Individual Record 2224
| Name} Whitthorne, Harry Sherman | Family History} Hancock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title} | Race} White | Sex} Male | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth: Date} Fam 31 Jul 1891 | Place} Vallejo, Solano, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marr.: Date} | Place} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Death: Date} Exa 22 Nov 1986 | Place} , Sonoma, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial: Date} Cir 25 Nov 1986 | Place} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grave Marker} |
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| Parents: } Campbell (Cam) Robert Whitthorne & Amanda Ayer Relationship No.} 626 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st Household No.} 243 = 620 Second Ave., San Francisco, Calif. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation 1} Attorney Occupation 2} Soldier Occupation 3} Motion picture operator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion/Church} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouses: First} Total Number of} 0? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: Shortly after Harry's birth his mother passed away at the age of 24. His dad
and siblings lived with Mrs. Eggery and family on a rooming and boarding basis. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Later, Harry's dad opened up a motion picture house, the Star, and Harry and his two
brothers were the machine operators. They used "Path" machines with the old
arc lights. The projection booth was steel-lined and an unpleasantly hot working
environment. Harry's brothers eventually had it and quit, but Harry continued
on in the motion picture business. Harry was the family member who had a sense of direction in his efforts and working as a mechanic was not one of his goals. Just before he finished his apprenticeship at Mare Island Naval Yard as a machinist, he ran away from home. Harry was not satisfied. A few weeks later, his dad got a telegram from the Chief of Police of Salt Lake City. Harry had been picked up in the railroad freight yard in a car with a couple of hoboes and, not appearing to be the type usually picked up, would be held pending word. His father sent the cost of return fare and soon Harry was back in the fold, but refused to go back to the Yard. Harry continued running the picture machines for a while and finally took a job in a movie house in Oakland. He enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley and started working his way through school. Beginning in 1916 Harry went to U.C. at Berkeley and listed his home address as 620 Second Avenue in San Francisco. Harry's schooling, however, was interrupted by World War I. In 1917 Harry applied for the reserve officers training program at the Presidio in San Francisco. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army. In 1918 Harry was a captain in the U.S. Army's 140th Infantry. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action near Exermout, France, from September 28 to October 1, 1918. He organized a detachment to go 1,200 yards in front of our lines to rescue the wounded in a wood previously occupied. He brought back over 20 of the wounded, who would otherwise have been captured or died from exposure, the rescue being made under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire. Later, when he was the only officer with the battalion, he refused to be evacuated, though wounded and burned by mustard gas, remaining in command until the battalion was relieved. Harry returned to California and took advantage of the G.I. Bill and worked his way through Law School as an instructor in a chain of movie houses in Oakland and Berkeley. Sound was then just coming into the industry. He graduated from U.C. to December 1919. In 1923 Harry was admitted to the California State Bar. In 1930 he listed his occupation as attorney-at-law when he registered to vote as a Democrat. From 1934 to 1953 Harry began taking a series of ocean cruises. At least four of these cruises were aboard merchant ships during World War II where he worked as a steward (see Passenger and Crew Lists). In 1973 Harry was in Madrid, Spain. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time of Birth} | Time of Death} | Fraternal/Social} | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baptism Date} | Place} | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Confirm. Date} | Photo} None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Immigr'n Date} N/A | Port} N/A | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education: Grade} University of California at Berkeley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military: Service} U.S. Army - Infantry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Health Condition} Cause of Death} |
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| Copyright © 2010 by Daniel W. Hancock. All Rights Reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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