Document B.65 · draft registration · transcription: verbatim

WWI draft registration card of Albert Alvin Cooper, Stationary Engineer of Andover, Sussex Co., b. 17 September 1878 — registered 12 September 1918.

repository: U.S. Selective Service System — via Ancestry
collection: The third registration, 12 September 1918. Two-card scan: Registration Card + Registrar's Report.
identifier: Serial Number 2621; Order Number A 2000; form stamp 29-2-32-C.
date: 1918-09-12

What is transcribed: Both sides.

People named

As written	Role	Identified as	What this document says
Albert Alvin Cooper	subject	Albert Alvin Cooper 1878–1949	birth: 17 Sep 1878 residence: 12 Sep 1918, Andover, Sussex Co., New Jersey occupation: 1918, Stationary Engineer, employed by Samuel J. Wills, Andover
Mrs Sadie Cooper	mentioned
Roderick Byanton Cooper	referenced	Roderick Byanton Cooper 1838–1889

What this document records

The same local board stamp as b 60

Form stamp 29-2-32-C appears on this card and on [B.60]'s — both Sussex Co., both 12 September 1918. Recorded as a filing-system observation; it implies nothing about a relationship between the two men.

What it gives the y line work

b. 17 September 1878; Stationary Engineer; employer Samuel J. Wills of Andover. He is worked as a hypothesised Gen-7 Y-carrier son of Roderick Byanton Cooper on the John Cooper John-of-Independence branch. This card names no parent — it supplies vitals and a residence, and the descent comes from elsewhere.

The nearest relative is named in her own right

"Mrs Sadie Cooper, Andover" — a given name, unlike the four husband's-name entries elsewhere in section B. The relationship is still not stated. [B.66], his son's 1945 card, names "Sadie (Mother)", which is what ties her to this household.

He signed his own name

"Albert Alvin Cooper", signed, not a mark. Worth recording where a mark would have been equally likely for a Sussex Co. engineer of 1878.

Transcription and notes

Provenance, the shared Sussex board stamp, and the fact that this card names a relative in her own right but still states no relationship are in the source: and coverage: headers and are not repeated here.

Data from the document (Registration Card — front) `[verbatim]`

Serial Number: 2621
Order Number: A 2000
1. Name: "Albert Alvin Cooper" (First / Middle / Last as labeled)
2. Permanent Home Address: "Andover, Sussex, N.J."
Age in Years: 40
Date of Birth: "Sept 17 1878"
Race: White (box checked)
U.S. Citizen: Native Born (box checked)
16. Present Occupation: "Stationary Engineer"
17. Employer's Name: "Samuel J Wills"
18. Place of Employment: "Andover, Sussex, N.J."
19./20. Nearest Relative: "Mrs Sadie Cooper", "Andover, Sussex, N.J."
Signature of registrant: "Albert Alvin Cooper" (signed, not a mark)

Data from the document (Registrar's Report — back) `[verbatim]`

Form/serial stamp: "29-2-32-C"
Height: Medium · Build: Medium · Color of eyes: Blue · Color of hair: [brown — faint]
Lost limb / disqualification: "No"
Registrar's signature: "Roy C. Van Syckle" [?]
Date of Registration: "Sept 12 1918"
Local Board: "County of Sussex, State of N.J., [Court] House, Newton, N.J."

Catalog significance

Corrects the birth year: the L.132 Grimm tree gives "Albert Alvin (1883–1949)"; this self-reported primary source gives b. 17 Sep 1878 (age 40 in Sept 1918). Primary source wins → Albert Alvin Cooper born 1878, not 1883. (This explains why the G.225 Find A Grave search at b.1883± returned no match — wrong search year.)
Confirms wife "Sadie" — the p.621 Find A Grave bio's "Albert Alvin m. Sadie" is now primary-source-corroborated ("Mrs Sadie Cooper", nearest relative).
Residence = Andover, Sussex Co. NJ — the same town as his brother p.622 Warren Edgar Cooper's household (p.624 Roland d. Andover) → locks Albert Alvin into the family geographic cluster.
Forward-trace value: no children on a draft card, but it pins his exact identity for the census pull (Andover, Sussex Co., 1900–1940) that would enumerate any sons = Gen-8 Y-carriers.