----- Original Message ----- From: Linda Haas Davenport <lhaasdav@mindspring.com> To: <CCHelper-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 1999 6:04 AM Subject: [CCHelper-L] WWI Draft Applications Update > 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 > > > > ==== CCHelper Mailing List ==== > Have you subscribed to CCHelper-announce? This new list will be used for > significant messages about CCHelper and should have less traffic than > this list. I recommend that all users or potential users of CCHelper > subscribe to CCHelper-announce-L on a permanent basis. > > >