Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Winchester (Va.) Muster Roll in the War with Germany, 1917-1960 (bulk 1917-1918). Local government records collection, Winchester ( City  ) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Acquisition Information

This item came to the Library of Virginia in shipment of court papers from city   of Winchester.

Historical Information

The City   of Winchester, in Frederick County  , was first known as Opequon, then as Frederick's Town (or Fredericktown), and, finally, upon establishment as a town in 1752, as Winchester. According to tradition, one of the town's founders, James   Wood, named the town in honor of his birthplace in England. Winchester was incorporated as a town in 1779 and as a city   in 1874. It was enlarged by annexation from Frederick County   in 1970.

An act passed by the Virginia General Assembly on March 16, 1918 required the recordation of the names of drafted men. The chairman of each of the Local Draft Boards of the Virginia counties   and cities   were to furnish their clerk of court were deeds of land were recorded, with the list of residents who through the selective draft law have become members of the military forces of the United States. In cities   that were separated into divisions, the chairman of the Local Draft Board of each division was to keep the records. In Richmond City  , the Clerk of the Chancery Court was to keep the records. When the clerk of the court received this information, he was to copy it in a book or books provided for the purpose and also create an index for the book. The Adjutant-General of the State was to furnish a list of names of those who joined volunteer companies from the counties   or cities  . These lists are also to be recorded in to the book and also indexed. Persons joining the naval or military forces of the United States or its allies were allowed to have their record listed in the book. They or someone for them made an application and provide proof of service and when this was done; their record would be recorded in the book.

Scope and Content

Winchester (Va.) Muster Roll in the War with Germany, 1917-1960 (bulk 1917-1918), is a listing of men who served in one of the several branches of the armed services during World War I. Information included in the muster roll includes name, address (name of town), age, color, selective service (date drafted), volunteers for army, navy and marine corps (date accepted and which branch), National Guard and naval militia (date and where mustered), rank, branch, and remarks which include notations about date discharged, reason and date of deaths, whether someone was a chaplain, etc.

Page 1 in the book states that Winchester did not keep the records in 1918 and as a result the Robert Y. Conrad Post Number 21, of the American Legion obtained from Virginia's Adjutant General a complete list of all men in service from Winchester and Frederick County   in the World War I. The first list, which appears between page 2 and page 154, includes the names of men who were drafted in 1918 and also includes the names of a few men that enlisted in 1917 and 1918. This list tells where they were enlisted, accepted or drafted. The second list is the Muster Roll of Company I, 2nd Virginia Infantry that mustered into service on March 25, 1917. This list appears on pages 177-184. On pages toward the back of the book are copies of the Honorable Discharge Records for three men who served in the Army, one man who served in the Marine Corps and a woman who served in the Ohio Reserve Nurse, Army Nurse Corps.

Arrangement

Two list are alphabetical by surname.

Related Material

Additional Winchester Military Records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County   and City Records on Microfilm."

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Winchester (Va.) Circuit Court

Subjects:

• Veterans. -- Virginia -- Winchester
• World War, 1917-1918 -- Registers -- Virginia -- Winchester

Geographical Names:

• Virginia -- History -- World War, 1914-1918
• Winchester (Va.) -- History -- 20th century

Genre and Form Terms:

• Local government records -- Virginia -- Winchester
• Military records -- Virginia -- Winchester
• Muster rolls -- Virginia -- Winchester

Adjunct Descriptive Data