Dorchester Illustration 2612 Charles H. Haines, Jr., World War I
Today’s illustration is from the Aug. 3, 1918, edition of The Dorchester Beacon newspaper.
Charles H. Haines, Jr., was born in Dorchester on Feb. 14, 1888, to Charles H. Haines and his wife, Florence, who were married the year before. Charles, Sr., had moved to the newly-built house at 16 Warner St. in 1886.
Charles, Jr., attended the Oliver Wendell Holmes School and Dorchester High School. His entry in the 1910 U.S. Census says that he was working as a salesman in a lace store. In 1917, he was living at 16 Warner St. and working as a traveling salesman for Shoninger Bros., New York, NY.
When he registered for the draft for World War I on June 5, 1917, he was described as slender, 5 feet 9 inches tall, with black hair and hazel eyes. Charles, Jr., enlisted in the aviation section of the Signal Corps at the outbreak of the war and got his general training at Princeton University. Then he went to Texas, where he received his commission. He was a member of the 1st Provisional Wing of the Army Aero Corps. Charles died in Hempstead, NY, in July 1918, when he was piloting a “giant Haviland battle plane,” which fell to the ground.