This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Gee, Burrows Classification: Military Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/ok.2ADE/1733.6.1 Message Board Post: THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD. July 26, 1917.--Information contained in this issue was used as the source for the following: Registration for possible service in the World War 1 armed forces of the United States had taken place on June 5, 1917 in 4550 districts across the country. In Fremont county, 1386 men, in all, had registered, but the total in more heavily populated districts was much larger. Each registration district had assigned a number to every man that it had registered and had sent this prepared list to Washington. After learning how many had registered in each and every district, a separate capsule had been prepared for each number known to have been assigned by any one registration district. Then these capsules had been put in a large glass urn, and the "...human lottery.." was ready to begin operating. In a conference room in the senate office building, various Washington officials started drawing numbers at 9:49 a.m., on July 20, 1917. As Secretary Baker drew the first number he said "This is an occasion of great dignity and some solemnity...I have drawn number 258..." In Fremont county, that was the number assigned to Arthur Ingo Gee (1/18/1892 - 9/15/1971) of Shenandoah. The next four capsules drawn contained numbers above 1386, but General Bliss --who drew the 6th capsule from out the glass urn--had number 458. That number belonged to one Ford L. Burrows of Bartlett. He would be the second man drafted to serve in World War 1 from Fremont county. According to the Fremont County Herald of 7/26/1917, this was the way that the "...great human lottery to fix the order of liability for military service in World War 1...began.." The marathon drawing was completed at 2:30 a.m., Saturday morning, 16 hours after it had started. "As the numbers were drawn at Washington...they were flashed over the wires into practically every city and newspaper office receiving the wire service in the Unites States." On July 26, 1917, The Fremont County Herald started printing the results.