World War I Draft Registration Cards

The Society’s World War I Draft Registration Cards collection contains microfilm copies of all the draft cards from Columbia and Montour Counties.  This is approximately 13,000 cards.  All men born between 13 September 1872 and 12 September 1900 were required to register, so the database provides a partial substitute for the lost 1890 U.S. Census.
To find if a man had a World War I Draft Registration Card, type the last name in the last name box, then click Submit.  The search will list all men with that last name.  Please note that alternate spellings exist, so you may want to try different spellings when searching.  You can also use the first name, middle name, residence or birth year to refine your search as appropriate. 
Note: The “%” sign is a “wild card” which means “any letter next,” so that, for example, entering “san%” will search for Sanborn, Sanford, Santiago, San Remo, etc.

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About this collection -

Information that can be found on all World War I Draft Registration Cards -

The World War I draft registration cards asked for name, age, address, birth date, naturalization status, citizen of what country (if not the U.S.), name and address of employer, race, height (tall, medium, short), build (slender, medium, stout), color of eyes, color of hair, if physically disabled, the location of registration and as mentioned, the registrant’s signature.  Depending on the date registered, additional information was requested as described later under Registration Cards.

The Society’s Collection -

The World War I draft registration cards microfilm rolls for Columbia and Montour Counties are located at the Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society (CCHGS) and provide a partial substitute for the 1890 U.S. Census for Columbia and Montour Counties.  Using the World War I Draft Registration Cards can be a valuable source of genealogical data when information in the last decade of the 1800s is needed.  After you find your ancestor’s card, the information can be used as a springboard to lead you to other records. For example, you can use that information to find your ancestor in a city directory and then trace your ancestor through that city's directories for as many years as you can.

The draft cards are also a good source for finding immigrant information because all young men were required to register, regardless of U.S. citizenship status, and since 1880-1920 was a high immigration period, a large portion of immigrant men registered and gave information of birth date, birthplace, and in some cases their father's birthplace and nearest relative.  In addition, many men who immigrated were naturalized.  The Columbia County Historical & Genealogical Society has copies of Columbia County Naturalization records from 1837 to 1906 and 1930 to 1945.  An index is available for searching on this Web site.

History –

The 1890 U.S. Census was essentially destroyed by fire making it difficult to determine genealogical information about ancestors during this period.  Because all men of draft age had to register for the World War I draft registrations, the draft registration cards can be looked upon as a quasi-census of males in the U.S. who were at least 28 years old in 1900.  There were three registrations in which registration cards were filled out by the applicants typically in their own hand which makes some of the information difficult to read occasionally.  In some cases the information was printed or typed on the cards.  These apparently were done by the applicant, but in all cases, the applicants were required to sign the cards.

Registrations -

As mentioned, there were three World War I draft registrations.

The 1st draft registration was held 5 June 1917 for all men aged 21 through 30.
The 2nd draft registration was held 5 June 1918 and included all men who had become 21 since 5 June 1917.  A supplemental registration was held 24 August 1918 for all men who had turned 21 since 5 June 1918 and that supplement is considered part of the second registration.
The 3rd draft registration was held 12 September 1918 for all men ages 18 through 45.

Registration Cards -

The three registrations each used a slightly different card.  While each required the information described above, depending on which card was used, additional information was requested as described below.

The 1st registration card asked if married or single; if father, mother, wife, child under 12, or sister or brother under 12 were solely dependent of registrant’s support; military service; rank; years and for what nation or state; if claiming exemption.
The 1st and 2nd registration cards asked where born, and the lower left-hand corner of the card was to be cut off if registrant was African descent.
The 1st and 3rd registration cards asked for the registrant’s trade, occupation or office.
The 2nd registration card asked for the registrant’s father’s birthplace.
The 2nd and 3rd registration cards asked for the name and address of nearest relative.

All men born between 13 September 1872 and 12 September 1900, even those who were non-citizens, severely handicapped, in prison, or insane, had to register.  There were two exceptions; those men who were already in the military, or who enlisted before the required registration date.  There was a lot of pressure to have all men register due to the war effort.  Newspapers advertised when the registrations would be occurring, there were parades and the names of those who registered were listed in local papers. 

General Microfilm Information –

The cards from each of the three draft registrations of each county or local draft board if applicable are combined so the alphabetical grouping of the microfilmed cards represents a complete listing of all cards from each county/board.

More than one local draft board is on each roll.  Each board or board portion is referred to as a “Target” on the microfilm.  Ensure your are in the correct board, as well as the correct county, looking for a particular card.

There are two images for each card.  There is a front and back.  Both sides have information on them.  The two images were microfilmed side-by-side.  Ensure you see both images for your ancestor when browsing the cards.

The cards are organized by the last names of the registrants.  The last names are not always in strict alphabetical order.  They are grouped together with those that start with the same first letter.  Thus all the last names that start with “A” are in the same group and all that start with “B” are in the same group, and so forth.  The names are in a looser alphabetical order within each letter group.  For example, all the Abbott’s are grouped together, but not in the order of their first names.  Also, last name “Ale” is after “Albertson.”  So, ensure you browse all the names within a letter group to determine if your ancestor had registered.

Occasionally registration cards from another county are included on a roll.  For example, there are four cards from the neighboring town of  Nescopeck, Luzerne County in the “A” family names group of Local Board No. 1 of  Columbia County.

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