Quote:
Originally Posted by peet111
It came up as registered in berkeley ca but I don't know if that is just a clearing house for records or he really lived there.
So that is the point I guess. I find a hint that he registered for draft (along with 24 million other people) but I don't find any record he lived in the US. Would (most likely) purchasing access to that information give me any insight? As far as I know, this branch of family stayed in Europe so it would be interesting if that was not the case. On the other hand, it might just be a false link.
|
There's no such thing as a "clearing-house" for such records.
If you know anything about the WW I Draft, all men of a certain age range were asked to "voluntarily" register. Those that did not were publicly shamed and humiliated for not being sufficiently patriotic, very often by having their names and addresses published in local newspapers. They were periodically visited by clergy, police and local government officials, or their employers, to coerce them to "voluntarily" register. Many men were fired from their jobs for not "voluntarily" registering.
Men were asked to "voluntarily" report to their nearest local government office to register.
In rural areas, that was post offices (still under control of the federal government at the time), police stations and county court houses. In urban areas, men went to those places, plus their local city hall.
If you bothered to read the document, and you can read it for free on Family Search, it will provide you with lots of info.
It will list their full name, and age in 1917, plus their birth date, their citizenship status -- natural-born, naturalized or alien -- and where they were born. Where they were born might be very specific, an actual address, or somewhat specific eg Kitts, Harlan County, Kentucky, or general eg Harlan County, or not very general at all eg Kentucky.
It will list their job, their employer and where they work. It might provide specific or general information on dependents, meaning sometimes they put the names of their wife and child(ren), or sometimes it just says "wife and child."
It will state their marital status and race, and sometimes some interesting information, like "arm broken" (from an actual document because he would have rather dined on diarrhea than go to France and fight).
If that is your ancestor, then they were living in or near Berkley when they registered, although it is possible, if he was a merchant marine, that his ship was docked in San Fransisco, but if so, it's more likely he would have registered in San Fransisco, rather than Berkley.
If he had a real job, and not just "laborer" it's quite likely he was still there for the 1920 Census, so you'll want to check that, but understand that census records are not an exact science. If he has a surname that can be easily butchered, and 95% of Americans did, it might be misspelled on the 1920 Census, or it might be transcribed incorrectly, like the idiot who transcribed the surname as "James" instead of "Jones" (the penmanship wasn't that great, but any moron could have figured out the correct name).
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
