Tuesday, February 07, 2012

My Ancestors Want To Be Known Part #2: COL. William Singleton Gilliam

Continuing from My Ancestors Want To Be Known Part #1.....

For those of you reading my post series for the first time, I received photos and other items from my cousin's husband of my Gilliam ancestry line.  I have been researching the Gilliam family for awhile, as they merged when my Great Grandfather Ambrose Elander Cully married my Great Grandmother Nora Ann Gilliam.

 Nora was the sister of Leander Singleton Gilliam and the children of Hannah Singleton-Nelson & Daniel Gilliam.  The sons and grandson's of Hannah carried the slave name "Singleton" as their middle name.  I am not sure why her daughters did not carry the slave name, and I hope to find the reason through further research.

In the following posts, I will present Leander S. & Flora Gilliam's sons as I seek out more information on them.

William Singleton Gilliam
William Singleton Gilliam was the middle son of Leander and Flora Gilliam.  He was born on March 24, 1893  in Worcester, MA and Died on April 9, 1946 in Boston, MA.

When I spoke to my cousin's husband, he informed me that William had been a director of the Worcester Boys Club in Massachusetts for many years, and that he heard there was a photo of him in the building.  With this information, I contacted the Boy's Club, now named the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester. I spoke with the current director and inquired about the photo and the possibility of any information in their archives.  He stated that he would send me some information through my e-mail, but as of date, I have not heard back.

Continuing with the research, I found an obituary for William S. Gilliam in The New York Times, published on April 10, 1946 through the NY Times Archives.  I had to pay a small fee to read the obituary.


Knowing that William served in the First World War, I thought I would find more information regarding his enlistment on Ancestry.com.  I was not able to find anything except for a copy of the Old Man's World War II Draft Registration Card.   If you notice, William identified as being white, although he was of African ancestry.  To learn more about the Meuse-Argonne Offensive go to this link.




I found this e-book Official List of Officers of the Officer' Reserve Corps of the Army on Google Books that lists William Singleton Gilliam in the Reserves.

I also found a mention of a description of William's office space in The Worcester Magazine digitized in Google books.  insert below:


William worked at the Boys Club on Ionic Street:

Worcester Boys Club
Ionic Avenue

I was informed that William S. Gilliam was buried at the Hope Cemetery in Worcester Ma.  I made a request online for confirmation and hope to hear back soon.

4 comments:

  1. I do hope you hear back soon regarding where he is buried. Handsome man in uniform!

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  2. I know some Gilliams. I wonder if you all are related.

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  3. A handsome man. You've gathered some good research on him.
    Regards,
    Theresa (Tangled Trees)

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  4. Thank you Andrea, Kristin and Theresa for visiting my blog. Kristin, this is the first time I have actually spoke to a descendant of the Gilliams. I would like to know if we are related too.

    William was really a handsome man...wow

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