The Mississippi World War I Statement of Service Cards and Indices collections were recently digitized by FamilySearch. At the urging of various state Adjutants General, Congress passed a law in 1919 that authorized the Secretary of War (for the Army) and the Secretary of the Navy (for the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard) to provide to each state with statement of service cards on all service members mustered into service during World War I. These cards were prepared by the two departments over the next seven years, being finally completed in 1926.
The cards give an abbreviated history of each individual’s service during WWI. They include the name of the service member, birth and residency information, ranks held and dates of promotion, units and dates assigned, and type and date of discharge. For more information, please click here to read the Collection Description.
These records are divided into three groups:
Series 1731: Mississippi World War One Statement of Service Cards
This group contains images of the statement of service cards for those Mississippians who served in World War I.
Series 1730: Mississippi World War I Veterans Index Books, 1917-1919
Z/0291.000/S: Master Alphabetical Index of World War I Army Veterans (Mississippi)
The indices can help you determine whether or not a person served in the war.
Pictured above is the one of the statement of service cards for Fox Conner (1874-1951), a Calhoun County native and member of the Mississippi Hall of Fame. Conner was a major general in the U. S. Army, served as General John “Blackjack” Pershing’s Chief of Operations during WWI, and was a mentor after the war to Dwight D. Eisenhower.