Family Stories

Gilbert Ratcliff Buried in Grove Hill Cemetery

Gilbert Ratcliff, Co. L, 11th U.S. Infantry, born August 22, 1890, killed November 10, 1918, in Argonne Forest, France.  Hill Grove Cemetery, Shelby County, Kentucky.

Gilbert Ratcliff was the youngest son of John Logan Ratcliff and Lucinda A. Sleadd, born August 22, 1890.  His parents were married in 1867.  Gilbert’s grandparents were William Sleadd and Sophie Vannatta.

In the 1900 census for Shelby County, Logan Ratcliff was 56, married for 33 years, and a farmer.  Lucinda was 52, a mother of 14 children, with 11 living.  The following children lived in the household – William, 28; Jessie, 21; Homer, 20; Newel, 17; Virginia, 15; and Gilbert, 9.

Gilbert’s draft registration card for World War I lists his home address as R.F.D. #3, Waddy, in Shelby County, Kentucky.  He was a natural born citizen, a farmer and worked for his father.  He was single.  Gilbert was medium tall, stout, with blue eyes and light hair.

How tragic that Gilbert died the day before the Armistice was signed.  How many lives were lost in that last day before the World War I ended?

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