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Archiver > VACHARLO > 1999-08 > 0934976750


From: JoLee Spears <>
Subject: [VACHARLO] Fwd: WWI Draft Applications Update
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 07:45:50 -0400


>Resent-Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 03:34:36 -0700 (PDT)
>From: "Linda Haas Davenport" <>

>
>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/>http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas/
>Marion Co AR:
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~armarion/>http://www.rootsweb.com/~armarion/
>Washington Co NC, Haas & Hass e-mail list manager
>
>
>
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>
JoLee

JoLee Gregory Spears
Charlotte County VAGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~vacharlo/indexcha.htm
Halifax County VAGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~vahalifa/indexhal.htm
Lunenburg County VAGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~valunenb/
Mecklenburg County VAGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~vameckle/index.ht

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