Hi: Passing along this interesting WW I info. Nan ========================= >Good Morning everyone: I played hooky from work yesterday and spent the day >at the NARA Branch in Atlanta and it jogged my memory to pass on some >information to everyone. > >Prior to the US's entry into WW1 (approx. 1917-1918) every male between the >age of 18 and 40 was required to register for the draft. The information >found on the card was provided by the individual himself. The registration >cards vary in information depending on the individual draft board. But by >and large the cards include: The full name of the person (this means first, >full middle name, any additional middle names and last name); the current >address of the man; his age; his birthdate (some include his place of >birth); whether he is a US citizen or a naturalized citizen (some ask if his >father was a naturalized citizen and his father's race); his race; his >occupation; where he is employed (name of employer); address or location of >employment; name and address of his next of kin; some cards ask if the man >is married or single and how many people he supports. The card is signed by >the draftee. On the back of the card his physical description is noted: >Height is broken down by short, medium, tall although some cards give the >actual height in feet and inches; Build by slim, medium, stout although some >cards list actual weight along with the build; color of eyes and hair; any >deformities or injuries are listed (such as one arm missing, blind in one >eye, etc); the name and address of the draft board and the date. > >When these original cards were transferred to the East Pointe NARA branch >the LDS spent about 3 years microfilming these cards. There are hundreds and >hundreds of boxes and the LDS opened one box at a time and filmed them - in >state order. However, within each state the cards were filed by draft board, >not by county or by draftee. This makes the searching of the microfilm >difficult to say the least. > >The good news is that the Friends of the National Archives took each box >after it was filmed (and checked) and sorted all of these thousands and >thousands of cards into - state and then COUNTY order and then in >alphabetical order by surname and put then in new boxes. The Friends deserve >all the kudos we can give them for this monstrous task. > >So ... rather than spending hours and hours searching the LDS microfilm you >can order copies of the original cards from NARA. if you know the county >your ancestor lived in between 1917-1918. > >And BTW - Ancestry.com lists WW1 Draft cards in their searchable data bases, >however I know for a fact that there are 22 cards for the surname WHITE >found in McIntosh Co, OK and Ancestry only gave me 4 of them so don't depend >on that site. I was told yesterday that some reps from Ancestry had visited >the archives a couple of weeks ago to talk about filming the cards, took one >look at the hundreds and hundreds of boxes and simply left. > >For copies: Send a letter requesting copy(s) to: >NARA >Southeast Region >1557 St. Joseph Ave >East Point, GA 30344 > >In your letter be sure to say you want copy(s) of the WWI Draft application >Cards. Include the name of your ancestor and his race, the state and the >county. If you want copies of ALL of the cards with a given surname, ask >them the cost of the copies and send a SASE for them to let you know the >copying cost. In your letter be sure and say you want a copy of the FRONT >and BACK of the card. Be sure to send a SASE for the return of you copies. > >The cost for the copy is 50 cents - 25 cents for the back and 25 cents for >the front. If you only want one copy send a buck and say the difference is >to be given to the Friends of the Archives, because after all they did all >this wonderful hard work for you <VBG> > >If you have any other questions about the cards please write to me and I'll >try to help. I've been "delving" into these cards for the past few years. >But PLEASE don't ask me to get the copies for you. It is difficult for me to >take the time off from work to visit the archive to do my own research <g>. > >And feel free to pass this on to any of the lists you are on. > >Linda >Home Page: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas/ >Marion Co AR: http://www.rootsweb.com/~armarion/ >Washington Co NC, Haas & Hass e-mail list manager