Tom Mooney Out on a Limb –A new and potentially useful source of information about 20th-century American ancestors is being made available by FamilySearch, the free online data base.
It’s draft cards from World War II. Not only did millions of Americans serve in the armed forces during that long and bloody conflict, but millions of men who were not in uniform still had to keep registered with the Selective Service System. All registrants had to give basic information about themselves, information that could be useful to a 21st-century genealogist researching family from the early and mid-20th century.
Within the past two weeks, FamilySearch has added more than 7 million of them to its existing data base of the cards.
The new additions represent men from 21 U.S. states and territories plus Washington, DC. None are from Pennsylvania, however. But FamilySearch continues to add material of all kinds at a frantic pace.
It wasn’t just young men who had to register in those days. Because of the total war effort, Selective Service made men as far advanced in age as their 60s register, though they were not drafted. These men had been born as far back as the 1870s. These latter cards, nicknamed the “Old Men’s Draft,” have been available to the public for some time.
What kind of information is on the draft cards?
The World War II draft card that we are concerned with here listed name, date and place of birth, address at time of registration, employment, name and address of person who would know the card holder’s whereabouts and a physical description of the card holder. It also contained a registration number. Men who’d been issued the cards were required to carry their copies with them at all times.
The card is obviously valuable to settle problems relating to those facts. There was a second card, one giving the individual’s draft classification (1A or whatever). In 1973, the two cards were combined into one.
Need some guidance in tracing your military ancestors through the maze of paperwork about them? FamilySearch is offering numerous webinars this month, with one scheduled for Sept. 12 on using military records in your genealogy. Most of the webinars are recorded and can be accessed later as well. Find them through the FamilySearch website.
FamilySearch is a project of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The church operates family history centers all across America.
Genealogy Studies: Looking for some nice, concise expert information on how to use your DNA test results to help your research along? Check out a 2017 online video in which Blaine Bettinger offers a rundown of getting the most out of your results while avoiding pitfalls.
Search “Genealogy,” click on “videos” and scroll down to find the video in which Amy Johnson Crow interviews Bettinger, a popular writer and speaker on the use of DNA (he’s spoken locally), who presents some pithy advice.
News Notes: GEDMATCH, a major repository for DNA test results, has moved to allay fears of those concerned about police use of genealogists’ DNA results to solve crimes.
GEDMATCH used to allow authorities to access the results in its data base unless the person submitting the DNA specifically opted out by asking that it not be so used. The new policy automatically assigns an opt out to every set of results unless the owner of the DNA specifically states that his or her results may be accessed by criminal investigators.
Tom Mooney is a Times Leader genealogy columnist. Reach him at [email protected]
