Michael Wilson Keith was born in the spring of 1867, May 4 in the borough of Mercer, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. His parents Mary Rebecca Donaldson, born in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania and Benjamin Keith, born in West Virginia were married July 1866. He had two younger sisters, Sarah and Jennie. Father Benjamin provided for the family by farming and common labor jobs. Michael was Baptized at the Second Presbyterian Church in Mercer on August 1, 1868.
In 1892 at the age of 25, Michael graduated from Westminster College, New Wilmington, Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. He then enrolled in the Western Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh graduating April 1895 and was ordained as a Presbyterian Minister. The Princeton and Hermon Presbyterian Churches were his first charge. Called to the pulpit of the Mahoningtown Presbyterian Church in 1898 and served there until 1915 when he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Coraopolis. Westminster College conferred upon him the title of Doctor of Divinity. During this time he met and married Miss Laura Palmer of Ripley, New York, born 1865. The wedding took place on June 5, 1895 in Mercer County.
In 1900 his father Benjamin suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and an invalid. They then moved to New Castle and made their home with son Michael and Laura. Mother Mary unexpectedly died April 27, 1903 at the age of 68. Benjamin died six years later in 1909, one week short of his 74th birthday. Both are buried in Sharpsville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
Shortly before the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, Michael had joined the Pennsylvania National Guard. When war was declared he and his National Guard unit were drafted into Federal service on August 5, 1917. He became the Chaplain for the 111 Infantry Regiment, 56 Infantry Brigade, 28 Infantry Division with the rank of First Lieutenant. His first stations were Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Camp Hancock, Georgia, and Louisville, Kentucky. Then on May 18, 1918 at age 51 he departed Pier # 29, Brooklyn, New York with the first units of the division aboard the troopship SS Saturnia. There were a total of 2,180 passengers consisting of 72 officers, 99 nurses, 7 civilians and 2,002 enlisted men. Michael listed his wife Laura, 514 North Mercer Street, New Castle, Pennsylvania as his next of kin.
Arriving in France some 12 days later they were sent south of Saint-Omer to await the remainder of the division. On June 13 the division proceeded to the vicinity of Paris where it was attached to French troops for further training. For the next two months elements of the division were attached to various French and American divisions operating in the Chateau-Thierry Sector and participated in the Champagne-Marne Defensive and the Aisne-Marne Offensive. On August 7 the division as a whole relived the 32 Division and participated in the Oise-Aisne Offensive from August 18 to September 7, during which severe fighting was encountered. It was during this offensive that Chaplain Michael Wilson Keith lost his life due to German gas on September 8, 1918. There are several versions of the events that led to his death and some differences about the day he died.
Sergeant Major John J. Doran, Headquarters 111 Infantry Regiment gave this written account, February 20, 1919. “Chaplain Michael W. Keith was gassed in action, during a heavy shell fire, in a hollow on the St. Gilles-Fismes Road about a half mile southeast of Fismes on the night of September 6 and 7, 1918 and was evacuated to the hospital the morning of September 7, 1918. He died later at American Red Cross Hospital No. 3.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1918 ran a story of Private William D. Wilson of Coraopolis who wrote about the details of Chaplain Keith’s death in a letter to his mother. He states that the Chaplain died September 10, contradicting the report of the eighth. It stated in part: “I received your letter stating that you had heard of Dr. Keith’s death. To start out to tell you about it, don’t let anyone contradict you for I evacuated him to the hospital and I was the first Coraopolis boy to see him. On my way from the hospital to the dressing station I was stopped by a man that had been with him and he asked me if I would take him to the hospital. Later I found there were 39 of them that had been gassed so the first man I put in my ambulance was Dr. Keith and I hauled him to the hospital; besides him, 13 others. Now for the particulars about Chaplain Keith’s death: Fritz started to shell a hollow where the infantry’s supply train was, under command of him, and that afternoon Maj. Iland had left for the big city. Fritz shelled the hollow and got 24 men, one killed and 23 hurt and Keith was asked to help dress these men for there was only one medical man and Harold had been sent to another place or he might have been gassed like Keith and the rest. The hollow was filled with gas and it was hard to work with the mask on, so Keith said to him men ‘For the lives of 23 men I will die to save them and will work without my mask on’. So Keith took his mask off and worked eight hours dressing these men and lived from Thursday, September 5 to September 10. This happened about 10:30 p.m. and he worked until 6 o’clock the next morning. Chap. Keith was gassed internally and his eyes were badly burned. When I saw him he looked at me and said ‘Wilson. Wilson Dorman Wilson, I know you. I am going to die’. He stared at me for a few minutes and said, ‘Let’s pray’, and I will never forget the prayer he uttered. It was the greatest prayer I ever heard and I don’t think a man exists that can make a prayer like he did. After his prayer he said to me ‘Give my regards and goodbye to Capt. Wagner and officers of this company; also Maj. Iland and the boys’. After which I took him to the hospital”. Private Wilson was a member of the 112 Ambulance Company who survived the war without being wounded.
Another version was offered by a fellow Chaplain, Rev. Charles Banks who had attended the funeral on September 11. It was printed by the Record-Argus, Greenville, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1918. It read, “According to Chaplain Bank’s letter, the action in which Rev. Keith was injured was a repulse of a German attack. According to his custom, Chaplain Keith was in the trench with some of the men distributing chocolate and cigarettes. Two of the boys did not come back with the others after the Huns had been repulsed. Gas had left them helpless in No Man’s Land. When volunteers rushed out to rescue them, the minister went too. When the squad came back, besides the two soldiers, it brought the minister. Without detailing just how the Chaplain received his wounds, Chaplain Banks stated that he was taken to a base hospital where he died. The date of death was not given. The letter stated that he was buried with the honors of a soldier in Cavalry Cemetery somewhere in France”. The article went on to say before Chaplain Keith left Coraopolis, the Church Bible class of 105 men gave him a purse of $100. Letters from Major Iland from camps here and over there stated “that every item of this sum had been spent for the soldiers”.
According to burial records obtained from the National Archives, Chaplain Keith died September 8, 1918 was buried on September 11 in temporary grave # 545, American Cemetery, Suresnes. His wife Laura was notified of the burial on December 27, 1918. The 28 Division continued the fight without their courageous chaplain all the way to armistice day, November 11, 1918, suffering 13,980 casualties. The division sailed from Saint Nazaire April 20, 1919 and arrived at Newport News, Virginia, May 1. It was then demobilized May 24 at Camp Dix, New Jersey.
Following the Great War, now known as World War I, America faced a problem it had never encountered before: thousands of her citizens both male and female were buried on foreign soil. The Army Quartermaster Corps was tasked with locating and identifying the dead, an effort known as the Graves Registration Service. Families were given the option of repatriating their loved ones’ remains back to the U.S., but approximately 30% chose an overseas burial in a new American cemetery. Many were inspired by the example of President Theodore Roosevelt, and his family, who felt their son and brother should remain where he fell. Laura Palmer Keith also chose to leave her husband buried with those he served and served with. With this information received, First Lieutenant, Chaplain Michael Wilson Keith was reburied for the final time on September 10, 1921, three years following his death. It was at the new Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial, Suresnes, Departement des Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France, France, Grave 24, Row 4, Plot B. Wife Laura was notified by letter June 13, 1922. Day is done, God is nigh.
Epilogue:
On October 2, 1921, wife Laura made application for her husband’s Victory Medal on AGO From 7740. Listed major operations participated in as Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne and Defensive Sector. It was approved with battle clasps. Note: The World War I Victory Medal was awarded after the end of World War I, so they were mailed to the servicemen and families instead of awarded in person. Only after filling out the application form A.G.O. No. 7740 with the help of an authorized officer could it be officially forwarded to the Philadelphia Quartermaster Intermediate Depot for the veteran then to receive his medal by mail. The Army started issuing Victory Medals on June 21, 1920.
In 1929 Congress enacted legislation that paid the travel expenses to the grave sites for mothers and widows whose sons and husbands had died overseas as members of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during the war and whose remains are now interred in such cemeteries. Congress later extended eligibility for pilgrimages to mothers and widows of men who died and were buried at sea or who died at sea or overseas and whose places of burial were unknown. The cost would be $5 million dollars and 6,693 eligible women would accept the invitation. The program would continue until October 1933. In late 1929, wife Laura was contacted about her desires to make the trip to France to visit her husband grave. She replied that yes, she would like to travel in 1930. In the following months she received detailed instructions on all aspects of the trip including what type of clothing to take as France had much cooler weather than the United States. Nothing was left to chance and the government paid all of her expenses.
Almost 12 years after the death of her beloved husband Michael, Laura age 64 departed New York harbor with many other mothers and widows aboard the Ocean Liner George Washington. They sailed July 30, 1930 and would be gone approximately four weeks. There would be receptions, sightseeing and tours, rest stops, memorial services, banquets and of course visits to the cemeteries to be reunited with their loved one. Undoubtedly Laura enjoyed herself and as one lady said, “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world”.
Within a year or two after returning from the pilgrimage, Laura moved to Gainesville, Florida where her sister Alice lived. On April 13, 1934 she made application for veteran’s compensation from the state of Pennsylvania as a war widow. Michael’s service was credited as 20 months at $10.00 per month for a total of $200.00. The 1944 Gainesville City Directory listed her as living at 234 E. Court and showed she was the widow of M. Wilson. On January 20, 1947, Laura Palmer Keith passed at her home in Gainesville after an extended illness. She was 81 years of age. Survivors included a sister, Mrs. Alice Reed and a nephew, Alfred Charles Reed, both of Gainesville. Her remains were returned to New Castle, Pennsylvania where she was buried in the Riverside Cemetery, Sharpsville, Pennsylvania.
Source: Find a grave