Gustaf Adolf Sundquist
(1879-1918)
Embedded Files
Gustaf Adolf Sundquist
Location of Plaque 2015
Purple Heart Medal
Seaman Gustaf Adolf Sundquist
Cenotaph at Arlington National Cemetery
Walls of the Missing, Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial, Brookwood, England
List of Children
Gustaf Adolf Sundquist
*Surname misspelled on plaque
*Served in both the Spanish-American War and World War I
*Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War, the highest U.S. military decoration for valor in combat*
Birth: 6/4/1879, Irsta, Vasteras, Vastmanlands, Ian, Sweden
Address: 2321 W. 38th St., Cleveland, Ohio
Demographics: Caucasian; married; emigrated 1895 or 1897; prior to living in Cleveland lived in Queens, New York; family moved to Cleveland about 1915; occupation Housesmith Ironworker in NY [working on buildings] and an Ironworker in Cleveland; naturalized citizen
Draft Date/Enlistment Date/Rank: After serving in the Spanish-American War, he re-enlisted in World War I in U.S. Naval Reserve on 5/4/1918; served as Chief Special Mechanic, Lafayette High Power Radio Station, Croix d'Hins, France
Service Number: 116-92-46
Marriage: 10/14/1905 in Kings, New York to Matilda E. Pearson (1881-1968) [See Additional Information below about his wife.]
Deployment: deployment record not found
Action: [See biographical information at the bottom of this page.] Ordinary Seaman US Navy Spanish American War; Chief Special Mechanic WWI, Lafayette High Power Radio Station, Croix d'Hins, France
Death: Declared Dead August 25, 1918; cause of death Accidental Drowning at Arcachon, France, Missing in Action or Buried at Sea; body never recovered
Awards: [See biographical information at the bottom of this page.] A total of 112 Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded during the Spanish-American War, including 66 for the Navy, one of which went to Gustaf Adolf Sundquist, Rank Ordinary Seaman. For WWI service, he received the Purple Heart. His name was inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Brookwood American Cemetery, Brookwood, England.
Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia; Section MK Site 192; Memorial Stone [cenotaph] placed on 2/10/2010
Next of Kin: Matilda E. Pearson Sundquist, wife, 2321 W. 38th St., Cleveland, OH; on WWI Burial Card under name of widow, it states, "Mother Foreign" and "Sailed May 27, 1931 - President Roosevelt." [This is a reference to a Gold Star Mothers' and Widows' Pilgrimage made by either his widow or mother.]
Additional Information: Gustaf Adolph Sundquist was an adoptee.
Father: Anders Gustaf Sundqvist (1851-1929), married 1880; Mother: Eva Sofia Kullgren Sundqvist (1857-1942), second marriage 1880, had 2 children in first marriage and at least 10 children in second marriage, several of whom died in infancy; Wife: Matilda E. Pearson (1881-1968), born Sweden, emigrated 1903, 1928 Cleveland City Directory showed her living at 10817 Dale Ave., Cleveland, OH with daughter Lillian, a stenographer, and daughter Svea, a nurse, died at age 87 and was buried at West Park Cemetery, 3942 Ridge Rd., Cleveland, OH; Children: See List of Children at left. Daughter Martha Washington Sundquist, born 1915, died of heart and lung issues at 11 days of age and was buried in New York; Son Arthur Sundquist died at home in 1926 at age 15-16.
WWI Gold Star Mothers' and Widows' Pilgrimage Medal
SUNDQUIST, GUSTAF ADOLF (4 June 1879-25 August 1918), recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for service during the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, was one of nine children born to Anders Gustaf and Eva Sofia (Kullgren) Sundquist in Irsta, Sweden. Gustaf Adolf arrived in New York about 1895 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy 30 July 1897. On board the USS Nashville in the Caribbean, Seaman Sundquist participated in the attempt 11 May 1898 to cut the underwater telegraph cables, linking Cuba with Spain, which were located off shore near the Cuban city of Cienfuegos. Under fire from Spanish riflemen, the party was able to cut only two of the three telegraph lines and had to return to their ships. On 2 Nov. 1899 the Medal of Honor for bravery and coolness under fire was authorized for Sundquist and the other members of the cable-cutting party.
SUNDQUIST, GUSTAF ADOLF (4 June 1879-25 August 1918), recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for service during the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, was one of nine children born to Anders Gustaf and Eva Sofia (Kullgren) Sundquist in Irsta, Sweden. Gustaf Adolf arrived in New York about 1895 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy 30 July 1897. On board the USS Nashville in the Caribbean, Seaman Sundquist participated in the attempt 11 May 1898 to cut the underwater telegraph cables, linking Cuba with Spain, which were located off shore near the Cuban city of Cienfuegos. Under fire from Spanish riflemen, the party was able to cut only two of the three telegraph lines and had to return to their ships. On 2 Nov. 1899 the Medal of Honor for bravery and coolness under fire was authorized for Sundquist and the other members of the cable-cutting party.
Sundquist was discharged from the Navy 26 Sept. 1900. In 1905 he married Matilda E. Pearson in Brooklyn, N.Y. and the couple had five children. They came to Cleveland about 1915 where he was employed as a structural ironworker until 4 May 1918 when he reenlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve to serve in WORLD WAR I. Assigned to Ft. Lafayette Naval Air Station at Crois D'Hins, France. Sundquist accidentally drowned 25 August while swimming off shore. His body was never recovered.
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