Does anyone here have access to Ancestry.com? There's one WWII draft card there that interests me.
Does anyone here have access to Ancestry.com? There's one WWII draft card there that interests me. Specifically the Watson Jones who lives in Shelby County, Tennessee and who was apparently born around 1900:
I want to know specifically what location is given for his birthplace on that card of his.
His mother claimed to have lived to age 116 (almost 117) and I'm trying to help verify her age but for that I'd like to know where exactly she lived back in 1900, and since Watson Jones was born in late 1900, if I will find out his birth place, then I would also find out the likely location of his mother's residence back in 1900, since Watson Jones was born only several months after the 1900 US Census was taken and thus his family was probably unlikely to move in such a short period of time.
Here is his mother's Find-A-Grave page, FWIW:
And here is his own Find-A-Grave page:
Anyway, please let me know if anyone here can help me with this. But please don't spend any of your own money on this--it's only if you already have an Ancestry.com account or can get one for free for a certain short specific period of time.
Thank you.
Answers
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For a subscriber to Ancestry to answer your request would violate the Terms of Service each subscriber signs.
Most public libraries have access to Ancestry. Also, all FamilySearch Centers have access to Ancestry.
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Here is a link to it. The link SHOULD open enough for you to see it and maybe save it. I'm not sure. Ancestry has a share function for all images. EDIT: Yes, it appears you will be able to save it, so there is no violation of terms of agreement through this share function.
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The share function no longer functions if one is not a paid subscriber. If one tries to view the full record, the "Join Ancestry" page opens with the current subscription prices.
I reported the problem to Ancestry management a few weeks ago, but I don't hold out hope the problem will be fixed quickly.
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If the information is visible in the thumbnail shown on the share link page, then the share link essentially works. It's when the thumbnail is of an entire register page that it loses all functionality.
Luckily, draft registration cards are legible at thumbnail resolution: it says he was born in Brunswick, Tenn. on Oct. 25, 1901 (i.e., one year later than his gravestone says).
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But you only see the front. The back of the record has important info.
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Thank you very much, Julia! So, it seems like he was born here:
That's what I wanted to know! So, thank you!
Unfortunately, I could not use this information to find a likely 1900 US Census entry for his mother Ellen. I tried on FamilySearch.org, but none were likely matches. :( But thanks for your help anyway! :)
(As for whether Watson Jones was born in 1900 or 1901, I think that 1900 is more likely to be correct, but ultimately, it shouldn't matter too much, I suspect.)
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Don't thank me, thank Gail for the share link.
As for which birthdate to trust more, the usual rule of thumb is that the record that's closer to the time of the event is more likely to be accurate. (Also, data reported by the person himself is generally more trustworthy than secondhand reports.)
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And tombstones DO lie.
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Thank you very much, Gail!
And Yes, documentation from earlier tends to be more reliable, on average. But even then, there are no guarantees unless it's an original birth or baptismal record.
Interestingly enough, Watson Jones's 1922 marriage record implies a birth date in late 1897 for him: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH9-RBSQ
But I couldn't find a WWI (as opposed to WWII) draft registration card for him, which makes me believe that he was born no earlier than October 1900 since otherwise he would have been eligible for the draft during WWI.
I couldn't find him in either the 1900 or the 1910 US Census either. He almost certainly existed in 1910 but might not have been enumerated that year for whatever reason. Not sure, to be honest. A 1910 US Census entry for his mother Ellen Thomas does exist, but Watson Jones unfortunately isn't listed on it. :(
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@DanielGonik Here is a share link to the back side. I was in a hurry yesterday and didn't look. It appears he may have been in jail when he registered. I looked at the cards next to him to see if maybe the jail house was merely a place for men to sign up, but they were both different locations.
By the way, in the 1910 Census there are 2 lone 10 year old black or mulatto boys. Perhaps he acquired the name Watson at a later date???
1) 10 year old Eldridge Jones listed as an adopted son living with a John Powell and wife Leanna in Memphis Ward 9 District 0156, of the correct race.
2) 10 year old Oscar Jones is listed as a lodger and is living with Joe and Annic Merris in Memphis Ward 10, district 0167.
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The back side of that card does not say that he was in jail? Where specifically are you getting the information about him being in jail from?
As for your last point here, maybe, but even if so, there would be no way to prove this, I suspect. Interestingly enough, here is Watson's mother Ellen Thomas with her new husband Jordan Thomas (they married in 1910) in the 1910 US Census, but Watson (who was Ellen's child from a previous marriage with a man named James Jones, apparently) is not listed together with them for whatever reason:
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Daniel, it's below the registrar's signature, where the date is supposed to be: "Shelby County Penal Farm".
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Thank you, Julia!
Here is a little bit more about this:
And there's a lot more information about this here:
It's quite interesting. I'm a bit surprised that even the Jim Crow South believed in rehabilitating prisoners, even black prisoners, due to the widespread racism that unfortunately still existed in the Jim Crow South (this was still the segregation era there, after all). The more you know!
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@Julia Szent-Györgyi Also, I just want to make sure: On his WWII draft registration card, Watson Jones's mother is listed as Ellen Thomas, right?
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@DanielGonik You can see that information by clicking on the link Gail provided. But, no, no relationship is stated.
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Thank you. I see it now! :)
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Does anyone here know why WWII draft registration cards are not available on FamilySearch.org to anywhere near the same extent that they are on Ancestry.com? Is it due to copyright regulations or for some other reason?
FamilySearch.org's collection of WWI draft registration cards appears to be complete, but for WWII draft registration cards, this definitely appears to be very far from actually being the case. Ancestry.com has many more WWII draft registration cards than FamilySearch.org has. Why exactly is this the case? Does anyone here know?
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I don't think anyone can claim copyright on a draft registration, but based on what I'm seeing on FS, it seems likely that NARA has some type of contract with Ancestry for the WWII draft cards. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that the 4th draft's images will cheerfully let me wade through layers of waypoints, only to tell me "You may be able to view this image by visiting one of our partners' sites or the legal record custodian" when I want to look at an actual image, unless I choose one of the states that the collection page (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1339071) tells me are "courtesy of Ancestry".
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Thanks, Julia! What I find interesting is that sometimes the images are available, and sometimes they aren't, and sometimes not even the indexes for the images are available.
I also wonder if NARA can eventually make a similar contract with FamilySearch.org to display these images over here as well.
FWIW, my biggest interest in taking a look at WWII draft registration cards is to see the cards for the people (especially men) who subsequently became extremely old--as in, age 110+ or at least very close to it.
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