Tonight I am thinking about my Great Grandpa Harvey Irvie Braman. The last of his children passed away earlier this month and a memorial service was held for Aunt Gertie on Saturday.

Some of the things I am thinking about were found on his draft registration cards for WWI and WWII.

The first card is from WWI when Harvey was only 25 years old. He lived near Northboro, Iowa. It also shows that he was a Farm Hand and who employed him.

He was married with a wife and three children. (This was his first wife Sarah)

It is also nice to see his signature.

The Registrar also filled out some questions on the back of the card.

This is interesting as it shows that Harvey is Tall and is of Medium build.

Of interest to me is the color of his eyes. He has Gray eyes. I am not sure why, but his hair color is not reported.

I think the description is pretty good when compared to a picture taken when he married Sarah not too many years before.

It is not often that you find physical descriptions of an ancestor.

Harvey also had to register for the draft again 25 years later. This time for WWII.

At this time Harvey was living in Omaha, Nebraska at 1626 Maple Street. He was married to Ruth II.

Note: I call her Ruth II as his second wife (the mother of Gertie) was also named Ruth.

Harvey worked for a Concrete Products and Material Company. I looked up the location of the concrete company on Google Maps sometime back and there is now a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen there. I used to do a lot of work near there.

I also looked up 1626 Maple Street when I first found the draft card and there was no longer a house there. I just looked again and there is now a 4-plex at the location. It is interesting to see where he lived at that time.

You can also see that it is only a few blocks away from Iowa. How can that be?

There is a little bit of Iowa on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River. At one time the river made a big loop and then later changed course leaving an oxbow lake. That area is now Carter Lake, Iowa.

See: Missouri River Border Anomalies

Lots of other thoughts of things I have found out about my Great Grandpa Harvey are wandering through my mind.

Steven