Ancestry.com is indicating that their “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947” is new or has been updated. The draft cards are a wonderful genealogical source for men born between 1897 and 1921 who were in the United States during the World War II era.
This in-progress database currently does not include any states in which I really have a significant genealogical interest during the World War II era. By that point in time my relatively immediate family has pretty much clustered itself in Hancock County, Illinois. Searches can be conducted using only place of birth as a search parameter. Users are advised to be cautious using only place of birth as a search term as not all places are completely spelled out on the registration cards. My own search for Hancock County, Illinois, resulted in several matches with a place of birth only listed as “Wythe” but a residence of Wythe County, West Virginia. It is assumed that these places were returned as search results because Hancock County, Illinois, does contain a Wythe Township.
I did manage to find one card for a relative close family member: Martin Fecht-a cousin of my great-grandfather Habben.
Martin Fecht was born in 1901 in Hancock County, Illinois, and by the time he registered for the draft on 16 February 1942, he was living in Miami, Florida, and running “Martin’s Service Station” at 7100 North East Second Avenue. He listed as a contact John Fecht in Carthage, Illinois, but does not state the relationship. The names of contacts can be vital in establishing connections between individuals–particularly those who moved. In this case, it also told me that John Fecht was still living at the time of Martin’s registration.
I will have to wait for the database to contain the registrations of my more immediate family members.
From Ancestry.com‘s description of the database:
Cards in This Database
This database contains images and indexes for registration cards filled out by men born between the years of 1898 and 1929 from Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and North Carolina. The following states are also found in the index with a link to the images available on Fold3:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Idaho
- Maryland
- New Mexico
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
- District of Columbia
- Virgin Islands
[end of information from Ancestry.com website]
It is indicated that more cards will be added. I will be waiting for this one.
