Lawrence D. Yeomans Papers

1895-1946 (Bulk: 1917-1919)
1 box (0.25 linear feet)
Call no.: MS 873
rotating decorative images from SCUA collections

Lawrence D. Yeomans was working in New York when he volunteered for service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the First World War. For eighteen months, Yeomans served as a chauffeur with the Signal Corps in France, driving senior officers around Paris and to and from the front.



This small collection documents Lawrence Yeomans' time as a chauffeur with the Signal Corps during the First World War. In addition to a handful of official documents relating to his service, Yeomans held onto a few pieces of ephemera as souvenirs, some postcards, and a set of photographs, including three depicting him in uniform and ten showing a display of German war materiel confiscated at war's end.

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Background on Lawrence D. Yeomans


An image of: Lawrence D. Yeomans, nurse, and dog, ca.1918

Lawrence D. Yeomans, nurse, and dog, ca.1918

Lawrence Drummond Yeomans was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 28, 1896, the first child of Emma Christina Westervelt and Dr. Alfred George Yeomans. As a young man, Yeomans took classes in mechanical drawing at the Pratt Institute and worked at Westinghouse Electric in New York City when the U.S. was drawn into the First World War.

Taking a leave of absence from work in September 1917, Yeomans volunteered for duty with the Signal Corps and was assigned to Co. C, 309 Field Signal Battalion, arriving in France early in November. For the next eighteen months, he worked as a chauffeur, driving high ranking officers around Paris and to and from the front. After being honorably discharged on May 15, 1919, Yeomans returned to civilian life. He died in Morristown, N.J., in February 12, 1971.

Scope of collection

This small collections documents Lawrence Yeomans' time as a chauffeur with the Signal Corps during the First World War. In addition to a handful of official documents relating to his service, Yeomans held onto a few pieces of ephemera as souvenirs, some postcards, and a set of photographs, including three depicting him in uniform and ten showing a display of German war materiel confiscated at war's end. The correspondence in the collection is slight, nearly entirely post-war, and related to Yeomans' family.

Inventory

Chauffeur's gloves
ca.1917
2 pair
Box 1: 2
"Miss Ketty / 14, rue Montyon / next to Folies Bergeres" [calling card]
ca.1919
2 items
Box 1: 3
Newsclippings
1922-1945
Box 1: 4
Postcards: Fete de l'independence americaine a Paris
ca.1919
7 items
Box 1: 7
Postcards: France
ca.1919
3 items
Box 1: 8
Postcards: miscellaneous
1910-1914
4 items
Box 1: 9
Souvenir d'une visite a Paris [printed tourist booklet]
ca.1918
Box 1: 10
Weakly Slum, vol. A, ch. 3 [camp newspaper]
1919 Apr. 1
Box 1: 12
Wedding invitation: Emma Christina Westervelt and Alfred George Yeomans
1895
Box 1: 13
Western Electric Company: Terms for leave of absence to Lawrence D. Yeomans for military service
1917-1918
Box 1: 14
Westervelt family genealogical information
undated
Box 1: 15
Wold, P. I.: Letter to Emma W. Yeomans, informing her of the safe arrival of her son in France
1917 Nov. 9
Box 1: 16
Yeomans, Lawrence D.: identity cards for Pratt Institute and Western Electric
1916-1917
2 items
Box 1: 17
Yeomans, Lawrence D.: military documents (duty card, pass to attend theater, honorable discharge)
1918-1919
4 items
Box 1: 18

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Gift of Leslie Button, June 2015.

Digitized content

Selected content is available online through SCUA's digital repository Credo

Processing Information

Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, July 2015.

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Lawrence D. Yeomans Papers (MS 873). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Chauffeurs
  • World War, 1914-1918

Genres and formats

  • Ephemera
  • Photographs

Link to similar SCUA collections