Michelle, Sabrina's Mom wrote: > Excuse my ignorance on the subject. But I was wondering, if you were 15 in > 1870, living in Massachusetts, when you became legal age, would you have had > to register for a draft or would going into the military be voluntary? > > Thanks, > > Michelle Keep in mind that not everyone knew their age back then. Also kids lied about their age so they could fight along side their fathers, cousins, uncles, friends, etc... Genealogy is an art not a science, although with dna matching, it might be getting half and half. *smile* Have a good holiday. Jonathan Melusky

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:33:39 -0800, jj206 <jj206@remoooooooooooovethisdrizzle.com> wrote: >Michelle, Sabrina's Mom wrote: >> Excuse my ignorance on the subject. But I was wondering, if you were 15 in >> 1870, living in Massachusetts, when you became legal age, would you have had >> to register for a draft or would going into the military be voluntary? >> Thanks, >> Michelle >Keep in mind that not everyone knew their age back then. >Also kids lied about their age so they could fight along >side their fathers, cousins, uncles, friends, etc... >Genealogy is an art not a science, although with dna >matching, it might be getting half and half. *smile* The answer is no. There was no peace time draft until about 1940 and that was really in anticipation of WW II. Before that the only draft was the Civil War in 1862 (Confed) and 1863 (Union). A permanent peace-time as well as war-time office of Selective Service or its equivilant did not exist until 1940. The large standing army that required draftees is purely a Cold War phenomenon.