Dorchester Illustration World War One Service Member biography: Henry Higgins Gross
At the Dorchester Historical Society, we are in the process of a year-long project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Using a collection of photographs we have of WWI Dorchester residents, we will be featuring servicemen in a number of short biographies throughout the year. At the culmination of the project, we hope to produce an online exhibit that highlights these men and their service to our country.
Our next biography features: Henry Higgins Gross.
Written by Donna Albino.
Henry Higgins Gross was born on June 4, 1893, in Milton, Massachusetts, to Sylvester Gross and Ellen (Pelrine) Gross. Henry was their second child; their first child was a son named Arthur, born two years earlier. The family had moved several times between Milton and Dorchester Lower Mills for a few years. By 1900, the family had settled in a rented house at 22 Bakers Court in Lower Mills, and Sylvester was working as a coachman. Two more children had been born to the family: a son named William, and a daughter named Mary.
In 1910, the family was renting a home at 12 Millers Lane in the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester. Sylvester was working as a teamster for a chocolate factory, and Henry, then 17 years old, was working as a clerk for an insurance company.
On June 5, 1917, Henry registered for the draft. He was 24 years old and self-employed in the express business. He was living with his parents at 1234 Morton Street in Lower Mills. On his draft card, Henry claimed exemption from the war for business reasons, but a few months later, on November 23, 1917, he enlisted with the National Guard. Henry served with the 28th Company of the Boston Coast Artillery Corps at Fort Standish, a coastal fort located on Lovell’s Island in Boston Harbor. After the American entry into World War I, in early 1917, the fort was expanded to include temporary structures such as quarters and addition storehouses, and hosted seven gun batteries. Several of these were earmarked for potential use in the war effort, but were never sent overseas.
Henry was then transferred to Battery F, 55th Artillery Coast Artillery Corps until March 24, 1918. The US Army Coast Artillery Corps was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and aircraft defense of the United States, and operated heavy and railway artillery during WWI. On March 25, 1918, Henry was listed with the 55th as a passenger on the RMS Mauretania heading to France, but his name was crossed out on the passenger list. According to his service card, Henry had been transferred to Battery F, 54th Artillery Coast Artillery Corps.
The Maine Regular Army Coast Artillery formed Battery F of the 54th Artillery Coast Corps. The battery was trained and issued new steel helmets, something that the American Army would use for the first time during combat, and another first-time item, a round aluminum dog tag. They were also issued rifles, packs and all small items a soldier would need, but not artillery pieces. Americans had no heavy artillery that was mobile to take to France. The 54th Battery F had already left on the SS Canada on March 22, and Henry was not on that ship. He sailed instead on March 30, 1918 with the Overseas Casual Company on the USS President Lincoln to Hoboken, NJ and then on to France to work at the Trench Artillery Center until his discharge on April 11, 1919 from Camp Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts.
After the war, Henry did not stay in Massachusetts. He met Margaret McCarrick, a young woman living in New York City with her mother, and working as a stenographer. In April of 1920, he and Margaret McCarrick registered for a marriage license in New York City, and married in May of 1920. In the 1925 New York census, they were living at 269 West 153rd Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. They had three children: a son and two daughters. Henry was working as a chauffeur. In the 1930 census, the family had moved to 146 West 168th Street in the Bronx, and they had had a second son. William was working as a chauffeur for a private family. In the 1940 census, the family was still living at the same address, and William was still working as a chauffeur.
Henry Higgins Gross lived a quiet life in New York City until he passed away on December 30, 1971. His wife and four children survived him, as well as nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was buried at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.
Sources:
Fold3, Boston City Directories, 1891-1897
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Birth Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 5
Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
New York, New York City Marriages, 1829-1940
Year: 1900; Census Place: Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 1531; FHL microfilm: 1240688
Year: 1910; Census Place: Boston Ward 24, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_625; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 1633; FHL microfilm: 1374638
New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 09; Assembly District: 04; City: Rochester Ward 10; County: Monroe; Page: 35
New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1925; Election District: 37; Assembly District: 22; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 29
Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0110; FHL microfilm: 2341201
Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02466; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 3-244B
Registration State: Massachusetts; Registration County: Suffolk; Roll: 1685013; Draft Board: 21
The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 494
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History of the 54th Artillery, C.A.C. during WWI
Daily News (New York, New York) 02 Jan 1973, Tue Page 200
Ancestry.com, Sisson Family Tree by Bryan Sisson