Private, Co B, 309th Infantry, 78th Division.
Killed in action near Grandpré, France, October 19, 1918. Age 24.
Town: Batavia
Burial: Elmwood Cemetery, Plot 10 Lot 801, Batavia, Genesee County, New York
Clarence Eugene Lear was born in Batavia (Genesee County), New York, on January 2, 1894, and lived there all his life before entering the service. He was the only child of Edward J and Nellie nee Amidon Lear. The 1905 NY Census shows the family living on West Batavia Road. The 1910 US Census and 1915 NY Census, as well as 1917’s Genesee County “Militia Enrollment List” and Farm Journal Directory of Genesee County, show the family at 28 Pearl Street in Batavia.
Clarence attended Batavia schools and was a member of the Huntley Hose Company No. 5 and the Batavia Exempt Firemen’s Association. A 1916 Batavia Daily News article mentions that he had just purchased a pool room in Batavia, and another article from that same year refers to him as being on duty at the bar at the Miller & Stakel saloon. When he filled out his draft registration card on June 5, 1917, Clarence gave his occupation as carpenter, the same occupation listed for him on the 1915 NY State Census, and listed his father (who was also a carpenter) as his employer.
On April 3, 1918, Lear was inducted in Batavia and the next day left with 41 other members of Genesee County’s fifth draft contingent for Camp Dix, New Jersey, home of the 78th Division. About six weeks later, on May 20, 1918, he was sent overseas as a member of Company B of the division’s 309th Infantry. By the middle of June the entire 78th Division was in France.
As was the case with Batavia’s Private Chasie Good, also of the 309th Infantry’s Company B, confusion surrounded initial casualty reports regarding Private Lear. On November 19, 1918, he was reported by the government as having been missing in action since October 4. Later, Washington changed the date, and said Lear had been missing since October 20. Finally, on December 17, the Lears received a telegram saying their son had been killed in action on October 19, 1918. History of the Seventy-Eighth Division lists his KIA date as October 20, but all other sources, including the NY Roll of Honor and all pertinent documents in his Burial Case File, also say that he was killed on October 19.
On October 19, 1918, and into the early morning hours of October 20, the 309th Infantry was attacking enemy positions in the Bois des Loges, a heavily defended square mile of underbrush and ravines northeast of Grandpré. Speaking of the action on October 19, 78th Division, Summary of Operations reads, “The 155th Infantry Brigade [which included the 309th Infantry] spent the day of the 19th in heavy, confused fighting in Bois des Loges. About 2 a.m. the 1st Battalion [including Lear’s Company B], 309th Infantry, was moved north from the vicinity of La Lairesse for the purpose of attacking on the right of the brigade; it reached the Champigneulle-Ferme des Loges road about 4:40 a.m. The attack of the 309th Infantry with the 1st Battalion and remnants of the 2d Battalion began at 5 a.m. in conjunction with the 310th Infantry to the left.”
History of the Seventy-Eighth Division also describes the fighting. “On the 19th,” it reads, “the 1st Battalion, 309th Infantry . . . advanced twice almost to the northern edge of the woods but was driven back with heavy losses. The enemy was keeping up an incessant fire with machine guns . . . and was also sending over great numbers of high explosives, shrapnel, and gas shells.”
Map coordinates noted on the documents “Grave Location Blank” and “Report of Disinterment and Reburial” (dated May 5, 1919) in Private Lear’s Burial Case File place his original battlefield grave within the Bois des Loges, just west of Champigneulle.
Private Lear was among five Genesee County members of Company B, 309th Infantry, who died in the war as a result of the fighting at the Bois des Loges.
Private Clarence Eugene Lear’s body was returned to the United States in 1921. His remains arrived in Batavia on October 9 and were interred with honors at Elmwood Cemetery on October 12.
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November 21, 1918 Batavia Daily News p6 c5
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December 18, 1918 Batavia Daily News p1 c6
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Source: New York Service Summary from Abstracts of World War I Military Service, 1917-1919, NY State Archives, Albany, New York
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Source: Burial Case Files, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, Record Group 92, National Archives — St Louis, Missouri
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Clarence E Lear headstone, Elmwood Cemetery, Plot 10 Lot 801, Batavia, Genesee County, New York
GPS Coordinates: Lat 42° 59’ 21.859” N, Long 78° 10’ 9.599” W (DD: 42.989405, -78.169333)
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Clarence E Lear Sources:
– All County Lists
– Jan 2, 1891 The Progressive Batavian p2 c2
– Dec 3, 1914 BD p7 c2
– Jan 7, 1916 BD p6 c3
– Sep 16, 1916 BD p1 c7
– Apr 4, 1918 BD p1 c3-4, p7 c4-6
– Apr 6, 1918 BT p6 c5
– Nov 21, 1918 BD p6 c5
– Nov 25, 1918 RDC p5 c2
– Nov 29, 1918 BD p7 c3
– Dec 18, 1918 BD p1 c6*
– Dec 21, 1918 BT p2 c2
– Dec 28, 1918 BD p6 c4
– Oct 10, 1921 BD p6 c5
– Oct 12, 1921 BD p2 c3
– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Clarence E Lear, age 10, citing Census Records, Batavia, E.D. 03, Genesee, New York; page number 33, line 37.
– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Edward Lear (head, age 47) and Clarence Lear (son, age 16), citing Census Records, Batavia, Genesee, New York; sheet number 11, line numbers 3 and 5, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 184.
– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Clarence A [sic] Lear, age 20, citing Census Records, Batavia (Ward 4), A.D. 01, E.D. 04, Genesee, New York; page number 11, line 24.
– Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Genesee County (1917), p 67
– “Militia Enrollment List” (Genesee County, 1917), p L1
– NYSS
– Roll of Honor (NY State), p 65
– World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Ancestry.com)
– 78th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 27-29
– History of the Seventy-Eighth Division, pp 37-39, 111-113, p 224
– BCF
– “Clarence E Lear,” tombstone transcription and photo, Findagrave.com online database (photo ©Dawn Pocock-Pilcher, used by permission)
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Click for Key to Source Abbreviations. See the Bibliography for complete title, author, and publisher information, with links to online access when available.