Ancestry.com has now digitized and made available the WWI draft registration cards. I was able to find several members of my family. From the Scheel family, I was able to locate the one for Charles Scheel, whose birth certificate I posted in the previous blog, and his father, Edward Scheel. I will post the one for Edward Scheel in the next blog.
Because these uploads come out so small, and this particular card isn't that clear to begin with, I'll transcribe it below. The front of the card is on the left and back on the right.
Front of Card:
Serial Number: 1150 (upper left corner)
Order Number: 1419 (upper right corner)
Name: Charles Edward Scheel
Address: 2619 North Avenue, Niagara Falls, Niagara (County), NY
Age in Years: 19
Date of Birth: November 17th, 1898
Race: White (box checked)
US Citizen: Native Born (box checked)
Present Occupation: Shipper
Employer's Name: American Sales Book Co, Ltd.
Place of Employment: Highland Ave, Niagara Falls, Niagara, NY
Nearest Relative:
Name: Mary Scheel (mother)
Address: 2619 North Ave, Niagara Falls, Niagara, NY
Signature affirming above answers: Charles Edward Scheel
Back of Card:
Height: Tall (box checked)
Build: Medium (box checked)
Color of Eyes: Blue
Color of Hair: Brown
Obvious Physical Impairment: No
Signature of Registrar: Frank H. O'Neill
Date of Registration: Sept. 12th, 1918
Besides being a document that my ancestor filled out, this registration card gives us a physical description of my grandfather at age 19, an address where he lived in Niagara, and employment information.
Shameless plug for Ancestry.com since they have provided a lot of what I'm posting: It's my favorite pay-for-access site and has proven to be worth every penny. I find a lot of stuff on there, and they are adding more all the time. My local Family History Center (another great place!) has a membership and you can access Ancestry.com for free from them. I like my membership since I can access it from anywhere I have a computer and at any time.
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