Lee County, Illinois - Chapter 15, 1920

The Local Board for Lee County was, in the same manner as all other Local Boards, appointed hy the President on the recommendation of the Governor.

The Lee County Board, as originally appointed, consisted of Dr. E. B. Owens, George B. Shaw and Henry 8. Dixon, all of Dixon. They were appointed June 23, 1917. Mr. Shaw heiiig suliject to military service, declined to serve and never became a memlier of the Board and in .July 1017 .John M. Egan of Ambfiy was appointed to fill the vacancy.

Before the Board was appointed the first stc]) in the way of carrying out the provisions of the selective service system was taken through the first registration of all men between 21 and 31 on June 5, 1917. As a result of the registration on that day and of a few who for one reason and another did not register on that day Lee County has 2548 registered men of the class of 1917 up to September 1, 1917 and thereafter 8 more registered, making the total registration of this class 2556. This registration was under the direction of Fred G. Dimick, County Clerk, assisted by R. R. Phillips, Sheriff, and three or more registrars in each voting precinct in the County and was carried through in a most efficient and thorough manner. The registrars returned all cards to the County Clerk and he with the assistance of a number of volunteers immediateh' completed the making of copies of the registration cards as provided by the regulations.

On the afternoon of June 30, 1917 the Board received its first supply of lilanks from tlie office of the adjutant General of Illinois and first directions as to what work should l)e done. It was ordered to, as soon as possible, number all cards and copies of cards with what was known as serial numbers, to make lists of registrants in the order of their serial numlicr, to post and publish such lists and to send one copy of the list to the Provost ^Marshal General at and one set of copies of registration cards to the Adjutant General at Springfield.

This work was begun on the following day by IS volunteer clerks, continued on ,july 2 and 3 by 14 clerks and at 4 P. M. of July 3rd this work was completed, the r(-(|uisitc lists posted at the Court House and the cards and lists mailed to the .Adjutant General and Provost Marshal General respectively.

( >n July 20 a meeting of iHK.rd members rn,ni Lee, ( )gle, Whiteside and DeKalli ( 'ounties was hi'ld at liochclle which was attended by all of the members of the Lee County Board. At this iiiceiiiig :i genei'al discussion was held with respect to Inisiness niethods and pro- and iiitei|)retation of \-arious sections of the regulations, which were v(m->' liclpful to the mend;ei-s jiresent and tended to aid in clearing up many difficulties.

The Board was then ivady \n liegin the classification of registrants. The rules then in force provided for the jihysiral examinations of all men called hefoic jiassinn' upon their liability for military service and accoi-diriiily it was aiianged that SOO lie called up for examination. The plan invdlved cahuit^ up 11.") a day and they weiv ealle(l for consecutive days, beginning August 'intl.

In the meantime arrangemenis had heen made f(ir organizing a cleiical fcirce and ulitaining quarters for the Board. The jury rnoms at the Court Houst^ were taken over as Board headquarters and at times of physical examinations all of the jury rooms, the Judge's private office, the grand jury room and the Circuit Court room were used.

The initial business organization of the Board consisted of George C. Dixon as Chief Clerk and Tim Sullivan, Louis Pitcher, A. C. Gossman, Ray T. Luney, A. H. Hanneken, Robert H. Howell, Guy Carpenter, B. F. Downing, A. E. Simonson, Blake Grover, R. C. Bovey and Grover Gehant as principal assistants, together with a number of others who, while not present daily, were invaluable aids. Miss Bess M. Blackburne did most of the stenographic and typewriting work for the board for a number of months, but was assisted by several others, among them being Misses Brink, Ckirham, Burke, Miller, lAing and others.

The registrants were notified by mail to appear at the Court House at 10 A. M. of the day fixed for physical examination. At that hour of each day they were informed in a 10 minute address by the Chairman of the Board as to their rights in claiming exemption or discharge from military service. Immediately after the examination was concluded each registrant was again notified liy a clerk wdien he came from the room where he dressed that if he claimed the right of exemiition or discharge he should go to another clerk sitting at a table in the court room and get the necessary blanks to be completed and filed with the Board within seven days.

The rules then in force jii-dvided that persons in the following classes should be exempt or lie entitled to discharge from military- service, as follows:

In the following cases whei'e a chiim foi- (Mscharge was made and which was substantiated in the opinion of the Local Boai'd. a. County and municipal officers.

1. Any married man whose wife or child is dependent on his labor for sujiport, provided the income from which such dependents received their support was mainly the fruit of his mental or physical labor and was not mainly derived from property or other sources independent of his mental or physical labor.

5. Brother of a child under 16 years of age who has neither father or mother and is dependent upon his labor for support (with the same proviso as in section one supra).

i. Any person who is found by such local board to be a member of any well recognized religious sect or organization organized and existing May 18, 1917 and whose then existing creed or principles forbid its members to participate in war in any form and whose religious convictions are against war or participation therein in accordance^ with the creed or principles of said religious organization.

During the August 1917 examinations, 702 men were called for physical examination and ileteiiuinntion of right to exemiition. Of this nmnber 069 were physically examined, 542 of whnm wciv found to be physically fit and 127 physically deficient.

In Novemlxu' 1917 a rejiort of the I'esults of the June "), 1917 registi-ation was made to the Provost ^larslial Cleneral, in which report, among other things, the following details are found:

The aliens, liy nativity, were as follows: England 1, Ireland 1, Scotland 1, Canada 1, Creece 17, Italy Ki, Russia 3, Norway 12, Sweden 13, Switzerland 4, Mexico 11, Central America I, Austria-Hungary 20, Bulgaria 11, Turkey 1, Germany 8, Miscellaneous 4. There wei'e 15 negro registrants.

ir rights to file claim of exemption or discharge 1 had jurisdiction. 350 claims were filed, prinic .allowed and 20 denied and 293 agricultural Di.^trict Board.

The Local Board had original jiirisdiel ion over claims of de upon (luestions of lialiility to military service with respect t of exemption or discharge l>y reason of lieing engaged in agr cupations, as well as appeals from Local lioard decisions of matt diction were by the regulations placed in the hand- of Di-iin County cases these ca,ses were sent to District I'.oard Xuml w

Hy the regulations District Boards were given original an hear and determine all (|uestions arising with respect to the from lialiilit>' for military service of persons engaged in industry and agriculture. It was ])id\ided that a claim for discharge could be filed for or on behalf of any person on the ground that he was actually engaged in a particular, designated, industrial or agricultural enterprise necessary to the maintenance of the military establishiiuait : that his continuance therein was necessary to the maintenance thereof and thai he could not he rc^placed by another jierson without direct, sulstant iai. material loss and detriment to the ade- (luate and effective operation of the enterprise in which he was engaged.

At the beginning, before it was well understood by the mass of the people as to what the war was about, or what issues were involved, or what the fate of men in military service was likely to be there was a disposition on the part of some registrants and of many of their ]iarents to exaggerate their imiiortance as to being indispensable men in industry and agriculture, as well as with respect to dependence. Tliis tendency was ciuite marked at the outset but as time went on rapidly diminished. As a result of such initial tendency the work of the Board was then made much more difficult than it should have been. The blanks provided under the first regulation gave practically no aid to the Board in the way of ascertaining the facts so that it became necessary to call in for personal inquiry a large number of the registrants and their supporting witnesses. This no doubt was the situation in all parts of the country for when the second regulations were promulgated in November 1917 the old system was abandoned and the questionnaire jirovided which searched the registrants conscience sufficiently for a Boaril to come to a reasonably correct conclusion in most cases without a personal interview.

The Provost Marshal ( Irncial in a communication to all Local Boards at about the time of the promulgalion of I he second selective service regulation stated, in substance, that the regulation under which the first army of ()S7,0(X) men was raised were in a sense temporary, created to fill a breach and as cinciffciicy rules cduld not mid should not be considered as permanent regulations.

Accordingly after a study of the situation new selective service regulations were prepared which by proclamation of the President became effective Noveml)er 8, 1917.

The new regulations wci-c a well considered code of procedure which required comparatively few future cli:in<ies and were in general so plain and simple as not to require interpretation.

By them it was retiuired that the registrants not in military service should be required to complete and file questionnaires with tlieir Local Board and tie classified. Section 70 of the regulations stated as follows :

"The military needs of the nation i'e(iuiic that there Ije ])roviile(l in ever connnunitj' a li.st of names of men who shall be ivaily to be called into sei'vice at any time. The economic needs of the nation, wliile deferring to the paramount military necessity require that men whose removal would interfere with the civic family, industrial and agricultural institutions of the nation shall be taken in the order in which they can best be spared. For this reason the names of all men liable to selection shall be arranged in five classes in the inverse order of their importance" to the economic interests of the nation, which include the maiiitenance of necessary industry and agriculture and the support of dependents.

The group of registrants within the jurisdiction of each Local Hoard so taken as the unit to be classified. With eacli class the order of liabiUty is determined by the drawing which has liitlieito assigned to every man an order of availability for military service relative to all men not |ieniianently or temporarily exempted or discharged. The effect of classification in Class 1 is to render every man so classified presently liable to military service in the order determined by the national drawing. The effect of classification in class 2 is to grant temporary discharge from draft, effective until Class 1 in the jurisdiction of the same Local Board is exhausted. The effect of classification in Class 3 is to grant a temporary discharge from draft, effective until Classes 1 and 2, in the jurisdiction of the same Local Board are exhausted, and, similiarly, class 4 becomes liable only when ('lasses 1, 2 and 3 are exhausted. The effect of classification in Class 5 is to grant exemption or discharge from the draft."

d. Married man, with or with..ut children, or father of motherless children, man not usefully engaged, fannly suppoited hy income independent of his lalior.

g. Registiant l.y or in ivspcd of whom no deferred rlassificat ion is claiinfd or made, h. Registrant who tails to snlinit (|iH'stioniiaire, and in resjicct of whom no deferred a. Marrietl man with childirn, or lather of motherless children, where such wife or children or such motherless children are not mainly dependent upon his labor for support for the reason that there are other reasonably certain sources of adecpiatc support (excluding earnings or possible earnings from the labor of the wife) available, and that the removal of the registrant will not dei)i-ive such deiiendents of suppoit.

b. .Married men, without children, whose wife, although the registrant is engaged in a useful occupation, is not mainly dependent upon his labor for support, for the reason that the wife is skilled in some special class of work which she is physically able to iierform and in which she is employed, or in which there is an immediate ojiening for her under conditions that will enable her to sui)|)ort herself decently and without sulfering and hai'dship.

Class 4. :i. yinn whoso wife or children aic iiiniiil>- (Icpciiilciit on his labor for support. ]>. Mariner actually employed in si'a seivice of citizen or nicivhant in the United States.

i. Licensed pilot employed in the pursuit of his vocation. Member of well recognized religious sect or organization, organized and existing on May 18, 1917, whose then existing ciced or principles forbid its members to participate in war in any form and whose religious connections are against war or ]iarticipation therein.

In the main the classification s.ystem did not result in the discharge from immediate liability for military service of many men who would not have been discharged under the oiiginal rules, but it assembled the registrants in a much more scientific and correct arrangement of ordei- of call and provided a far superior svstem of selection than was provided.

A radical change was made, however, as affecting married men in many cases. Under the first regulatiims married men were subject to induction unless their wives and famihes were actually "dependent upon their labor for support." As a result of this rule and of its obseivance by the Board a considerable number of married men- our estimate from memoiy would be as many as bi or 20- who lived at home with their wives and families wei'e inducted into .service in September, October and November 1917. They were cases whei-e the man and their wives had independent incomes, or had parents ready, willing and able to maintain the wives. Among the cases of this type were Herbert Nichols and Dwight Rolph of Dixon, We.sley Attig and Frank Chapman of Ashton and a numbei'

T ndei' the rules as amended these men would have been placed in class 2 if thej' had no children and in class 4 if they had children. However, under the first emergency rules the I^oard had no option under the circumstances existing in those particular cases but was reciuired to and did send such men to military service.

The mailing of questionnaires to registrants of the class of 1917 not then in .service began on December I'l, 1917 and five p(>r cent per day were mailed until completion of the work.

of tllelesalfralerl^ty Asso(-iation was asked l.y the Adjutant General to nominate three attorneys as members of the Lei^al Advisor\' lioard and he presented the names of Edward E. Wingert, John P. Devine and William 11. Winn. The Board selected Mr. Wingert as Chairman. All other memliers of the liar in the couiily were constituted as associate memliers of the P-oai'd and ior a nioiilli there was no work done of any conse<iuence liy the lawyeis of Lee ( 'otiiity other than the aiding of registrars. Classification by the Board.

The work of classification liy the Board was startetl as soon as j^ossihle after the qtiestionnaires began to come in and completed in .January of 1918.

In October 1917 Tim Sullivan of Dixon was made chief clerk of the B<.ard and the Board's office moved to the Library room on the west side of the third floor of the court house.

At the conclusion of the c|uestionnaire period in .lanuary llll.s.and after xhv disposition of all appeal cases and of agricultural and industrial claims by the District Board, the classification of men by the Local Board, and recommendation for classification to the District Board, together with the men inducted by Townships up to that time by the Local Board was as ffiljows:

Total registration 2557 The Local Board had reconnnended for class one classification a number of men who made agricultural and industrial claims who were afterwards given deferred classification by the District Board. In the neighborhood of 250 of such cases the Local Board was of opinion that the District Board had fallen into error and many attempts were made to induce the District Board to revise its conclusions. These attempts were successful in a few instances but in the neighborhood of 200 or moiv cases of this type i-(Mnained at the end of the war when as to most if not all of them injustice to the registrant as well as to others in like situation was done.

There were two registration days for what was termed by the Provost Marshal General the "second registration." On June 5, 1918 all men attaining the age of 21 since June 5, 1917 were required to register and on August 24 all attaining 21 between that date and June 5, 1918 registered.

The office of the Board at the Court Hotise was the only registration office in the County on both dates and the Board members with a few volunteer aids acted as registrars. On June 5, \9\R there were 21,S icgisti'ants and on August 24 tlieic were fortv, making a total of 258.

The third Registration took place September 12, 191S. This registration eml.)raced all men and boys from 31 to 4G and 18 to 21 years, respectively. It was done at the voting place of each of the voting precincts in the County. The regulations provided that places of registration should l^e open from 7 A. M. until 9 P. M. of the day appointed.

The registrars were ajijiointed by the Local Board and served without compensation. Every man asked to serve responded and the work was performe<l in a most satisfactory manner. Every precinct in the County had reported and turneil in its cards at the office of the Board by one o'clock P. j\l. of September 13 and these reports were talnilated and results telegraphed to the Adjutant General at 3 o'clock P. M. of September 13.

40 volunteer clerks and serial numbers given the registrants, lisi for publication and transmission to the Provost ]Marshal Gene pleted within tlii-ee days throufih the zeal and industry of the ele who volunteered.

On September 21, 1918 the mailinu; of questionnaires was Ijcgun to the registrants between 19 and 36 years of age, 15 per cent per day of the total being mailed. The Legal Advisory Board again went into action and for a period of about two weeks the completed questionnaires came pouring in. Classification of these reiiislrants eoiniueneed innneihateh'- upon the return of the questionnaires and eonlinueil witlioiil infeiiupUon until all had been returned.

On Novenil er 4. 191S the mailinii of (Hiestionnanvs to the l.S y..ar old and 36 to 46 year old registrants luiiaii. All of tin m \v(ae mailed, but all had ihM been completed and returned on November 11, the date of the signing of the armistice. Subsequently the Board was directed to procure the I'lanpletion and return of all ciuestionnaires delivered to the 18 year old registrants and to classify them but not to require the completion of those mailed to the 36-46 registrants. Definite directions as to this eourse of procedure was not received by the Board until the latter part of November.

Because of the failure to complete all (|iiestionnaires it was of course imiiossible to compile statistics or the results as has been done with respect to the registrants of the ( lass of 1917.

When the Board was created Dr. Edmund B. Owen? iiHaiil er and served as .such until he left for the army on the niililary service as a First Lieutenant, was soon made ; a Major.

Assi.sting him as examining physicians until his resignation from the Pjoard were Dr. C. H. Bokhof of Dixon, Dr. F. .M. Banker of Franklin (Irove and Dr. T. F. Dornblaser of Amliov.

wl on their work efficiently and intelligently ami rendered ^-ice practically without conipensal ion as the very small 11 in no case aileiiuatcly conipcnsate<l tiiein lor the many I hem. lliey are entitled to and should have the approlia- \- and the Board is glad to have this opportunity of testimamier in which they performed their duty in every case.

All of the.se examiners c a high degree of patiiotie amounts of money jxiid to days of arduous work done tion of the people of our c fying to the thorough and .

acle at the office of the Provost Marshal General it was determined -s fiuota of the army first to be raised was 295 men, but having ilisted, our net quota was the balance of 173 men. That numfier

On August 31, 1917 the Board was directed to induct into service on September 4 and to send to Camp Grant on September 5, 1917 ten men. The Board was directed to send, if possible, men with previous military experience and to take volunteers but if a sufficient number did not volunteer, to s(Mid in order of order numbers.

It was not necessary to send any men who did not volunteer for as soon as it became known that this increment had been called for the Board was overwhelmed with volunteers.

While but 10 men were called for, the a.uality of the first 12 men enlisting was so high that the Board determined to send the 12, which was done and all of whom were accepted. The first man to enlist was Paul W. Chaiters of Ashton, who sul)se(|uently entered the thiril officers training school, was made a '2\ul Lieutenant and afteiwards ]iromoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Ward, Vernon C. Shippee, Gordon G. Utley and Walter J. Morrissey assistants. On May 30, 1918 the following men were entrained for Camp Thomas:

( L. Kelly Otiii H. Cutter On Octoler 22, 191S tlie lullowinu men were entrained for Tank ('(irjis. Camp Polk, Ealeigh, North Carolina:

Amos R. Richardson On Octoler 30, 191S tl:e following man was entrained for Aeron, (ien. Sply. Dep. efe Cone. Camp Oai'den City, L. I. Evans A. Kettley On October 30, 1918 the following man was entrained for Camp Upton, Long Island:

Philip E. Pomeroy On November 6, 1918 tl.i' following man was entrained for Field Artilleiy. Central Officer's Tr. Camp, Louisville, Ky.: John L. Davies On November 2, 1918 tlie following man was entrained for Camp Johnston, Florida:

George E. Eoynton On Xovemlcr 11, 1918 the following man was entrained for U. S. Navy Mobilization Station, 619 S. State St.. Cbicago, 111. James E. Haley On October 30, 1918 the following man was entrained for Tank Corps, Camp Polk, Raleigh, North Carolina:

During September and the early part of October, 1918, the foUowiiiii listed, were inducted into service as members of the Students Army '1 went into training at the sevei-al I'niversities and Colleges named ailniiltcd into this Department it was neccssaiy that the rrgisti-: age and under 21 and that he have a high school education.

The men so enlisting and the instilu Howard E. Smith, Universily ol' ( 'hi< Charles Chandler, Chicago I'lii. John C. Brady, DePaul Uni., ( 'hicag. William L. Kugler, Iowa Agri. I'ni. Allen J. Wiener, Uni. of Illinois Earl S. Rynearson, Uni. of Illinois Sterling D. Schrock. Uni. of Illinois Elmer D.Enghsh, Uni. of Illinois George L. Schuler. I'ni. of Illinois Edward B.Wingert, I'ni. of llhnois Chailes F. Andrews, Uni. of Illinois James R. Keigwin, Uni. of Illinois Vernon Knapp, Uni. of Illinois Edward J. Ryan, Uni. of Illinois William P. Rock, Uni. of Illinois Eugene G. Cahill, Uni. of Wisconsin Benj. E. Roberts. :Milliken Uni., Deca James H. Tosney, Notre Dame Uni. Frank F. Fitzsimmous. Notre Dame Royal Gerald Jones, Notre Dame I'li George A. Graham, Northwestern Ui Edwin M. Bunnell, Northwestern I'n o whom they \ver( Ralph M. Cariiah Cecil L. Emery. Chicago, Ciii. Thomas II. Rock, D.d'anI Cni.. Chicago Clifford McKinely. Iowa .Vgii. Uni. Albert B. Whitconibe. I'ni. of Illinois Frederick R. (uidley, Uni. of Illinois Alervin C. Lawtoi,, Tni. of Illinois I.lovd T. I5artli<ilomc\v, Eni. of Illinois Robert E. Eds,m, Eni. of Illinois Rodney E. Spangler, Eni. of Illinois Forest D. Meirinian, Eni. of Illinois Robert P. Powell, Eni. of Illinois Dorman C. Anderson, Eni. of Illinois Raymond K. Worsley, Eni. of Illinois Raymond Dysart, Uni. of Wisconsin Luther L. Durkes, Uni. of Wisconsin Jerome F. Dixon, Notre Dame Eni. Vincent L. Downs. Notre Daiiu! Eni. Edward J. Root. Notre Dame Eni. Leo J. Kurd, Northwestein Eni. Orno J. Kersten. Northwestern Eni. Lyie H. Searls, Northwestern Eni. Stanley F. Thorpe, Bradley Institute Earl B. Carlson, Carthage College A. P. Kent, Cornell Col., :\It. Vernon. la.

In addition to the induction into military service of the increments listiMl abovi' there were scores of cases of individual inductions, some of them being enlistments in the departmi'iit of the army selected by the registrants.

In all. through the agency of llii' Local Board. O'i.i men were inducted into service divided among the .several towns of the County as shown in the succeeding table.

It is understood that upwards of GOO more men went from this county to the army and navy, consisting of the unit that was formerly Compan>' G, 6th Infantry Illinois National Guard, which afterwards became Battery C, 123rd F. A. and of afiout 500 more who enlisted before enlistments were forbidden.

The registered men inducted into service through the local Board, the percentage from each town, the population of each Town by the latest official figures, being the 1910 census and the percentage f>f population of each Town in the County follow:

In November 1917, Tim Sullivan was appoi ant chief clerk. Many volunteer aids woi'ked work, chief among them being Charles H. Johnson, Abram Ackert, Louis Pitcher, A. E. Simonson and others, all of whom were availaljle when needed and some of whom were present almost daily and rendered most valuable services. Miss Marguerite Burke, stenographei- in the office of State's Attoi'iiey Edwards, whose office was next door to the rooms occupied by the Board, did a large part of the letter writing and other stenographic work.

Aeroi-dingly an eHort was made to locale in the county men capahh' of suiiervising this training. The <'ffort was stieeessfiil and capalile drill masters were ohtanied. The county was divided into districts and th.' n diiveted to attend at stated periods foidrill. Those near Rochelle, were trained ai Koehelle, those from Hamilton Township at the Village of Walimt in Bureau County an. I the others at Dixon, .Vinhoy, Franklin Crove and Paw Paw. Tlie men iviiorting at Dixon .hilled twi.'.. a wvek an.l those at the other towns ..n<'e a week. Tills w.>rk c..iitinued until tli.' signing of the armistice.

Brooklyn an.l \i.ila, Franklin (;r.)V( - Mr. H. P. Hilhish. .-., mmander. Towns of China, Asliton ami Bradford. Koch.'ll.- ('apt. ThiMidoiv Scha.l.-. c.)mnianiler. Towns of Alto and Reynol.ls. \\'alnut - Capt. commander. Town of Hamilton.

into service. AMaii tli.'y ivai'licd tin- training camp tlii-y had acjuired some of the rudiments of military drill an.l .liscipline and di.l not enter upon their military life with the handicap as to such matters that were borne by the others who had not had the advantages of some military training. The thanks of all concerned are due to the men w'hose names are above given, together with the many unnamed capable assistants whom they called

The newspapersof Lee County were of great assistance to the Board. From the beginning to the end the columns of all i>f the County papers were at our disposal for any publicity desired.

The Dixon daily papers published eomijU'te lists of all registrants together with the order and serial number of each. The weekly ]iapers in the other Towns in the County published such lists as to all of the Towns in which they circulated largely. Almost daily it was necessary for the Board to call ujion the jiapers for necessary imblicity and there was a prompt response in every instance.

The point of view of the Board as to the service iierfonned by these papers is perhaps hest shown by an identical letter to each which was sent by the Board on December 9, 1918, as follows;

We have called u|)nii the ne\vsi)ai)crs of Lee (-(imity very (ifteii for necessary publicity duriiiii- the past IS nioiitlis and to every call every paper has promptly, generously and efficiently responded.

A consideial.le |iortion, in fact it seems to the writei- the principal jtart, of the difficulties of the Local Board was caused l)v thecrratic conduct, of a majoritv of the District. Board.

Lnder the rules the Local Board had original jurischction over cases of alleged ilependency and the like, with its fiiKhngs suhject to appeal liv the registrant or the Government to the Distri<'t Boanl.

The District Board hud original jurisdiction over claims to deferred classification presented on account of business or occupation, such as farming, railroading and the like. The Local Board was required to investigate and make recommendations in such cases, which was done in every in.stance.

The icstdt of such cla.ssification and reconunendation of the first registration is shown by lownshi])s on a jii-evious page. The work was done by separating the questionnaires by townships and taking up the investigation of one town at a time. As a result the a\-erage numbei- of men placed in class one by the Local Board in the purely agricultural towns ot the county was but IS. 7, oi' one man for each 1179 acres in each full size tow'n. In handling matters in tliis way it was possible for the Board to and it did treat men of the same type in the same way and thus deal in a reasonabl.y fair manner with all registrants. The questionnaires of the men taking appeals or making claims for deferred classification because of their occupations were sent to the District Board ass,°mbled bv Townships and that Board re(|Ueste(l to h.andle them by Townships in order that men so handled but on the contrary were disposed of in a very loose jointed manner, with the result that a man on a certain farm was placed in class one and another of the same type with exactly the same character of claim and living in the same neighborhood was placed in class 2 and some other neighbor of the same character and surroundings put in class 4. The result can be imagined. Initially the Local Boanl was criticized but finally in the majority of cases at least it was learned where the fault was and who was to blame. The District Board gave deferred classification to approximately 250 young men of the fir.st registration whom the Local Board had icconnuended for class one. Li some cases there was room for doubt liut in otlieis a great mist.ake was made and a great wrong done both to the registiant, to others similarly situated who weic placed in class one, and to the Government itself.

As a result whole families were excused from military service. We know of one instance where a f.amily had eight sons of military age, all claiming to be farming, although one left tending I ai' but a short time before and this family had no one in the army. Another family with six sons and all claiming to be farming antl none in the army. In each of the cases cited most of the sons were geiniine farmers and should have been given deferred clasililic

When one comiiares such conduct of the registrants and their of other families in the county such as the Rnxlerick's, Hrana^ of Anilioy. the Buckley's of .Maytown and th,' Mahan> an. I Midi three sons in the service or the four Tompkins ludtlicrs and tin- Dixon in the service it is enough to make one feci thai a few rm in authority who tolerated and permitteil such niisconduct wouK for our country.

The conduct of the District Board was so much criticised l,y the l,o("il Boards in the District, by registrants and citizens generally, that a reorganization of it was made through the office of the Adjutant General. Steps to that end were begun in the summei- of MUS and four additional members of the Board recommended for appointment by the (lover- November 8, 1918. too late for the new appointees to take hold, and institute tlie icfoiins that it is hoped and believed would have been made effective.

The four additional memliers so appointed were Judge ,James S. Baume of (ialcna, J. C. Seyster of Oregon, L. H. Burrell of Freeport and L. ('. Thornc of Sterling, all of them strong men, jierhaps the leaders in their respective counties. It would hav<' been most helpful to have had these men on the Board from the beginning, for in conjimction with Judge Carpenter, who had clone good work on the District Board, it is manifrst that the proper attention would have been given to the gauzy tales and fraudulent repii'sentations made by some of the I.ee County registrants and from all of the other counties as well.

The Board had no easy task. Its woik was in many ways ai-diious, yet in some respects pleasant. In thi' begimiing it had but little assistance fiom the general public. Many persons would sign the supporting aflidavits of registrants without reading them, apparently as readily as many persons sign letters of recommendation. The language in the affidavit to the effect that the alleged dependent was actually- dependent upon the lal3or of the registrant for support, or, that the registrant was the manager of some fanning entei'prise meant nothing to some of the signers of the supporting affidavits, at least it so seemeil to the Board. This was in the early stages of the work. However, conditions as to sucli matters improved remarkably as the war progressed. In the early days the situation as to such matters was so bad that it was thought necessary by the Board to call before it several hundred registrants and their witnesses and personally interrogate them. As a result of such inciuii-y the tendency to present untrue or unjustified claims diminished, in xane instances severe treatment of the claimants and witnesses was necessary. There were some cases, in the early experience of the Ijoard, where it is quite likely that criminal prosecution for perjury and for conspiracy would have been warranted, but the board was of opinion that such miscorduct arose either through want of proper understanding of the matter, cowardice, selfishness, or lack of sympathy with the prosecution of the war and that it was the pohcy of the government to raise an army and not to fill the penitent iaiy. ( 'onse(|uently no prosecutions were instituted, although a number of the offenders were investigated and warned by Federal officials and others dealt with by the Board in such a manner as to make it reasonably certain that there would be no fui'ther ground for complaint.

As time progressed the Boai'd was given more aid from the people of the county by letter and by personal interview as well. In every town in the county we had several loyal intelligent aides whose information given us could be relied upon. Then with the progress of events a diflVicnl and Ijetter spirit on the part of all concerned became evident. The young nu^n wanted to go into the military service and not be excelled in that particular by their neighbors who had gone. Parents became Ijraver and less selfish. Long before the end of the war a most creditable and worthy condition obtained over the whole county and the fraudulent or false attempt to evade military service became the exception.

All the way ihrougii the att(nipts at evasion of duty were niinoj- on the part of the registrant liiuisclf as compared with such action on the pari of parents and other relatives and of employers. We had but few cowards in Lee County. The Board's troubles were caused more by the cowardice and avarice of third persons than by any other cause. And there was comparatively little of that after the situation became thoroughly understood.

Howevei-, it was hard to always keep in good humor. It was difficult at all times to control one's temper. Perhaps the greatest aggravation of all was the insistent telephone. During the busy times the telephone at the Board office was constantly in use - several hundred calls per day. And outside of business hours the Board members had no rest. One of the Board members latest telephone call was at 1 :30 A. M. and his earliest call 3:30 A. M. Another at one meal time was called to the telephone on Board business 18 times during the course of that meal. \'ciy frequently the members were called at home by someone in town or down in the County and asked what the speaker's order number was. Of course with over 6000 niiinhci-s it was cei'tain that th(> answer could not be given without reference to the record.

Hundre<l. - prolial.ily thousands - of requests were made lor the doings that could not possibly be done. It seemed in many instances any action that interfered with the personal jileasurc or iiinv('ni( lire (if the registrant should, from his ]ioint of view, be avoided or he should le excused.

Ihe correspondence was very large. 5000 sheets of letter paper were used in less than the first year. Perhaps 10,000 letters in all were written.

The detail was very great, for every registrant had the right to have antl did have an individual ivcdrd and an individual treatment of his case. The wonder is that the work was done as well as it was and we fully realize that in many particulars it could

While there was troulile, and plenty of it, there were many pleasant and amusing instances, ni.any ii<liculous occurrences and some that were pathetic. To recite them would in nian>- instances lead to a disclosure of the names of the persons involved and (his we feel would not Ic liked by the parties concerned and therefore a recital of them had best not 1 e made.

dont get this letter let me no and i will i in jail-no more i told you how i was how j'ou again lawarnce martin ease i dont want to get in jail no more.

It is to he doulited if those not closely in (ouch willi Boanl affairs have any inforniation with respect to tlie daily pressure of work on the Boanl meniliers and clerks. In l.rief they were on duty, subject to public call, antl, in fact actually called on occasion, for 24 hours a day. True this did not happen every day but the telephones at the office and at the residences of the Board members were in use nearly every day before da>- light until miihiight. The annoy.-ince in this respect got so bail that the writer linally did not answer his home phone when it would ring before his ordinary rising time in the morning, or at meal times or after going to bed. To have done otherwise would have ref]uii-ed spending practically all of his time at home and while awake at the telephone. He felt that tlie business of the Itoard ought to be done as far as possible in business hours during the 9 and 10 hours a day that the Board office was open.

Each Board member was drafted as effectively as the men whom they sent to military service. They were not consulted as to their desire to serve but simply notified that if they had any notion of resigning that resignations would not be accepted, but that in the absence of the most imperative reasons each was expected to serve for the duration of the war. Tliey seivcd piaclically without pay, tin- triffiiig allowance made to them 1 I'ing recognized by the Wai- Dei'artnieni as const if uting no proper measure of compensation.

The work done by the Boanl while conHning ami somi^what anhious was not always unpleasant as there are many |ileasaiit mi iiioiies ami a constant recognition of the fact that before tin in and in their presence was proved the loyalty and p:itriotism of the great body of the young men of Lee County. We can testify truly and do so gladly, that the young men of Lee County, taken as a whole, are loyal antl good citizens, and that we believe those who went from us into the military service of our country demeaned themselves as good soldiers and sailors and that in case of need we could have sent as many more.