George Thomas Davey registered for the draft on 5 June 1917, the date of the first registration. He was twenty-seven years old and worked for the American Car and Foundry in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He claimed his mother and three children were dependent on him. He also claimed an exception because he worked at a plant making war material. On the back of the card under disabilities, it states “weak ambler.”[1]
None of the statements on the card prevented him from being drafted. He was listed as Class 1 (eligible for the draft) by the Clark County Exemption Board in April 1918.[2] He entered the army on 26 April 1918 and was sent to Camp Zachary Taylor on April 27.[3]
Camp Zachary Taylor was located in Louisville, Kentucky and used during the war as a training center.[4] He was a private with the Detachment Quartermaster Corps of the School for Bakers and Cooks. He spent the entire war at Camp Zachary Taylor as a cook.[5] He was discharged on 29 July 1919.[6]
 |
| Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky |
After the war, he married Jewell P. Collins.[7] He first worked at the United States Quartermaster Depot in Jeffersonville as a presser.[8] Later, he worked as a fireman for the Jeffersonville Fire Department from 1929 to 1951.[9]
George and Jewell had four children: three daughters, Betty, Maxine, and Joanne, and one son, George T Davey, Jr. He and Jewell are buried at the Walnut Ridge Cemetery, and besides a shared tombstone, George also has a military tombstone.[10]
 |
| Walnut Ridge Cemetery, Jeffersonville, Indiana, Section N |
George T. Davey was the son of Frederick Davey and Julia Wollenweber and was the half-brother of my husband's grandmother.
[1] "U.S.,
WW I Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918," database and images, Ancestry,
(https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482), Clark Co, Indiana, George
Thomas Davey.
[2] "Draft
Appeals Passed On," Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), 19
April 1918, p 9, George T. Davey; digital image, ProQuest
(http://proquest.com : accessed 23 June 2013), Historical Newspapers.
[3] "44
Will Be Sent To Camp," Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), 24
April 1918, p 6, George Thomas Davey; digital image, ProQuest
(http://proquest.com : accessed 23 June 2013), Historical Newspapers.
[4] “Camp
Zachary Taylor,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Zachary_Taylor).
[5] “United
States, Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939,” FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/3346936);
search on George T. Davey, service number 2011215; citing World War I Rosters
of Enlisted Men, NARA RG 64, St. Louis, Missouri.
[6] “Veterans
Affair Master Index 1917-1940,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS1N-7WK1-G),
George Thomas Davey, sn 2011215.
[7] "Indiana
Marriages 1811-1959," database & digital images, FamilySearch
(http://familysearch.org), Clark Co, Bk 52, p. 311, George T Davey to Jewel
Pearl Collins, 1920, citing digital film 4476604.
[8] Caron's
Directory of the City of New Albany, C.K. Caron, publisher, 1921, p. 564,
Geo Davey.
[9] “Retired
Local Fireman Dies,” Jeffersonville Evening News, 3 Jun 1966, p. 1, col.
4.
[10]
Photos of stones taken by Lisa Gorrell, 21 May 2025.
This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
Being sent from Indiana to Kentucky for service must have been a bit of culture shock for George. My great uncle was also a cook in WWI at a Southern camp and he was a fish out of water, having grown up in New York City.
ReplyDeleteActually, he only went over the Ohio River from Jeffersonville. I'm sure there was little culture change, as people went back and forth between the two cities.
Delete