In The Census - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

This post is part of a project called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Johnson Crow.

The prompt this week is in the census.  On January 9, 1920, my grandfather, Jerry W. Sullivan, was enumerated at Jaffrey, NH in the census.  On January 11, 1920, my grandfather, Jeremiah O'Sullivan, was enumerated at Revere, Massachusetts in the census ..... again.

Great Falls on the Contoocook River at Bennington NH

According to the family story, Papa left school and went to work as a courier or messenger boy at the office of the a paper company in Boston, sometime before June 1916.  He was sent, sometime later, to work in the company paper mill in Bennington, New Hampshire.  

In June 1916, he was among those called up by President Woodrow Wilson as a member of the New Hampshire State Militia, soon to become the New Hampshire National Guard.  His unit was sent to the Texas Mexico border by mid-July 1916. 

The NH National Guard in Texas

Upon his return from Texas, his unit was called to Camp Devens, Massachusetts and became part of the 103rd Infantry in the 26th Yankee Division, soon shipping out to France.

On his return from France in 1918, Papa shipped home with Martin Kidder of Jaffrey, New Hampshire.  Jaffrey is just 17 miles from his former home in Bennington.  Martin lived with his father Harry, just a few houses down Old Peterborough Road from where Jerry was living as a boarder and working at the tack shop.  Harry Kidder also worked at the tack shop, where Jerry was employed.


Jerry was listed as a boarder in the home of Charles H. and Philomene Howard.  Charles was born  in Massachusetts, but his mother was born in Africa.  I found this to be a BSO and thought he might be the same Charles Howard listed in the 1900 census, living in Boston, Massachusetts, also with a mother born in Africa.  Did Jerry and Charles know each other in Massachusetts?  According to Charles WWI draft registration, he had also served in the New Hampshire National Guard., so they may have served together in Texas.  


Since the Revere census also shows Jerry employed in a tack shop, I am reasonably sure his family knew he was living in New Hampshire.  I don't think he commuted the 75 miles as the crow flies from Revere to Jaffrey.  Or maybe they were just hopeful that he would return home soon!

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