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Ancestry Magazine - Sept/Oct 2002:

"World War I Draft Registration Cards:

On 6 April 1917 the United States declared war on Germany and officially entered the Great War. Six weeks later on 18 May 1917 the Selective Service Act was passed which authorized the president to increase the military establishment of the United States during the war. As a result every male living within the United States between the ages of eighteen and forty-five was required to register for the draft.

There were three registrations dates: 5 June 1917 was designated for all men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one. A year later on 5 June 1918 those men who had reached age twenty-one since the first registration could register. (Also included in this registration was a supplemental registration of 24 August 1918 for those men reaching age twenty-one after 5 June 1918.) Then on 12 September 1918 men ages eighteen through forty-five were required to register. This means that we have genealogical data on virtually every man (around 98%) born between 13 September 1872 and 12 September 1900 if he was living in the United States during World War I.   Of course not all the men who registered actually served in the armed forces and there were some who served in the war but did not register for the draft.

If a registrant was not at home he could register elsewhere and the card would be sent to his home draft board. In some rural counties it may have been easier to travel to the bordering county to register and request the registration be sent on to the actual county. Because it’s possible that some of these registrations were never transferred when searching for cards in rural counties it may be worthwhile to check neighboring counties even if they are located in another state.  Non-citizens were subject to the draft and they had to register

In all approximately 24 million men registered for the World War 1 draft. These 24 million men are estimated to be almost 25 percent of the population of the country in 1917—18.  

As a genealogical source World War I Draft Registration records are relatively new; they were not available to the public even fifteen years ago. In fact until 1989 it was not possible to do your own research in this treasure trove unless you travelled to or contacted the National Archives regional branch near Atlanta Georgia.  In 1987 and 1988 the National Archives contracted with the Genealogical Society of Utah (Family History Library) to microfilm all of the original registration cards enabling anyone with access to a Family History Center to research the cards. Now the complete collection of microfilm is also available at the National Archives in Washington D.C. and branch archives have collections based on their location.  

The information included on each registration card differs somewhat but the general information usually includes full name home address date and place of birth age race country of citizenship occupation employer personal description (hair and eye color height disabilities) and signature. Additional information may include address of nearest relative dependent relative marital status father’s birthplace or previous exemption from service. "

It seems timely to post this extraction just days before Memorial Day 2004 in honor of those who served our country.  I have chosen to extract only age full name date of birth place of birth current residency marital status and nearest relative or dependents (whichever was listed).  I have puts lots of effort into reading the mostly handwritten cards as accurately as possible.  If I was unable to verify that the town that they listed as their place of birth actually existed (either from a current atlas or a 1915 atlas to which I had access) you will find a question mark (?) accompanying the town.  It is possible that it was misspelled misread   or  just so small that it was not listed in the atlases.  Sometimes the “nearest relative” was a woman & it wasn’t clear if she was a mother or wife.