Good Morning List! I recieved this email on another list and it gives permission to pass it on. It may be helpful to some. Please feel free to pass it on yourself. Kathy Porter Corinth, VT > Date sent: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 12:03:18 -0500 > From: "Linda Haas Davenport" <lhaasdav@mindspring.com> (by > way of Den_Mari <ddmmjm@netins.net>) To: > CHAPMAN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [CHAPMAN-L] WW1 Draft > Application 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 > > ______________________________ > Normal > Normal > Default Paragraph Font > Default Paragraph Font > Value CustomerQC:\AAA-Z GENEALOGY\AA RESOURCES\Military\Draft > Registration & how to get them.doc > > > > ==== DONEGALEIRE Mailing List ==== > If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from the DONEGALEIRE list, use > DONEGALEIRE-L-request@rootsweb.com. Use DONEGALEIRE-L@rootsweb.com to write to the DONEGALEIRE list. Use D instead of L for the DONEGALEIRE Digest mode. > >