Sunday's Obituary: Roy Mitchell Patterson (1944)

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
26 January 1944

PRINCE WILLIAM SOLDIER KILLED IN SOUTH PACIFIC

Manassas, Va., Jan. 26 -- Roy Mitchell Patterson, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Patterson of Bethel, Prince William County, died January 4 from wounds received in the battle of Bougainville, according to word received by his parents from the War Department.

Mr. Mitchell, who was born near Woodbridge, had lived in the county until he was inducted in 1942. Besides his parents, he is survived by four sisters, Misses Ada, Marjorie and Elsie Patterson, Woodbridge, and Mrs. Clarence Davis, Dunfries.

Military Monday: Instructions for Ration Book

Evening Star (DC)
17 October 1943

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RATION BOOK

Registration for War Ration Book No. 4 will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, according to Richard C. Haydon, Prince William County registration chairman. County schools will be closed all day Friday in order that the work may be completed. Teachers in the following schools designated as registration places will have charge of issuing the new books:

Osbourn High School, Manassas, R. Worth Peters, chairman; Haymarket New School, Mrs. Nelson Lynn, chairman; Nokesville High School, C. O. Bittle, chairman; Occoquan High School, Mrs. Mae T. Sanford, chairman; Woodbine School, Miss Sue Ayres, chairman; Dumfries Graded School, Mrs. Wallace Lynn, chairman; Quantico Masonic Hall (for civilians), Miss Margaret Powell, chairman. A registration place within the Quantico Military Post for military personnel will be announced later.

Mr. Haydon requests that residents make applications as early as possible to avoid last-minute congestion. One member of a family, 18 years of age or older, may register for the entire family. The registrant must present War Ration Book No. 3 for each member of the household for whom application is made.

Military Monday: Lt. Gilbert Rollins / Lt. Egbert Thompson / Pfc. E. Conway Owens

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
16 July 1944

WOUNDED IN ACTION

Lt. Gilbert Rollins, son of Mr. and Mrs. John T. Rollins, Gainesville, and Lt. Egbert Thompson, jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Egbert Thompson, Woodbridge, were wounded in action during the invasion of France and both are in hospitals in England.  Both men are graduates of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and formerly were Prince William County 4-H Club Members.

AWARDED PURPLE HEART

Pfc. E. Conway Owens, jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Owens, Nokesville, has been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in Italy.  Pvt. Owens has been returned to the United States to recuperate and is at present in the Moore General Hospital in North Carolina.

Military Monday: Robert Weir-Mitchell Weir

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
16 July 1944

PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN

Robert Weir-Mitchell Weir, son of Robert M. Weir, commissioner of revenue for Prince William County, has been promoted to captain in the Army since landing in France on D-day.  Capt. Weir is a graduate of the Manassas High School and the College of William and Mary.  He volunteered for service with the British Civilian Technical Corps and was sent to England in 1941.  In January, 1943, he was transferred to the United States Army.

Military Monday: PW Board Calls Married Men to Fill Draft Quota (1943)

Evening Star (Washington, DC)

01 March 1943

PRINCE WILLIAM BOARD CALLS MARRIED MEN TO FILL DRAFT QUOTA

Supply of Single Men Exhausted as 100 Face Induction This Month

 Manassas, Va., March 1 —The Prince William County Selective Service Board has exhausted its supply of single men and dipped into the list of married men without children to fill a March call for 100 selectees, the largest yet made in the county.

Seventy-two white men have been called for induction March 8. Twenty-eight are scheduled to go March 27.

C. C. Clove, chairman of the local board, said there are still enough single colored men to fill a March 23 call for 13.

The following white men have been notified to appear for induction March 8:

Malone, Harry R.	Di Filippo, Luneo C.
Halary, Vivian G.	Sowers, Glen L.
Wine, Charles H. Jr.	Street, Tolly R.
Thomas, Carroll B.	Clemen, Ray T.
Lewis, Rosier B.	Sloper, Daniel R.
Kline, James D.	Hoffman, Berkeley O.
Lettner, Clyde L.	Wells, John T.
Conner, Alvin E.	Ellis, James L.
Posey, Wayne E.	Bourne, Wallace S.
Lion, Paul E.	Phillips, Roy R.
Brown, William M.	Gladley, Charles V.
Blakemore, Frank L.	Cusick, Vincent M.
Berryman, Alfred	Sieger, G. E. Jr.
McLean, John T.	Hornbaker, Frank W.
Mills, Leon C.	Liming, Clinton W.
Weaver, Willard C.	Kincheloe, Jack E.
Crouch, Maurice	Rison, Russell C.
Harris, Ivan L.	Canham, Donald R.
Payne, Howard C.	Sowers, Lewis M.
Samsky, Andrew F.	Stanley, Amos
Cornwell, Charles R.	Bailey, Randolph H.
Papa, Frank	Upton, Thomas W.
Broaddus, J. T. Jr.	Dawson, Hugh L.
Crabill, Charles W.	Murphy, Jerry L.
Breeden, Jesse R.	Leonard, Nelson H.
Davis, Douglas C.	Breeden, James A.
Robinson, James H.	Worley, Lawrence D.
Woodyard, Aylette M.	Claybourne, D. W.
Dodson, Douglas O.	Funkhouser, L. H.
Mooney, Eugene L.	Florence, Paul W.
Jewell, Harvey L.	Randall, Frank W.
Lynn, William N.	Pitts, Carroll L.
Yancey, Cecil R.	Abel, David L.
Landes, Ernest C.	Dolan, Percy E.
Deihl, Saylor F.	Harper, Raymond L.
Coleman, L. C.	Abel, Osie N. Jr.

Colored men ordered to report to Richmond March 23 are:

Johnson, Louis E.	Tyler, Elmo R.
Jordan, Odie	Johnson, E. R.
Peters, J. M. Jr.	Hughes, Ernest L.
White, Earl L.	Johnson, James R.
Byrd, Weldon L.	Ray, George R.
[illegible]	Grigsby, William
Street, Carson

WWII: Old Man's Draft

My grandfather, Earl(e) Lynn, is one of my most elusive ancestors when it comes to finding information.  I'm anxiously awaiting next year's release of the 1940 Federal census so that I can follow him one step further.  I know that somewhere between 1930 and 1940, he divorced (or left) my grandmother and left Rockingham county, Virginia.  But where did he go?

When I posed that question to the RELIC staff, I was asked, "Have you checked the Old Man's Draft?"

The what??   I had no idea what he was talking about.

Perhaps you, too, are hearing that term for the very first time. 

Unlike the Selective Service Draft that was signed into law after the attack on Pearl Harbor, draft cards from the Fourth Registration were only submitted by men between 45 and 64 years of age.  Hence the term "old man's draft."

When I found it, the registration card told me that on April 24, 1942, Earl Lynn was 50 years of age, born Oct. 11, 1891 in Independent Hill, Virginia.  He was white, 5'7", 130 lbs, with black eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion.  He registered in Kecoughtan, Elizabeth City, Virginia (in the Hampton Roads area).  The "name and address of person who will always know" him is Thomas H. Easton, Elkton, Virginia.  Now I know for a fact where he went and have a few more breadcrumbs to follow.

More information on the "Old Man's Draft" and a searchable database can be found here, at Ancestry.com.  (NOTE:  You must be an Ancestry member to see the actual record.)