Frank Pierce Jefferson (1885-1963) was elected to The Lambs in 1907 as a Non-Theatrical member. He was the youngest son of beloved Lamb Joseph Jefferson and his second wife, Sarah Warren (1849-1921). In World War I he was awarded a Silver Star by the U.S. Army for bravery in France.
He was born Sept. 12, 1885, in New York, and spent much of his youth at the family home in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. He followed his parents into show business as an actor, but only as a young man. His father died when he was 19 years old.
By 1915 he was selling insurance in Manhattan. He and his brother, William, had an apartment on W. 72nd Street where they lived with their widowed mother.
When the United States entered the Great War in April 1917, he enlisted weeks later on June 4, 1917. He was almost 32 years old when he enlisted, old for a private. Jefferson joined Troop “B,” Squadron A Cavalry, in New York. The Army reorganized the unit as the 105th Machine Gun Battalion, 27th Division. He was assigned to Company A and saw heavy combat in both Belgium and France. He was promoted to sergeant.
Jefferson was wounded in action when he was gassed on Oct. 18, 1918, at the Battle of Jonc De Mer Ridge in the vicinity of Arbre Guernon. He was awarded the Silver Star (Order Number S.O. 84, 27th Division). The citation reads: “For leadership and courage while acting as Section Sergeant during the attack against the Hindenburg Line, September 27 – 29, 1918.”
He returned from France on March 6, 1919, aboard the Leviathan, docking at Hoboken. Sgt. Jefferson marched in the Welcome Home Parade for the 27th Division up Fifth Avenue. He was honorably discharged from the service on April 1, 1919, at Camp Upton, Long Island.
In the 1940s he relocated to Honolulu, Hawaii with his brother, William. During World War II the Great War veteran volunteered with the Office of Civilian Defense. When he returned to New York he listed The Lambs as his permanent address.
Frank Pierce Jefferson died June 11, 1963, in New York. He was 77 years old. Following a memorial service at The Little Church Around the Corner, he was interred in the family plot in Bay View Cemetery in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
–Researched and written by Shepherd Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, 2024.