I came across the military records of my great grandfather William J Gallagher I recently. Though he did not serve in either World War I or II, he did register for the draft. Therefore, I was able to view some personal information about the man who was my grandpop's father.
William Joseph Gallagher was born June 29th, 1884 to Patrick and Hannah (Dougherty) Gallagher. He was their only son. William had three sisters Grace (Silverthorn), Mary (Cannon) and Sarah "Sally" (Keller).
According to the World War I Draft Records, William had blue eyes and light brown hair. He was 5 "7" with a ruby complexion and was of medium built. When he signed up for the draft on September 12th, 1918, he lived at 143 Seville Street in the Manayunk Section of Philadelphia. Occupation was listed and this was in 1918 "folks" Electrical Machinist for Midvale Steel at 4201 Wissahickon Street.
On April 27th, 1942, he signed up for the World War II Draft. He was still 5"7" and 150lbs with blue eyes, gray hair and a ruby complexion. He was also listed as being employed at Allenwood Co., Ivy Rock Plant in Conshohocken. He was also listed as living on 317 Roxborough Ave. This is in the year 1942.
2 comments:
This is so interesting, especially knowing his height was only 5' 7". I always assumed John and his father got their height (they're both 6' 4"!) from their paternal side, but apparently not. Any ideas where it comes from?
It certainly comes from somewhere because grandpop Gallagher himself was at least 6 ft or more and all the first cousins (and there are alot of us) are tall even the females. The boys are all over 6ft with the exception of Michael who falls in about 5 "9". The tallest is Frank Sciolla who stands at 6 '6" while his sister stands at 5"11". Then the rest of us females full in somewhere between 5 "7" (me) to 6ft (Kathleen). I am considered the shortest female in the family. Even Marianne's two daughters tower over me. That is why I find the actual records of someone's history so fascinating because it lists the personal stuff like hair and eye color and height and weight, You can almost vision what they may have looked like. Maybe the height comes from grandmom's McCaffery side. Grandmom was fairly tall in her time too. I love that it interests you too. Keep reading and I will keep researching.
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