Yeomans, Lawrence D.
Lawrence D. Yeomans Papers
1895-1946
1917-1919
MS 873
1 box
0.25 linear feet
Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries
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.
English
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.
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.
The collection is open for research.
Cite as: Lawrence D. Yeomans Papers (MS 873). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Gift of Leslie Button, June 2015.
World War I
Selected content is available online through SCUA's digital repository Credo
Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, July 2015.
Chauffeurs
World War, 1914-1918
Ephemera
Photographs
11
Aviation Minstrels: program for performance aboard transport ship
1917 Oct. 23
12
Chauffeur's gloves
19172 pair
13
"Miss Ketty / 14, rue Montyon / next to Folies Bergeres" [calling card]
19192 items
14
Newsclippings
1922-1945
15
Photographs: Artillery, tanks, airplane, man in gas mask; possibly surrendered German equipment
191810 items
Hotel(?) with American serviceman standing in front
1918
American soldier wearing a gas mask
1918
German airplanes (Albatross C.IV?) and machine guns
1918
German tank (A7V 'Wotan') and artillery pieces
1918
Tank (Renault FT-17) with hatch open
1918
German tank (A7V 'Wotan')
1918
American soldiers standing among German artillery pieces
1918
German airplanes and artillery on display
1918
German airplanes and artillery on display
1918
German artillery on display
1918
16
Photographs: L. D. Yeomans and nurse
19183 items
Yeomans, unidentified nurse, and bulldog
1918
Yeomans, unidentified nurse, and bulldog
1918
Yeomans and unidentified nurse, seated on steps
1918
17
Postcards: Fete de l'independence americaine a Paris
19197 items
18
Postcards: France
19193 items
19
Postcards: miscellaneous
1910-19144 items
110
Smith, G. B., letter from Alfred Smith (includes invoice)
1902
111
Souvenir d'une visite a Paris [printed tourist booklet]
1918
112
United States. Army. Signal Corps. Service Companies, 45th and 35t: Menu for Christmas dinner
1918 Dec. 25
113
Weakly Slum, vol. A, ch. 3 [camp newspaper]
1919 Apr. 1
114
Wedding invitation: Emma Christina Westervelt and Alfred George Yeomans
1895
115Western Electric Company
Terms for leave of absence to Lawrence D. Yeomans for military service
1917-1918
116
Westervelt family genealogical information
undated
117Wold, P. I.
Letter to Emma W. Yeomans, informing her of the safe arrival of her son in France
1917 Nov. 9
118
Yeomans, Lawrence D.: correspondence
1939-19464 items
119
Yeomans, Lawrence D.: identity cards for Pratt Institute and Western Electric
1916-19172 items
120
Yeomans, Lawrence D.: military documents (duty card, pass to attend theater, honorable discharge)
1918-19194 items