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Unit:
Naval Auxiliary Reserve, Ninth Naval District
Date of Birth:
July 13, 1895
Hometown:
Columbus, Ohio
Date of Death:
July 1, 1974
Place of Death:
Unknown
Awards:
Unknown
On July 13, 1895, Wilbur Elting Peecher was born in Ohio. He graduated from high school and pursued an agricultural degree for two and a half years, but left for a full time job at the railroad where his father also worked. Peecher worked as a farm laborer and as a clerk for the Norfolk & Western Railroad in the years leading to World War I.
After the United States entered World War I, Peecher applied to enroll in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force in May 1918. Initially denied entry on medical grounds due to flat feet, he acquired the required endorsements to have his disability waived. Despite being on active duty, Peecher never saw overseas action.
He was stationed in Chicago for training as part of the 9th Naval District and stayed in Chicago and then Cleveland, Ohio for the remainder of the war. The Great Lake Naval Training Station in Chicago, Illinois played a key role in training sailors. Originally designed to accommodate 1,500 recruits at a time, it housed more than 13,000 in October 1917, including schools for yeomen, radio operators, signaling, baking, cooking, and musicians.
Peecher was released from active duty in January 1919 and was honorably discharged in September 1921.
Peecher married Beatrice Boardman of Indiana and they had two daughters. Following the end of World War I, Peecher tried different occupations, steadily improving himself.
According to the 1920 federal census, he worked at Ohio Nut & Washer Company, and by 1930 he owned a grocery store in Columbus, Ohio. While running his neighborhood grocery, Peecher also read law and became a member of the Ohio Bar Association in 1936. Peecher established his own practice in the late 1930s and continued to practice law until his death in 1974.
Wilbur Elting Peecher died on July 1, 1974 and is buried in Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
11th Signal Battalion…at Municipal Pier, Chicago. Photograph. August 1917. National Archives and Records Administration (165-WW-293B-018-ac). Image.
Constructing barracks for the accomodation of the new recruits….Great Lakes Naval Station, Chicago, Ill. Photograph. c. 1918. National Archives and Records Administration (165-WW-341A-037-ac). Image.
Logistics File, 1916–1920; Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, Record Group 45 (Box 5); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
Logistics File, 1916–1920; Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, Record Group 45 (Box 79); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
Logistics File, 1916–1920; Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, Record Group 45 (Box 92); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
Logistics File, 1916–1920; Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, Record Group 45 (Box 93); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
Ohio. Franklin County. 1910 U.S. Census. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.
Ohio. Franklin County. 1920 U.S. Census. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.
Ohio. Franklin County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.
Ohio. Franklin County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.
Peecher Family Photographs. 1918–1990. Courtesy of the Peecher Family.
Recruits Entering the Training Camp for Enlistment in the Navy, Great Lakes Naval Station. Photograph. c. 1918. National Archives and Records Administration (165-WW-341A-008-ac). Image.
Stephenson, Travis. Wilbur Peecher grave photograph, Union Cemetery. Find a Grave. Last updated November 9, 2004. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9784579/wilbur-b-peecher.
Subject File, 1911–1927; Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, Record Group 45 (Box 978); National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD.
Wilbur Peecher, Official Military Personnel File, Department of the Navy, RG 24, National Archives and Records Administration — St. Louis.
Wilbur Peecher. U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995. Digital Images. https://ancestry.com.
The American Battle Monuments Commission operates and maintains 26 cemeteries and 31 federal memorials, monuments and commemorative plaques in 17 countries throughout the world, including the United States.
Since March 4, 1923, the ABMC’s sacred mission remains to honor the service, achievements, and sacrifice of more than 200,000 U.S. service members buried and memorialized at our sites.
