Daverin Biddulph
Early Life
Matthew Daverin Biddulph was born on July 20, 1895, in Rye, New York, the son of Michael F. Biddulph and Annie Daverin. He was raised in Rye and educated in the local public school system, growing up in a working-class household that reflected the social fabric of the community in the early twentieth century.
By 1917, he was residing at 15 Purchase Street in Rye and working as a salesman for the Barford Motor Truck Company, an occupation tied to the expanding automotive and industrial economy of the period. He was married to Helen F. Derby, whom he had wed in 1916, and his draft registration reflects both his family responsibilities and his integration into the local workforce.
World War I Service
Matthew D. Biddulph entered military service on September 19, 1917, when he was inducted into the United States Army through Local Board No. 6 in Westchester County, New York. He was initially assigned to Company E, 302nd Field Signal Corps, a unit responsible for communications infrastructure, including telegraph, telephone, and signal operations supporting Army units.
He was later transferred to the United States Army Air Service, serving with the 325th Aero Squadron and subsequently the 144th Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas, one of the Army’s aviation training centers during World War I. These assignments placed him within the rapidly developing field of military aviation, where personnel were trained in aircraft support, communications, and operational readiness.
His service remained stateside, and there is no record of overseas deployment or combat engagement. His role within signal and aviation units reflects the Army’s emphasis on technological advancement and training during the war.
He was honorably discharged following the completion of his service, with no wounds recorded.
Life After Service
Following his military service, Biddulph’s life reflected both mobility and personal challenges. He relocated for a time to California, where he lived in Los Angeles and Hollywood during the early 1920s, before returning to New York.
He married Helen F. Derby, with whom he had children, though the marriage later ended. His later life included periods of instability, including documented legal difficulties, reflecting a complex postwar experience not uncommon among some veterans of the era.
Matthew Daverin Biddulph died on November 24, 1935, in East Hampton, New York, at the age of forty.
At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Grace Biddulph of Chicago, and his sister, Mrs. John O’Connor of Lake George, New York. He was predeceased by his parents.
He was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Rye Brook, New York, returning in death to the community in which he had been born.