Robert J. Gillespie

Birth: 8/7/1891, Cleveland, Ohio

Address: 13604 Miles Ave., Cleveland, OH

Demographics: age 26 at draft registration; single; Caucasian; native born Clevelander; occupation Painter at draft registration; occupation Scale Boy at Rolling Mill in 1910 at age 18; claimed exemption from draft due to a dependent sister

Appearance: Height tall, Build stout, Eyes blue, Hair brown

Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: 6/5/1917; 4/1/1918; Private

Service Number: 2429577

Deployment: 6/12/1918 from New York aboard SS Carpathia

Action: 36 Co 9 Tng Bn 158 Dep Brig to Apr 22/18; Hq Co 330 Inf to Aug 8/18; Co I 28 Inf to death. Pvt. St. Mihiel; Meuse-Argonne. AEF June 12/18 to death. Cited in GO 1 Div dated Jan1/20

Death: October 7, 1918 (approximately one month before the Armistice on November 11, 1918) at age 27 at Exermont, Champagne-Ardenne, France; cause of death Killed in Action

Burial: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Lorraine, France, Plot D Row 1 Grave 2

Next of Kin: Mrs. Sarah Gillespie, mother, 9617 Miles Ave., Cleveland, OH (address also recorded as 9617 Gibson Ave., Cleveland, OH) 

Additional Information: Father: Robert J. Gillespie (1869-1942), born Northern Ireland, immigrated 1882, occupation Mill Laborer and Helper at Foundry, buried Crown Hill Cemetery, Twinsburg, OH; Mother: Sarah Dobson Gillespie (1863-1936), born Ireland, immigrated 1868, had 6 children, buried Crown Hill Cemetery, Twinsburg, OH; Siblings: Mabel Gillespie Westcott (?-1977), who had a son named Robert, presumably the namesake of her brother Private Robert J. Gillespie; James J. Gillespie (1888-1963), who served in WWI and survived, buried Crown Hill Cemetery, Twinsburg, OH; Wilda Gillespie Campbell Thornton (1897-1960); Margaret Gillespie Corradi; Edna May Gillespie Bryant (1907-1997)