The Great War: June 6, 1917

The first registration day for the draft during World War I took place on June 5, 1917. The next day, the front page of the Hudson Evening Register reported the results of the registration. The headline, which spanned to columns, was followed by a list, organized by ward, of all the young men between the ages of 21 and 31 who had registered for the draft. The list started on page one and continued on page two, where it nearly filled the entire page.

The efforts to get young men to volunteer for Company F, Hudson's unit of the National Guard, didn't stop when registration for conscription began. Although the recruiting efforts on June 4--the day before registration day--resulted in only one new volunteer, on June 6, the Evening Register reported, also on the front page, that Company F had exceeded its recruitment goal. 

Co. F. Tenth regiment, now has 168 men on its roster, 58 being enrolled on Tuesday. Captain Best sent out squads to various registration places about the county with instructions to see if young men who were enrolling could not be recruited to bring the company up to full war strength. It was a most successful effort.

Drs. Collins, Whitbeck, Van Hoesen, Edwards and Harris gave their services in examining the recruits and worked up to 11 o'clock in the night.

What followed was a list of the 58 new recruits. Only 13 of them were from Hudson; most were from various towns around the county, one was from New York City, and another from Springfield, Massachusetts.

Photo courtesy Historic Hudson

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