On April 27, 1942, four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, ten first cousins reported together to the US Army Draft Registration Board in Evansville, Indiana, to complete the mandatory registration of all able-bodied men at the onset of World War II. This must have been an interesting reunion of the Gibson county and Evansville relatives. Can you imagine the conversations that went on while they were all standing around in their underwear, catching up on their families, farms, and businesses and speculating about the impending world at war? And whether their sons, nephews, and cousins would have to serve in battle?
This historical event confirmed that these past generations knew each other and probably maintained contact with each other. Here are their descriptions.
First Cousins (their paternal grandfather was Mathias Adler)
All five living sons of George P. Adler registered together on this day.
George M. Adler: age 58, birthdate 7 July 1884 in Evansville IN
Employer: Ace King, Farmer, Francisco IN Gibson county
5’11”, 175 lbs., gray hair, brown eyes, ruddy complexion
Frank Adler: age 57, birthdate 28 December 1885 in Gibson county IN
Self-employed, Francisco IN
5’8”, 162 lbs., gray hair, brown eyes, ruddy complexion
William Adler: age 55, birthdate 12 July 1888 in Francisco IN
Self-employed, Francisco IN
5’8”, 160 lbs., gray hair, hazel eyes, ruddy complexion
Louis Adler: age 53, birthdate 22 February 1889 in Francisco IN
Address: 1302 S. Bedford St Evansville IN
Employer: H.G. Newman Plumbing Co.
5’10”. 180 lbs., gray hair, brown eyes, ruddy complexion
Theodore Adler: age 51, birthdate 13 March 1891 in Gibson county IN
Address: 214 East Louisiana St Evansville IN
Employer: Gaseteria Oil Co. Evansville IN
6’0”, 185 lbs, black hair, brown eyes, dark brown complexion
Two of the sons of John Nicholas Adler registered together.
Edward A. Adler age 51, birthdate 13 December 1890 in Vanderburgh county IN
Address: 504 E. Iowa St Evansville IN
Employer: William Barnett 3116 Lincoln Ave Evansville IN
5’8”, 150 lbs., gray hair, blue eyes, light complexion
John N. Adler, Jr. age 47, birthdate 20 November 1894 in Vanderburgh county IN
Address: 11 S. Kerth Ave Evansville IN
Employer: Sterling Brewery Virginia and Fulton
6’0”, 172 lbs., black hair, gray eyes, light complexion
One son of Theodore Adler registered on this day.
George N. Adler age 52, birthdate 19 August 1889 in Vanderburgh county IN
Address: 401 Maxwell Ave Evansville IN
Employer: W.T. Rawleigh Co, Freeport IL
6’0”, 180 lbs., brown hair, brown eyes, ruddy complexion
Two first cousins, once removed (their father was Nicholas Adler) registered on this day.
They were brothers.
Henry B. Adler age 64, birthdate 18 May 1877 in Gibson county IN
Address: 537 S. New York Ave Evansville IN
Employer: “in business for self” Evansville IN
5’8”, 145 lbs., gray hair, gray eyes, light complexion
Frank S. Adler age 62, birthdate 22 August 1880 in Gibson county IN
Address: 2326 Olmstead Ave Evansville IN
Employer: Sunbeam Evansville IN
5’11”, 165 lbs., gray hair, blue eyes, light complexion
(Pictured with his family above, far left)
In spite of their worry regarding the war, I’ll bet these ancestors of ours had a fine visit together that day. They were probably relieved to know that they were too old to serve.
Let’s hope they all dined well and had a few beers together!
"The U.S. officially entered World War II on 8 December 1941 following an attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Just about a year before that, in October 1940, President Roosevelt had signed into law the first peacetime selective service draft in U.S. history, due to rising world conflicts. After the U.S. entered WWII a new selective service act required that all men between ages 18 and 65 register for the draft. Between November 1940 and October 1946, over 10 million American men were registered. This database is an indexed collection of the draft cards from the Fourth Registration, the only registration currently available to the public (the other registrations are not available due to privacy laws). The Fourth Registration, often referred to as the "old man's registration", was conducted on 27 April 1942 and registered men who born on or between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897 - men who were between 45 and 64 years old - and who were not already in the military."
Source: www.ancestry.com
