This was forwarded to me as a FYI - you all might find it interesting, too. Ruby _________________ >>>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 >> >> >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>County Coordinator, Archivist & Mail List: Lincoln Co., MO >>USGenWeb-MOGenWeb: >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~molincol/molincoln.htm >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>RootsWeb Sponsor >> Homepage: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~odyssey >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>Shorewoodplace Footprints & Odysseys >> Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/~shorewoodplace/ >> Genealogy, Midi Music, Pacific NW, Potpourri >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >> > > >