 .png) William Cornelius Gladstone
William Cornelius Gladstone was born on April 15, 1887, in Norwalk, Connecticut, to Sarah Esther Sharrot, age 26, and George Washington Gladstone, age 31. In Rye his family lived at 13 School Street and were members of the Church of the Resurrection.
William enlisted and served in the U.S. Army during World War I and World War II. At the age of 21 he enlisted in the Army Signal Crops as a telegraph operator. He served several posts along the east coast. In 1910 he was picked of to the join the mounted company of the Signal Corps on the Mexican Border where he served for a year. With World War I he enlisted again in the Signal Corps and was promoted to lieutenant, then captain, and discharged in 1919. For several years after the war he served as a civilian aide on the staff of Gen. Edgar Russel.
  In 1942 he again at age 55, enlisted, with special permission, in the Signal Corps. He and his son, W. Gordon Gladstone, both trained at Camp Wood, N.J., in the same company and the same barracks. In 1945 he was promoted to staff sergeant and became message center chief at Sea Girt, N.J. He was placed on the retired list in 1959 after a total of 21 years and four months in government service, of which more than eight years were spent in active duty.
William was a prominent figure in Elmsford politics and was spokesman for the town's Republican committee. He was an active Republican party member for 25 years and former real estate salesman.
William C. Gladstone, 80, of 50 S. Stone Avenue, Elmsford, a former resident of Rye, died Saturday at Phelps Memorial Hospital, Tarrytown, after suffering a stroke.
Surviving are his wife, the former Sarah Block; a son, William Gordon Gladstone of Rye; and a daughter, Miss Rosalie Gladstone of the home address.
 Father Gives Son KP Army Assignment
''The Signal Corps Message,'' camp newspaper at Fort Monmouth, N. J., relates that Sergeant William C. Gladstone is employing something more than parental authority over his son, Pvt. William Gordon Gladstone, both well-known former Rye residents. The article says: The ominous roll of the drums of war has broken many close-knit family ties, but they frequently bring about very pleasant reunions.
Pvt. William Gordon Gladstone and his father, Sergt. William C. Gladstone, have been brought together in the Signal Corps. Pvt. Gladstone is in basic training in Company D of the 1st Signal Training Regiment at Camp Edison. Sergt. Gladstone is C Company clerk in the 2nd Signal Training Regiment at Camp Wood. If the younger Gladstone is classified as a radio operator, and he hopes this will happen, and he is assigned to Company C, his dad is all set for him the G.I. way. ''His first duties will be K.P.,'' the head of Gladstone house promised.
As company clerk, I prepare the roster. You see, he told me in a kidding way that when HE came into i he Army there would be some changes made. Maybe there will be, but it'll be done the Army way. I am proud to have him in the Signal Corps with me. He is 33 years old. When I was 30 I was a captain in the Signal Corps and a camp signal officer at Camp Upton. Young William lived with us on the post. I trust that he will do as well as I did and I now he will be a good soldier.'' Pvt. Gladstone, before answering the call to arms, was manager of a live-and-ten-cent-store in Rye, N. Y. and for seven years was with the New York Telephone Company as 1'BX installer in Westchester.
The senior Gladstone was commissioned a captain in September, 1918. ID 1919 he was ordered into the Department Signal Office in New York under Brig.-Gen. Edgar Russel, for whom Russel Hall at Fort Monmouth was named. He was honorably discharged as a captain in 1921, returning to civilian life. Then when the war drums once more echoed their clarion call to service, he re-enlisted Q July, 1942, and went through basic training at Edison just as his son is doing now.
''Checkers9 ' Gladstone Now Staff Sgt. Was Captain in First World War
Captain in the first World War, William C. Gladstone enlisted for World War II as a private in the Signal Corps and has now been advanced to staff sergeant. Known to many Rye friends as ''Checkers,'' he was a member of the post office -staff before the first World War. His son, Gordon, was manager of Woolworth's Rye store before enlisting and is stationed with him at Fort Monmouth, N. J.
 The following is from ''The Signal Corps Message,'' published at Fort Monmouth:
''This is a story of loyalty and service which will be hard to equal in Signal Corps annals. ''It concerns S. Sgt. William C. Gladstone, now 58, who has served the Signal Corps in two world wars and is back to stay ''as long as the Signal Corps can find use for me.'' ''Now Message Center chief at Camp Edison, he was discharged from the Army as a captain after the last war. He entered this war by special permission of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer and the Adjutant General's Office, quite aware that despite his age he would have to start again at the bottom. ''He returned as a private, asking nothing more than to be of service. He could not come up to the physical requirements for commissioned officers, but he could and did measure up as a soldier. Proof is that he went through the rigors of basic training with men 30 years or more his junior. ''He has held many jobs in the Fort Monmouth training area. For many months, he was mail clerk in Co. C, 2d STR. Then he was placed in charge of upkeep details around Camp Wood. He was rewarded with a Sergeant's stripes, and upon being transferred to the Message Center at Edison, he was promoted to staff sergeant. ''Among those who congratulated him were Col. C. O. Bickelhaupt, commanding officer of the ESCUTC, with whom he served in the last war. Col. Bickelhaupt was a major then and Gladstone, an energetic, young captain. Also on hand was Pvt. William G. Gladstone, his 33-year-old son who is stationed in the Training Literature Section of the ESCUTC.''
Name: William Gladstone
Social Security Number: 086-18-9451
Birth Date: 15 Apr 1887
Issue year: Before 1951
Issue State: New York
Last Residence: 10523, Elmsford, Westchester, New York, USA
Death Date: Mar 1967
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