A first for me... I'd sent away to NARA Atlanta for a WWI draft registration for WILLIAM GEORGE GUSKY/GAYOUSKY, my grandfather who'd lived in White City and Wilsonville. Put in the request to NARA by e-mail, and got it today in exchange for a $10 check and a very short wait. I'm glad to have it, but as frequently happens, it brought some confusion as well as some light. The surname on the registration was GUSKEY instead of GUSKY, and my grandfather signed it exactly the same way, though he'd signed his marriage license as GAYOUSKY and my father was baptized as GAYOUSKI. The draft registration gives his birth date as April 5th, 1880 (the zero is clear and unequivocal, not a scrawly six), although his marriage license and other resources say 1886. Age was given as 38, which squares with the birth date, but he reported 25 in the 1910 census and 37 in the 1920 census. Puts me in mind of the saying that a man with a watch knows what time it is, while a man with two watches has no idea. The good news is that the back of the card has a physical description showing medium height, stout build, blue eyes, and light brown hair. Kinda compensates for the black and white photos. The rest of the information included permanent home address; nearest relative (his wife, and they pretty well butchered her name); race; citizenship = naturalized; occupation = coal miner; employer = Consolidated Coal Co.; date of registration = Sept 12, 1918. I was hoping the registration data might include parents or place of origin, but I suppose that will have to wait for the naturalization papers I've requested. With luck, maybe there won't be too many more data conflicts. -- Bill Gusky DeLand, Florida "Too soon oldt, und too late schmart!"