J. P. Buller in 1918

Several days ago I stumbled upon a reference and link to J. P. Buller’s World War I draft registration card. The allure of seeing for myself a family record finally convinced me that it was time to register for Ancestry.com, which is where a scan of the card was available. Although one would not expect to learn much from a simple draft registration, in this case the information provided does flesh out a particular moment in our family history.

Before we look at a scan of the actual card, it is worth our time to learn a little about draft registration during World War I. Although that war to end all wars is typically dated from 1914 to 1918, the U.S. did not enter the conflict until 6 April 1917, after German submarines began to target American merchant ships taking supplies to Britain. Shortly after the declaration of war, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which authorized President Woodrow Wilson to draft men into military service.

According to the National Archives (here),

During World War I there were three registrations. The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31. The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917. (A supplemental registration was held on August 24, 1918, for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. This was included in the second registration.) The third registration was held on September 12, 1918, for men age 18 through 45.

As we see in the scan of the front and back of the card below, J. P. was part of the third registration, the one held on 12 September 1918.

As we read above, the third registration included men eighteen to forty-five years olds; J. P. was thirty-nine in September 1918 and so subject to registration. He checked box 10 on the front indicating that he was a native-born citizen. If you recall, J. P. was born several months after the family had immigrated to the U.S. (see here), so he was the first of Peter D and Sarah Siebert Buller’s children who could claim to be native born.

Shifting to the right half of the scan (the back of the card) we see that J. P. (or whoever completed the form) describes himself as short and with a medium build. His eyes were brown, as was his hair, that is, when he had hair; note that the form indicates also that J. P. was bald at that time. Finally, in box 29 we read that J. P. did not have any obvious physical disqualifications.

What I find most interesting is what we skipped over on the front of the card (left side). In the slot asking for his present occupation, J. P.’s card lists “With Aged Mother.” A little farther down, his nearest relative is identified as Mrs. Sarah Buller of Henderson. This is, of course, J. P.’s mother, Sarah Siebert Buller.

J. P.’s father, Peter D, had died at the age of fifty-two in 1897; Sarah remained a widow the rest of her life. We do not know a great deal about where or with which of her children (or even father, Johann Siebert) she may have lived, but we can now say that, in mid-September 1918, J. P. was living with his mother. We cannot know with certainty, but it appears that he was not teaching at that time; rather, his primary “job,” we are led to think, was taking care of his seventy-one-year-old mother.

Of course, this raises the question of whether J. P. had become his mother’s primary caregiver during her later years or was simply living with her while he was between teaching jobs. We do not have enough information to offer any sort of final answer. I will note, however, that less than three years later J. P. took a job in Hawaii and spent the rest of his working life there. Sarah passed away the year following J. P.’s move, on 15 February 1922. This might imply that J. P.’s 1918 residence with his mother was more for his benefit than for hers. 

At any rate, with the armistice being signed less than two months after J. P. registered, on 11 November 1918, he was never in any real danger of seeing military action. Nevertheless, he was required to register, as were fourteen other Buller males in York County whose registration cards will be the subject of a future post.