WWI Classification Lists Part 2: What’s in Them

Classification Lists show the results of the examination of the draftees, as well as where they were to be sent. Classification Lists are the Provost Marshal General’s Office (PMGO) Form 1000, that are found in NARA’s Record Group 163, the Records of the Selective Service System (World War I). As of this blog post being published, the Classification Lists at NARA are not available online.

The sections shown in each column header of the Classification List refer to the applicable instructions in the SELECTIVE SERVICE REGULATIONS, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1917. Although these regulations are not needed to use the Classification List, but they can be found at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Selective_service_regulations_prescribed/6lB8dUkQtYIC?hl=en. Part X (ten) of this document contains blank forms.

Left-hand page of the ledger appears below.

The order number 2 is abbreviated, and is really 1792.

Right-hand page of the ledger shown is below:

0Going through a few highlights of the document.

The serial number shown in Column 4 (787) matches the one shown on the draft registration card.

The order number is shown in Column 1. It was the number in the national lottery for the draft assigned to that serial number.

The questionnaire to Joseph McMahon was mailed out on 2 Jan 1918, and was returned on 3 Jan 1918. (My reading suggests that these questionnaires no longer exist.) The notice of his physical exam of Class IA was mailed out on 29 Jan 1918. The notice to appear for a physical examination was mailed on 30 Mar 1918. He appeared for the exam on 1 Apr 1918, and the decision based on physical examination was mailed on 4 Apr 1918. He was told to report to his Local Board on 28 May 1918, at 8 a.m., for military duty and entrain for transportation to a mobilization camp. He was accepted at the mobilization camp on 30 May 1918. In the notes, were notes that may correspond to the fact that he was a Clerk in civilian life, he was inducted under General Call #385 and would be going to Camp Wadsworth. From columns without entries, I learned that he had not filed an appeal. He was not rejected or discharged at the mobilization camp.

After the Classification Examination, the registrant received a notice of their classification by mail. Note that they could file an appeal, and that would be recorded in the Classification List.

The registrants also received proof of their classification.

Thanks to Classification Lists, I now know what my grandfather was doing during several days of his life: filling in the questionnaire, going through a military medical physical, being notified of his date and place of induction, and his acceptance at the mobilization camp (and the fact that he was not rejected or discharged from there).

Since transcribing a document can make you engage with its data, you can download a blank Excel worksheet to transcribe the record for your soldier. After adding the data, remember to save the file and include your soldier’s name in the filename.

Special thanks to Peggy Ash and Michael Strauss for their informative, detailed, and motivating presentations about the US Drafts.

WWI Classification Lists Part 1: How to Order

Thanks to Classification Lists, I now know about events during several days in my grandfather’s life.

Why you might want this record: to learn more about the process between an ancestor’s registration for the draft and induction, which might include indication that an appeal or deferment was made.

What you need to know before ordering: the draftee’s name and local draft board identification number, which can be found on the WWI Draft Registration Card for your ancestor.

Groups of men who registered for the draft and were determined to be in the Classification I category (based on filling in a questionnaire), were called in for physical examinations.

Classification Lists show the results of the examination of the draftees, as well as where they were to be sent. These lists are found in NARA’s RG163, and as of this blog post being published, the Classification Lists at NARA are not online.

I searched FamilySearch.org for Joseph McMahon’s WWI Draft Registration Card at https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1968530

The identification code for Joseph McMahon’s local draft board is circled. This number is used by the NARA archivist to identify the book for the Classification List containing Joseph McMahon’s entry.

Courtesy of FamilySearch.org

I emailed this information with an attached image of his draft card to the NARA branch in Atlanta at: atlanta.archives@nara.gov

An automated response was sent to my email in reply. Shortly after that, a response from an archivist followed with confirmation that the record had been found, and how to pay for it. The cost was $20. The scanned record was emailed to me after the archivist confirmed the payment.

Human archivists are involved in the process of lookup, scanning, and communicating. That means the timeline for responses may vary based on archivists’ workload. Also know that payment must be verified before the record is emailed.

In the next blog post, we will take a look at the Classification List itself.

Special thanks to Peggy Ash and Michael Strauss for their informative, detailed, and motivating presentations about the US Drafts.

Reference from the Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a useful and interesting resource that can be downloaded. It is titled “America’s Wars.”

As the title suggests, it contains a list of US Wars, as well as the years of the conflict. It goes beyond the dates to include the number of service members who were involved and the number of battle deaths. For most wars the number of non-mortal woundings is also reported along with other statistics. Notes that document estimated values are included.

The second page of the reference includes dates of death for the last veteran, the last widow and the last dependent of earlier wars. The U.S. Veterans and Dependents on the VA Benefits Rolls as of 2023 is included. There is also predicted estimates of the number of living WWII veterans until 2039. This is a reminder to interview those who are still among us!

This is a reference you will want to download https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf

Pioneer Infantrymen at the National Museum of the US Army

Recently I attended The Army Historical Foundation’s Genealogy Seminar at the National Museum of the United States Army. The Museum is located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. You can read about that seminar in Army Historical Foundation’s Genealogy Seminar.

After the presentations, I had a little time to go through the Museum exhibits. As you might expect from my books and blogs posts, I headed to the first floor to look for the exhibits about WWI and WWII. With the Museum closing soon, I glanced around the Nation Overseas Gallery, which was about WWI. There is so little about the Pioneer Infantry Regiments in museums, and I was thinking this would be no exception. Then my husband pointed out the image of a soldier from the 2nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment. The photo showed Alex L. Wingo, a wagoner who served with the Supply Company of the 2nd Pioneer Infantry, on the right. (Mules were also featured on this display!) It was exciting to see one of the Pioneers featured in such a prominent place, in such a prominent museum.

Then I looked at the next image and it was of a soldier from Company L of the 806th Pioneer Infantry Regiment, Theodore C. Banks, who received the French Croix de Guerre for gallantry.

As you can imagine, I was very excited to see the Pioneer Infantry Regiments represented.

A little bit of research about these soldiers yielded some additional information. Liner Alex Wingo was from Roebuck, SC., and muster rolls told more about his service. He enlisted on 25 May 1918, and on 8 July 1918 he was appointed a Wagoner in the Supply Company of the 2nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment. From US Army Transport Service records, confirmed by Find A Grave, his brother Wagoner Guy H. Wingo served in the same company. From a photo on Find A Grave, the man on the left in this picture appears to be his brother. He returned to the US with a casual company on 25 May 1919.  

Corporal Theodore Christopher Banks was from Salina, KS, and served with Company H of the 806th Pioneer Infantry Regiment. (In the rosters there was a soldier of this name in Company H who served from Aug 1918 to Aug 1919. There was no soldier named Banks in the rosters for Company L.) He enlisted on 5 August 1918 and ended his service on 19 August 1919. He began his service as a Private, and was promoted to Private 1CL in October 1918. He was then promoted to Corporal in June 1919. (His VA Master Index Card shows his birth year in 1896, while other records show the year as 1903.)

Of course, I was so excited that the Pioneer Infantry Regiments were represented in the Nation Overseas Gallery, that when a Docent said hello, I shared that with him. Docent Jim was interested in what I had found, so as we walked over to the pictures, I shared a little bit about the Pioneers, and told him about the books I had written.

Personally, I always ask a docent questions if I have any. When I do not have a question, I ask these dedicated and trained people about the areas of the museum which coincide with my areas of interest. One of my favorite questions is to ask about the highlights, especially when there is little time.

So I asked Docent Jim about highlights of the WWII exhibits and he had the time to lead us through the Global War Gallery. He showed us some very interesting highlights and the stories behind some of the displayed equipment.

Without a doubt I must return to this Museum when I have more time to tour it properly. There are audio tours available, and while I might use them, I will always ask questions of the docents.

Thank you, Docent Jim.

And to thank you to the soldiers of the Pioneer Infantry Regiments for their service in the Great War.

A little bit of research about these soldiers yielded some additional information. Liner Alex Wingo was from Roebuck, SC., and muster rolls told more about his service. He enlisted on 25 May 1918, and on 8 July 1918 he was appointed a Wagoner in the Supply Company of the 2nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment. From the US ATS and FindAGrave, Wagoner Guy H. Wingo was his brother. From a photo on FindAGrave, the man on the left in this picture appears to be his brother. He returned to the US with a casual company on 25 May 1919.   Corporal Theodore Christopher Banks was from Salina, KS, and served with Company H of the 806th Pioneer Infantry Regiment. (There was a soldier of this name in Company H who served from Aug 1918 to Aug 1919. There was no soldier named Banks in the rosters of Company L.) He enlisted on 5 August 1918 and ended his service on 19 August 1919. He began his service as a Private, and was promoted to Private 1CL in October 1918. He was promoted to Corporal in June 1919. (His VA Master Index Card shows his birth year in 1896, while other records show the year as 1903.)

Army Historical Foundation’s Genealogy Seminar

On 11 May 2024 I attended The Army Historical Foundation’s Genealogy Seminar, hosted at the National Museum of the United States Army. The seminar was entitled “Unlock your military legacy.” There were attendees both in person and online, and I was able to attend in person.

The speaker lineup was impressive: Richard G. Sayre, COL (USA-Ret.), Pamela Boyer Sayre, and Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG, CGL. Many of you know Rick and Pam from their outstanding presentations. Among her many accomplishments and extensive service to the genealogical community, Rebecca currently works as Executive Director of the Board for Certification of Genealogists® and is the Director of the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed) which is held annually at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Rebecca began the seminar with an excellent presentation about “Records of the U.S. Army held by the National Archives and Records Administration.” Sharing her hands-on experience, she demonstrated the types of records and how and where to locate them. Demonstrations of how to use the NARA Catalog are always beneficial. She also shared examples with us of records she had found about her ancestors.

“Map Repositories in the Washington D.C. Area” was next, and in that presentation Rick discussed more than the repositories; he explained the history of mapping in the US. It is significant to know about the maps, including who created them and their purpose. He showed what was on the maps and their usefulness for using them in the context of an ancestor’s war experience. He shared so many great examples!

After a delightful lunch, and having been inspired by the two previous presentations, I was ready for the next presentation. Pam presented “Tracking an Eighteenth or Nineteenth Century Soldier.” She showed us how to time travel using Google Earth Pro. First she demonstrating what could be done, then she explained the steps in detail for how to use those features to document your military ancestor’s life in a visual and engaging format. Not only is this a great way to share information with non-genealogists, but this is also a great technique for immersion into the context of an ancestor’s service. This is something I had been considering, and using her approach will make the task straightforward and manageable.

The last presentation was by Rick and Pam, “Learning About a Twentieth Century Soldier.” This session presented resources and brief case studies about researching the service of twentieth-century soldiers at NARA facilities. Rick and Pam decided to focus on WWI, and a follow-up presentation for learning about WWII soldiers will be recorded and distributed to attendees at a later date. After the resources were discussed, a clear methodology was presented. Of course that methodology included the use of one of my favorite tools, timelines. Rick clearly described the homework that a researcher needs to do before contacting and visiting a NARA facility.

The presentations were very practical in nature. While it is great to find out about resources and how to use them in your research, it is also important to know where and how to find them. Being able to use them and share them is also incredibly valuable. The NARA Catalog can be awkward to navigate, so insights that the speakers shared were appreciated. There are always things to learn from such distinguished genealogists.  

The final presentation held a couple of surprises for me. Two of my books were listed in the bibliography for the final presentation. Of course I was delighted to be included. The real surprise is that Rick and Pam showed a slide that contained the cover of my recent book, “Researching U.S. WWI Military Members, Military Organizations and Overseas Noncombatants: A Research Guide for Historians and Genealogists” I was happy for my book to receive a shout out. (They had no idea I would be in the audience!) I was even happier to see that the Pioneer Infantry Regiments were also mentioned in the presentation. If that was not enough, I was delighted when Rick asked me unexpectedly to say a few words about the Pioneer Infantry Regiments. What a privilege, and how great to see the Pioneers’ stories being told.

This all-star line-up held an informative seminar and disseminated actionable information! Thank you!

In the next blog post I share more about my visit to the Museum after the seminars concluded.

You can find out more about these two books, and others, on this website. They are available on Amazon.

“Researching U.S. WWI Military Members, Military Organizations and Overseas Noncombatants: A Research Guide for Historians and Genealogists”

“A Guide to the U.S. Pioneer infantry Regiments in WWI”

Shake That Family Tree Event

On 14 October 2023 the Howard County Genealogical and Historical Societies and the Howard County Public Library System organized the “Shake That Family Tree” event at the Miller Library in Ellicott City, MD. This was intended as a beginner-level event, but there was certainly great information for all the genealogists who attended.

I was delighted to have been invited to host a table about military research and my books. All day long there were interesting talks, and a room full of tables with representatives from local history and genealogical societies who were eager to share information about what they were doing and offer help to genealogists at all levels.

Many of the people who stopped by did not know if they had ancestors who served in WWI. The best place to check is the FamilySearch database for the VA Master Index, which has been covered in this updated blog’s post “Did My Ancestor Serve in WWI?” to reflect the changed search interface.

The Howard County Genealogical and Historical Societies and the Miller Library hosted a wonderful event, and it is certainly my hope that this might become an annual event!