Remember...
Ray Odbert Skidmore
1893-1918
"And in his eyes
The cold stars lighting, very old and bleak,
In different skies."
Wilfred Owen, World War I poet
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Remember...Ray Odbert Skidmore
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Ray Odbert Skidmore was born on August 31, 1893. He was born to John W. Skidmore and Viola Skidmore. Without a birth certificate, we cannot know an exact place of birth. However, he appears in documents for the first time in the 1900 Federal Census. This census was recorded at the Taylor County Court House when Ray was six. We do not find records of him again until the 1910 Federal Census where his family reports living in Flemington, Taylor County, and he is recorded as being 16. Based upon this census and the previous census, it can be assumed that he lived the first portion of his life in Taylor County, West Virginia. From the 1910 census, the last census he is reported in, we learn a bit more about his family. His father was remarried on August 2, 1903, to Esther Skidmore, and she now appears in their household in the place of Viola. Ray had one older sister, Ethel Skidmore; three younger sisters, Ollie, Bessie, and Pearl; and one younger brother, Junior. In 1900, he was recorded as Odbert Skidmore, while in 1910, he was recorded as Odbert R. Skidmore. Throughout his documents, his first and middle names are frequently reversed. We are able to learn all of this census information through data taken from Ancestry.com.
After the censuses, we lose track of Ray Skidmore until about 1918. We find his name on a departure list for the military, which stated that he now lived in Gypsy, West Virginia, and departed the states to fight in the Great War on February 27, 1918. We have no record of a draft card, which is rare for World War I veterans. This may indicate that he enlisted in the military around the time he turned 18 and thus was not registered for the draft. Outside of the departure list we do not have much trace of Ray Skidmore until the announcement of his death. He is stated to have died on July 15, 1918. The telegraph that proclaimed his death reached his family on September 26. We find his death mentioned in two papers published within West Virginia. Both entries were posted on October 4, 1918. One was posted in the Fairmont Times and the other posted in the Clarksburg Exponent. The one from the Fairmont Times reads:
Another Harrison county boy has made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of France. He is Ray O. Skidmore, of Gypsy, son of John W. Skidmore, farmer and coal miner of that section. The father was informed of his son's death in an official telegram received from General Peter Harris, acting adjutant of the war department. Skidmore is the fifteenth Harrison county boy to give his life for liberty, and the second one from Gypsy. . . .
| Ray Odbert Skidmore was first listed as missing in action but, after some time, pronounced dead. His name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France. He was listed as a private in the U.S. Army in the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. The date of his death, as well as being listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, likely means that he died during the 2nd Battle of the Marne, which lasted from July 15 to August 6. The 2nd Battle of the Marne was the beginning of the end for German forces during World War I. Thus, it was an important battle on the road to victory for the Allied Expeditionary Force. |  |
On July 17, 1992, there was an alleged U.S. interment for Ray Odbert Skidmore, when he was memorialized at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Pruntytown. Due to the fact that he has always been considered missing in action, it can be assumed that his marker is a cenotaph.
Article prepared by Darcy Witt
July 2022
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.