Document B.76 · draft registration · transcription: verbatim
WWI draft registration card of William Jennings Bryan Cooper of Dayton, Ohio, b. 20 April 1897 Nicholasville, Ky. His father was born at Germantown, Ky. — the only field in the draft series that reaches back a generation.
- repository
- U.S. Selective Service System — via Ancestry
- collection
- P.M.G.O. Form 1, the 5 June 1918 registration — for men who turned 21 after 5 June 1917. Local Board Division No. 2, City of Dayton, Ohio.
- identifier
- Serial No. 325; Registration No. 295.
- date
- 1918-06-05
What is transcribed: Both sides of the card.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Jennings Bryan Cooper | subject | William Jennings Bryan Cooper 1897 | birth: 20 Apr 1897, Nicholasville, Jessamine Co., Kentucky residence: 5 Jun 1918, 250 Conover, Dayton, Ohio occupation: 1918, Recording & Computing Mach[ines] Co., Dayton |
| Joseph Addison Cooper | mentioned | ||
| [the registrant's father] | mentioned |
What this document records
The father s birthplace field again
“Father's birthplace: Germantown, Ky.” Only the WWI series asks this, and it is the single most valuable field in the whole draft-card class — a form about a 21-year-old reaching back a generation, as at [B.47]. Germantown straddles Bracken and Mason counties, in northern Kentucky — well away from the Jessamine Co. places this family otherwise gives. Recorded as written.
A name that dates itself
“William Jennings Bryan Cooper”, b. April 1897. Bryan had been the Democratic nominee in November 1896, five months earlier. A political naming, and it dates the household's sympathies as precisely as a document could.
The nearest relative is named in full
“Joseph Addison Cooper, 250 Conover, Dayton” — a full three-part name, not an initial and not “Mrs.”. The relationship is not stated, but the shared address and the fact that the WWI form asks separately for a father's birthplace make a household link plain. Not asserted. 250 Conover — compare [B.74]'s Victor Cooper at 250 Court St.; different streets, and the similarity of the numbers is a coincidence worth not tripping over.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the father's-birthplace field that only the WWI series asks, and the political
naming that dates the household are in the source: and coverage: headers and are not repeated
here.
Verbatim transcription
Registration Card (left): | # | Field | Value | |---|---|---| | 1 | Name in full / Age | William Jennings Bryan Cooper / 21 | | 2 | Home address | 250 Conover, Dayton, Ohio | | 3 | Date of birth | April 20, 1897 | | 4 | Where born | Nicholasville, Ky., U.S.A. | | 5 | (citizenship) | a native of the United States | | 7 | Father's birthplace | Germantown, Ky. | | 8 | Employer | Recording & Computing Mach[ines] Co. — Place: Chapel Road & Genesee[?], Dayton, Ohio | | 9 | Nearest relative (name / address) | Joseph Addison Cooper / 250 Conover, Dayton, Ohio | | 10 | Race | White | | — | Signature | William Jennings Bryan Cooper |
Registrar's Report (right) — 34-6-18 B: | # | Field | Value | |---|---|---| | 1 | Height / Build | Medium / Medium | | 2 | Eyes / Hair | Green / Black | | — | Registrar / Date | Frank Miller / June 5, 1918 |
What this establishes
- Identifies "Attorney Bryan Cooper" (named in Joseph Addison [p.1560]'s 1940 obituary) as William Jennings Bryan Cooper, b. 20 Apr 1897 Nicholasville, Jessamine Co. KY — named for the politician William Jennings Bryan.
- Nearest relative = Joseph Addison Cooper at the same address (250 Conover) ⇒ primary-source confirmation that Bryan [p.1567] is Joseph Addison's son (a gen-8 Cooper Y-carrier). Father's-birthplace "Germantown, Ky." matches Joseph Addison's own native place (per his obituary).
- In 1918 Bryan worked at the Recording & Computing Machines Co. of Dayton (he later became an attorney).
Cross-references
- p.1567 William Jennings Bryan Cooper — the registrant (gen-8 Cooper Y-carrier)
- p.1560 Joseph Addison Cooper — named as nearest relative (father)
- B.74/B.75 — WWI/WWII draft cards of his half-uncle Victor [p.1564]
- G.291 — William [p.841] family Find A Grave roster