewenglandancestors.com/blog/in-memory-of). He remarried in April 1929 to Mattie Frisbee and, in November of that year, he bought a house at 250 Clinton Street from Annie Hett. Here he lived until 1932. 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.
The photo on right is of my great-grandparents, John T Dow and Dorothy M (Yeaton). Except for a brief time following their 1889 marriage, when they stayed with her father in New Castle, they lived their lives in Portsmouth, NH. They didn't own a home, they were renters, and stayed in at least eight different addresses within the city. These two pictures from the family photo album were clearly taken at the same location. But, where was it? I have looked at all their known living places on the Sanborn fire maps, and didn't find a matching residence. I have looked at the same places from Google's street and satellite views, but can't seem to locate this spot! It may be the backside of 28 Blossom, but photo I do have of Dorothy that was marked "Blossom St" shows her a lot younger than this one. The brickwork does look similar to the back part of the building.
I have four ancestors, two each from my paternal and maternal sides, who served during the Civil War. ISAAC CHARLES HAVEN PRIDHAM, born in New Castle, NH on 11 Sept 1847; died on 16 Apr 1924 in Brighton, MA. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery, New Castle. Isaac enlisted for two years into the US Navy at Portsmouth, NH on 23 Sept 1864, and served for 20 months on board the Receiving Ship USS Vandalia, in Portsmouth Harbor. He worked as a landsman from Sept '64 to 1 Jan '65, as an ord. seaman to 31 Jan, and as a lamp cleaner to 18 May 1866, when he was discharged. When he applied for a pension in 1892, he claimed he was born in Sept 1844, to correspond with the age of "20" he gave when he had enlisted back in 1864, when he had actually been only 17 years old. When he needed to send in a birth record to the pension dep't to verify his identity, he had to admit to falsifying his birth date. He still received a pension. See also: my blog page on the Pridham family: http://www.mynewenglandancestors.com/1/post/2014/03/the-pridhams-of-puddle-dock-portsmouth-nh.html JAMES WILLIAM BROWN was born 28 Dec 1841 in Kittery, Maine; died there on 5 May 1923. He was buried in Orchard Grove Cemetery, Kittery. He served as a private in Company G, 27th Maine Infantry, enlisting at Kittery on 10 Sept 1862. He was mustered into US service at Portland, Maine on 30 Sept 1862, and served until 17 July 1863, when the regiment was mustered out at Portland. (at right) James W Brown at his home in Locke's Cove, Kittery, on his way to a GAR convention in Washington, DC, likely the one in 1915 (the 49th Annual Encampment). For more on the 27th Maine Infantry, please see my website: www.the27thMaine.com THOMAS STEWARD (aka Stewart, Stuart), born abt 1838 in Skowhegan, Maine; died 22 Oct 1897 in Embden, Maine. He is buried in Sunset Cemetery, North Anson, Maine. He was drafted on 15 July 1863 at Skowhegan, ME, to serve in Co F, 7th Maine Infantry, but did not report for duty. He was arrested on 27 Jan 1864 and brought to camp, only for him to return home the next day. They arrested him again on 3 Feb. It is not clear in the records whether the recruits were still in Maine, but Private Steward deserted on 12 July '64, and was again arrested, on 23 July. He deserted a third time in August and was arrested a week later, this time being shipped to Carlisle, PA. By this time, the 7th Maine had been mustered out of service, except for later recruits and those who chose to re-enlist, and were transferred to the 1st Maine Veteran Infantry. The monthly muster rolls after this date would show him "absent, sick", right up to the muster out roll of the regiment on 28 June 1865. An affidavit in his pension file claims he suffered from scurvy, chronic diarrhea, piles and a trouble in the head, spending the entire winter quarters at Petersburg in the hospital. In the spring of 1865, he was transported to City Point Hospital. In the 1865 Maine Adjutant Report, it shows him being discharged on 2 July '65.
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AuthorSteve Dow Archives
January 2022
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