As I mentioned earlier, while at San Luis Rey, I took a picture of the grave of Simon Gomez who died in France during WWI. My friend, A, who is devoted to helping people find the graves of soldiers lost in war, has discovered some interesting things about Simon AND, would you believe - A PHOTOGRAPH!
It looks as though Simon was born in the little township of San Luis Rey. In the 1900 census he is there with his parents and three sisters, Natidava, Aurelia and Levinia, and his four brothers, Sylvester, Roman (named after his father,) Ignacio and Francisco. In 1910, Simon is still in San Luis Rey and working as a day laborer but by the time he registered for the draft, he had moved to Los Angles and was working as a miller for Globe Mills. Simon never married.
It's interesting that while several documents give Simon's birth date as January 5th - there are discrepancies as to the year of his birth. According to the 1900 and 1910 census, he was born in 1889. His draft card says 1888 and his headstone says 1891. I think 1889 is probably correct but , as anyone who dabbles in family history knows, your guess is as good as mine!
What is certain is that Simon was killed at Ypres - that most terrible battle that took so many thousands of lives. Simon was drafted into the 363rd. Infantry Company, 91st. Division, San Francisco. The 91st. Division lost 1,414 men at Ypres -with over 4,000 wounded.
A pointed out to me that Simon's mother, Custodia, had died on July 22 - and I visited her grave on July 19th. Had I known, I would have taken flowers for her and Simon. I would like to thank A for her dedication to fallen soldiers - xxx
Today, I am taking Mr. Indi on a mystery drive! Pictures will follow!
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