Got a bit of a head-scratcher here …

Let’s start with my brother Dave. He emailed us recently with a story from a letter our Grandma Cassidy sent him back in 1976.

The details are fascinating, but I’m not sure the dates match up all that well. That said, maybe a relative will see this and help us untangle the specifics.

Because, as I said, it’s a great story.

Dave relays some information from Grandma’s letter:

Grandma’s older brother Joe enlisted, and after serving briefly at Camp Devens, in Massachusetts, was reassigned to a desk job in New Haven. Part of his job was paperwork for enlistees, and one of the enlistees he helped process was one Francis Raymond Cassidy! 

That’s right – Grandma wrote that her brother processed her future husband’s military paperwork.

Joseph M. Regan II was born in 1892. Grandpa (Francis Raymond Cassidy) was born in 1900.

One piece of his paperwork was this census, which provided the military with some interesting information:

Connecticut’s military census followed the traditional door-to-door collection method. Men could also report to their local census office to complete the form.

Newspapers.com provided several articles from that time period (propaganda, really) that explained the process of conducting the census quickly. The legislation directed that all males 16 and older must sign up with their information.

Like I said, propaganda:

It’s interesting to see that Grandpa stated he could drive a car, handle a team of horses and a sailboat, plus swim well. Years later, Mom would mention in an essay that he “didn’t swim” even though, as a policeman, his patrols sometimes included the banks of the Quinnipiac River.

Back to Dave’s email:

Grandpa was sent to Camp Devens and assigned to be a blacksmith for Army donkeys, of all things. Anyway, Grandpa was miffed because his intent had been to serve in the cavalry, where he could have put his experience with horses to use. But all soon became moot when he was outed as underage.

Camp Devens was located in Massachusetts. It was a cantonment camp, meant for military training.

Here’s a postcard from all those years ago:

After hours of searching, the only additional facts I have to share involve the Selective Service. Here’s the breakdown from the National Archives:

During World War I there were three registrations. The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31. The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917. (A supplemental registration was held on August 24, 1918, for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. This was included in the second registration.) The third registration was held on September 12, 1918, for men age 18 through 45.

Sure enough, Grandpa signed up on the day of the third registration:

Grandpa listed his immigrant mother as his next of kin. Sadly, his father had passed away a year prior, nearly to the day.

Here’s a photo of Grandpa, his mom, and little sister Ginny from around that time:

Meanwhile, here is the back side of the registration card:

As we come to the end of this tale, I’m not sure it’s any less tangled than before. But any time spent learning about family – and national – history isn’t time wasted, right?

If I come across additional information about Grandpa’s service in WWI, I’ll be sure to update this post. My hope, of course, is that I’ll hear from a relative who knows the story and can either confirm Grandma’s telling of it or remind us what a kidder our Irish grandfather could sometimes be.

---

Please subscribe! We’ll email you a notice with each new story. And we never share or sell our lists – promise!