Colbert C. George
Colbert George, son of Goodwin George and S. Izetta (Isettia) Davis. Another name for Colbert was Bertie.
The 1880 census lists as a son of Goodwin and Izetta a month-old infant whom I take to be him. He is listed as born in Iowa. Colbert is presumably the son of Goodwin George listed as with Goodwin in Placerville, California, when Goodwin dies.
Military career
We have in our possession a pin with two crossed swords and the initials NMMI. The New Mexico Military Institute reports that it has no record of either a C. or a G. George in its alumni database, which goes back to 1893.
Colbert would appear to have served as a young man in the Spanish-American War, judging from a picture of him in uniform in Manila.
The 1899 Register of Enlistments records a Colbert George enlisting at the age of 19, occupation steward, born Denver, Colorado, and notes him discharged at Fort Riley on April 18, 1902.
He does not appear with his mother and sister in their 1900 census entries. A Colbert George appears in Naic, Philippines, as a private in the cavalry, 4th Regiment, B Company. He has given his home address as 35 Court House, Denver, Colorado; his birth year as 1877; his place of birth as Colorado; and the place of birth of both of his parents as Germany. This is an apparent match, but many of the details are doubtful or simply incorrect.
The 1903 Denver city directory shows Colbert George living at 1420 Champa, the same address as his mother Izetta, and working as a clerk at Carter, Rice & Co. However, he re-enlists in 1903, and his enlistment records (February 2, 1903) list him as a salesman. He appears to re-enlist every three following years, in 1906, 1909 and 1912, after which he is honorably discharged in February, 1915.
The 1910 federal census places him in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, at Fort Sam Houston with Troop L 3rd Cavalry. There, the birth place of both his parents is given as Illinois.
The "Roster of Men and Women who served in The World War from Colorado 1917-1918" lists a Sergeant 1st Class Colbert George from Denver, with the branch given as "A.S.", Aero Squadron.
Two copies of the postcard picturing Colbert with his sister Charlotte are in our possession. He is a sergeant in that picture. One is labeled "Colbert George | 1st Aero Squadron | Signal Corps | U.S.A." (Is it his writing?) The other has a letter, trimmed at the edges, from Charlotte to Belle, in which she says that the picture was taken "last June" and that Bert is "almost forty". She says it was taken in Columbus. Columbus, New Mexico was, I think, a site for the First Aero Squadron.
Retirement
The 1930 Federal Census shows him living in New York State, Hempstead, Nassau County, with his wife, Lillian. He is listed as having no profession. This census lists him as 49 then, and 42 at marriage, which means they married c. 1923.
Colbert is pictured to the left of another man in a photo labeled "Old Solders Home VA".
This may be his burial site.
Name: Colbert George Service Info.: MASTERSGT US ARMY Death Date: 18 Jan 1933 Cemetery: Cypress Hills National Cemetery Address: 625 Jamaica Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208 Buried At: Section 9 Site 13598
The U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Form for this man says that he was a Master Sergeant in the 1st Observation Squadron, Air Corps, and that he retired at Mitchel Field, N.Y., on October 1, 1925. His date of interment is 8 days after his death, on the 26th.
A Colbert George with the same death date appears in the California Death Index, state file number 4885, dying in San Diego. Should we check this death certificate?
