John J. Pershing

Bain News Service, 1 negative:glass, Library of Congress, ggbain.21134

Birth Name: John Joseph Pershing

Date of Birth: September 13, 1860

Place of Birth: Laclede, Missouri, U.S.

Date of Death: July 15, 1948

Place of Death: Walter Reed General Hospital, Washington, D.C., U.S.

Ethnicity: German, English, Scottish, Irish

General of the Armies John J. Pershing, GCB, was a senior United States Army officer. He commanded the American Expeditionary Force, AEF, on the Western Front in World War I, from 1917 to 1918. He was nicknamed “Black Jack.”

He was a willing draft candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 1920.

General Pershing was born near Laclede, Missouri, on a farm, the son of Ann Elizabeth (Thompson) and John Fletcher Pershing, a businessperson. He was married to Helen Frances Warren, with whom he had four children.

General Pershing’s paternal grandfather was Joseph Mercer Pershing (the son of Daniel Pershing and Maria Christena Milliron). Joseph was born in Pennsylvania. Daniel was the son of Friedrich/Frederick Pforsching/Pfersching/Pershing, who was born in Alsace, France, and of Maria Elizabeth Weygandt, whose family was from Zweibrücken, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. General Pershing’s great-grandmother Maria Christena was the daughter of John Phillip Milliron, who was of German origin, and of Anna Maria/Annmarie Barbara Altman, whose parents were ethnic Germans from Herbitzheim, Bas-Rhin, Grand Est, France and Herbitzheim, Bas-Rhin, Grand Est, France, respectively.

General Pershing’s paternal grandmother was named Elizabeth Davis.

General Pershing’s maternal grandfather was named James Thompson. James was born in Georgia.

General Pershing’s maternal grandmother was Mary Polly Brotherton (the daughter of John Thomas Brotherton and Catherine Sullivan). Mary Polly was born in Tennessee. John was the son of Thomas Brotherton and Mary McLleland.

Sources: Genealogy of John J. Pershing – https://www.geni.com

Genealogy of John J. Pershing (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com