Private First Class, Co A, 108th Infantry, 27th Division.
Died October 3, 1918 of wounds received in action near Hindenburg Line east of Ronssoy, France. Age 25.
Town: Batavia (also Monroe County; see text)
Burial: Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Brockport, Monroe County, New York
James E Keable was born in Brockport (Monroe County), New York, in 1892. He was the only child of Theodore and Margaret Keable. According to the October 30, 1918 Batavia Daily News article reporting his death, James moved with his parents to Batavia (Genesee County) “as a young boy” and lived there nearly all his life, attending Batavia public schools and later serving with the city’s volunteer Alert Fire Hose Company. The 1905 NY Census shows James at age 13 with his parents at 34-1/2 Liberty Street in Batavia; his father’s occupation is given as “iron moulder.” The 1910 US Census shows the Keables at 19 Jackson Street in Batavia, with James’s father working as a moulder for a plow company; James, at age 17, is listed as an apprentice glass cutter. Five years later, in the 1915 NY Census, the Keables are still at the same address, with James listed as a glass cutter, his apprenticeship apparently completed.
James Keable is referred to in local media as “from Batavia” as late as mid-1916 (July 27, 1916 Brockport Republic). Sometime soon after, however, his family relocated to Rochester, where on June 2, 1917, James enlisted in the New York National Guard’s 3rd Infantry Regiment. This explains why Keable is listed as a Monroe County soldier in the NY Roll of Honor.
In mid-July, 1917, all state National Guard units were called into federal service as a consequence of the nation’s declaration of war on April 6. At the end of September, the 3rd Infantry Regiment was sent to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, where, along with most of Buffalo’s 74th Infantry, it became part of the 27th Division’s 108th Infantry regiment. The 27th Division shipped out for overseas duty in May, 1918, after nearly eight months of training. Keable’s Company A left the United States for France on May 10, 1918, aboard HMS Kurtz.
Keable’s rank is given as private in newspaper sources and in Story of the 27th Division but as private first class in Short History…of the 108th and on both his NYSS and NY Roll of Honor listing. Several documents in his Burial Case File also give his rank as private, but others appear to have been changed from private to private first class, suggesting that the latter is the most accurate designation. He is listed here as private first class.
Sources also conflict on the exact date of James Keable’s death. County List 1 (August 5, 1919 Batavia Daily News), as well as the October 30, 1918 Batavia Daily News and November 2, 1918 Batavia Times, say that he died on October 8, 1918. The February 15, 1919 Batavia Daily News and July 28, 1921 Brockport Republic say that he was wounded in action on September 29, 1918 and died two days later, which would’ve been October 1. However, Story of the 27th Division, Short History…of the 108th, the NY Roll of Honor, the July 15, 1921 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and all pertinent military documents in James Keable’s Burial Case File give his date of death as October 3, 1918—this is almost certainly correct.
All sources agree that Pfc. James Keable died from wounds he received on September 29, 1918, during the 27th Division’s assault on the Hindenburg Line—a complex of defenses including 30-foot-deep concrete bunkers, the St. Quentin canal and tunnel, miles of hidden passageways, and fortified trench systems fronted by fields of heavy twisted barbed wire.
Assigned the task of mopping up concealed machine-gun nests and enemy troops, and fighting 50 to 100 yards behind the lead assault wave through thick smoke and fog, the 108th’s 1st Battalion, including Company A, faced devastating machine-gun and rifle fire from all directions and a deadly enemy artillery counterbarrage of gas and high-explosive shells.
On the same day in that attack, seven other Genesee County members of the 27th Division were killed and one other also received wounds from which he later died.
In 1921, James Keable’s remains were returned to the United States under military escort and were interred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Brockport.
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October 30, 1918 Batavia Daily News p2 c4
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February 15, 1919 Batavia Daily News p5 c3
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July 27, 1921 Batavia Daily News p8 c5
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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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Identity Tag in James E Keable Burial Case File, 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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James E Keable headstone, Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Brockport, Monroe County, New York
GPS Coordinates: Lat 43° 12’ 27.549” N, Long 77° 54’ 57.88” W (DD: 43.207653, -77.916078)
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James E Keable Sources:
– County Lists 1, 4
– Oct 31, 1912 BD p5 c3
– Jan 5, 1916 BD p4 c4
– Jul 27, 1916 Brockport Republic p5 c3
– Jun 3, 1917 RDC p5 c5
– Oct 30, 1918 BD p2 c4*
– Nov 2, 1918 BT p2 c3
– Feb 15, 1919 BD p5 c3
– Jul 15, 1921 RDC p19 c1
– Jul 27, 1921 BD p8 c5
– Jul 28, 1921 Brockport Republic p1 c5
– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for James Keable, age 13, citing Census Records, Batavia, E.D. 05, Genesee, New York; page number 21, line 19.
– “United States Census, 1910.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Theodore Keable (head) and James Keable (son, age 17), citing Census Records, Batavia, Genesee, New York; sheet number 1, line numbers 22 and 24, microfilm series T624, Roll 951, page 174.
– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for James Keable, age 20, citing Census Records, Batavia (Ward 5), A.D. 01, E.D. 05, Genesee, New York; page number 2, line 50.
– NYSS
– Roll of Honor (NY State), p 82
– Short History and Illustrated Roster of the 108th Infantry, p 43
– 27th Division, Summary of Operations in the World War, pp 13-26
– The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 1, pp 39, 146, 300-313, 328a
– The Story of the 27th Division Vol. 2, p 1076
– BCF
– “James E Keable,” tombstone transcription and photo, Findagrave.com online database (photo ©John Noble, used by permission)
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