Monday, September 1, 2014

Military Monday ~ Jacob Reisner World War I Draft Card

Ancestry.com, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005), www.ancestry.com, Database online.
Registration Location: Kings County, New York; Roll: 1754613; Draft Board: 80. Record for Jacob Reisner.

When I first found this record, I wasn't sure that it belonged to the Jacob Reisner who married into the Levitt family, whose origins in "Austria" have eluded me for years. However, I more recently found Jacob's 1965 obituary, which noted that he had worked for Asinof and Sons Co. for many years, in New York and in Springfield. The occupation for Jacob Reisner here is as a Tailor for Essenoff + Sons at 37 Broome St. N.Y.

He claims exemption from service because he needs to support his family, his wife and three children.

The back of his card indicates that he was tall, of medium build, with blue eyes and brown hair.

In June 1917, Jacob Reisner is living at 74 Louisiana Avenue in Brooklyn. He has declared his intention to become a citizen and this record tells me that he reports his birth as January 12, 1890, in Kolamayer, Bucave, Austria. (At least that's what it looks like to me.)


However, I am not having any luck finding this place in JewishGen's Community Search or the Gazetteer. Anyone have any ideas?

UPDATE: Thank you to the Tracing the Tribe Facebook Group members (several of them), who let me know that this is Kolomea or Kolomyya, in present-day Western Ukraine. In the late 1800s and very early 1900s, this community was considered part of Galicia, within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

4 comments:

  1. Elizabeth:
    I visited Kolomyya lat summer during my trip to Ukraine. See:
    http://extrayad.blogspot.com/2013/06/kolomyya-8-june-2013.html
    - Emily

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    1. Emily, thank you for including the link to your post about Kolomyya. Looks like I have more (lots more) to learn about this area, especially if it helps me figure out where the Levitt / Levitas family came from!

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  2. Don't you love those draft cards that tell a little about the appearance of the individual. And I would love them even more if I had a recent immigrant and the record told his town of origin.

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    1. I love these draft cards and try to find one for every man who was eligible for the draft. I have found all kinds of interesting information on them. Yes, it's helpful when you get a specific town rather than just a country.

      Thanks for reading and commenting.

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