By Dr. Ted Finkelston

(This Days Past article is a two-part article.)

On the morning of April 27, 1918, the Selective Service Board of Yavapai County met in the county courthouse and chose forty-seven young men to be drafted into the United States Army. The "Draft" had been enacted by Congress and signed by President Wilson a year earlier to choose men "upon the principle of universal liability to service."

The Selective Service Act of 1917 required all men twenty-one to thirty years of age to register for the Draft (later in August, 1918 that was expanded to all men 18 to 45). Ultimately 2.8 million Americans were called up, and about two million were sent to Europe, where approximately 1.4 million saw action.

This was a huge commitment by the Federal government to organize, train, and send to Europe the numbers needed to help win the war. To do this, 4,648 local draft boards, an unprecedented number at the time, were appointed throughout the United States. These boards were composed of civilians and administered the draft in their own localities. Those men eligible for the draft registered at their voting precincts and received numbered draft cards. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the Provost Marshall General of the Draft Boards conducted a lottery and those men with the chosen numbers were to be inducted.

It was on that spring morning in Prescott that the Draft Board gathered the men who had 'won the lottery' and chose who would be inducted. Those not chosen were told to report back a month later to see whether they would 'win' next time.

That evening the city gave a banquet for the inductees at the Owl Restaurant. There were speeches by returned soldiers, Red Cross representatives, and other invited guests. Then the 'boys' marched over to the Elks Theater to see a moving picture, hear a patriotic speech, and listen to a musical program. After these festivities, they marched to the courthouse where the roll was called and they then marched down to the depot to a waiting Pullman. Before they boarded the train, they said their goodbyes to family and friends amid cheering and some tears. Their destination was Camp Funston at Fort Riley, Kansas.

As the 'Prescott Courier' reported the next day, "The city had given the boys a rousing farewell party, all thoughts of their business cares had been eliminated and nothing lay ahead of them but one of the greatest adventures which any of them had ever been called upon to participate in, an adventure which meant a trip to France eventually, and then after that the much-to-be-desired chance of loading up the old Springfield or Enfield, drawing a bead on a Boche head, pulling the trigger and sending a sin-stained soul down into the coal bunkers of His Satanic Majesty where it rightly belonged."

Among the new draftees was a twenty-three year old red headed, freckle faced young man named Jake Theobald. The oldest of the five children of John and Phoebe Theobald, who owned the OK Cash Market on Cortez Street, Jake had attended elementary and secondary school in Prescott. He had graduated from Prescott High School where he had participated in several sports, especially football. After high school he became an apprentice printer and worked at the 'Prescott Courier.' Jake also joined the Dudes volunteer fire hose company and won local fame as leader of a motorcycle club in Prescott that regularly traveled down to Phoenix. Notably, when Jake was drafted, Local No. 375 of the International Typographical Union gave him a dispensation on the few weeks he had left in his apprenticeship. At a special meeting of the Local he was made a full fledged printer and member of the union. In short, he was a well thought of, hard working young man with a future in Prescott.

We are fortunate that Jake then took up the story of his induction, training, and deployment to France through letters to his mother and friends. His letters are usually short and to the point, and they seemed to be written to reassure his mother. He also wanted to give her some understanding of what he was going through. For those of us privileged to read his letters, Jake provides us with an inside view of the life of a common soldier during World War I. His letters present us with the concerns and values of a young man of that era. But above all, his letters give us an invaluable insight into the life of a young man going through one of the great experiences of his life.

When Jake and the other inductees left Prescott that April evening, their Pullman was attached to a troop train from Southern California at Ash Fork. The train then proceeded on to pick-ups in New Mexico and Colorado. Jake was able to scribble a note to his mother at Gallup, "Everything going O.K. We were like sardines to Ash Fork where we picked up another car at 5:00 this morning. No chance to sleep yet. Had breakfast in Winslow. A bunch of Printers met me at Flagstaff and filled me with smokes etc. We eat dinner at Gallup at 1:07. I??_m trying to write on a Pullman but it rides more like a box car."

Jake was assigned to the 89th Division which was known as the 'Middle West' Division. It had been organized in 1917 and was to train at Camp Funston. The Division got its name because it was composed of draftees from Middle America and the West. The men came from Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, and South Dakota.

On April 30, 1918, Jake wrote his mother from the camp; "We arrived this morning at 10:30 the trip was all right but the crazy bunch was making a racket all the way so I'm about all in. No sleep. We had over 400 on the train when we arrived in Camp. We go to the detention camp for 2 weeks quarantine. From what I have seen of the camp I don??_t think very much of it the bunks are right together etc. handled like a bunch of cattle but conditions may change tomorrow at the other camp. After we stay in quarantine two weeks, we are assigned to some branch so not before then can I tell whether or not I'm going to like it. Some consolation my bunk is next to Bobbie Smith. I'm pretty tired and we expect to be called any minute so I close for this time."

In the next few days Jake went through the induction process at the Detention Camp, "We were examined yesterday and given our clothes 1 shot in the arm for typhoid and vaccinated on the other arm this place is the worst in the United States, every body from Arizona says so. I take out my insurance tomorrow $10,000 and if I can do as I understand it, will allot you $15 a month and the government will add $10 to that making $25.00 a month, however if they will not put the $10 to it as they do those who claim exemption on account of dependents. I'll take it all then come to you or send you somewhere to meet me on my furlough if such a thing be possible. I hear so many stories here I don't know what to believe."

Also he was feeling the effects of the shots; "I'm in pain now trying to write this, but you shall hear from me so long as I can move and I don??_t want you to do any more worrying if it is not regular, as they give us three shots and I took my first yesterday, my arm is numb but some of the boys are real sick but not serious, all able to be up in their tents which we are now in. They are about 18 feet square and there is 9 in each tent so you can see we are not crowded."

Jake didn??_t take too well to the plains and on May 11, wrote with the return address, 'Kansas Inferno'. He explained to his mother, "Some of us will be used to fill up vacancies in several of the short regiments at Funston, and these will be very likely ready to cross the pond in about 6 Weeks…but where any individual one of us will be, we can not even guess at until we are ready to move. We have just been called to get our rifles and they are giving them out alphabetically so I have only a few moments left to finish this as we have to clean them soon as they are handed to us and they are all covered with grease."

In late May, Jake wrote his mother a postcard from St. Louis; "Don??_t know where I'm going, but I'm on my way. Having a fine trip, and feeling great."

His next letter was from Camp Mills, Long Island. "We had a splendid trip. New York sure looks beyond my previous imagination". Our preliminary training is just preparation for our over seas examination which I am about ready to take, but you have to be about dead to get turned down. I am anxious to go across now, as the sooner we do, the sooner we can finish our job and come back. We left Prescott just a month from the day they shipped us to our eastern destination, ready to cross the water."

In the middle of June, Jake's mother received an undated postcard issued by the Red Cross. "THE SHIP ON WHICH I SAILED HAS ARRIVED SAFELY OVERSEAS. Name J.K. Theobald. Organization Co.I, 353 Inf. 89 Div. American Expeditionary Forces."

In a letter dated June 17, Jake wrote from a base in England. "I guess we will finish training over here. I can tell you nothing more, only that I enjoyed the trip very much and that I'm in the best of health the boys I started with are still with me. I don??_t believe I would like to live here, everything is so old-fashioned. Have received no money since coming in the army and as usual was broke. I am writing my first letter which has to be censored and it keeps me guessing what to and not to say but I would rather it be like this, only saying I'm O.K."

Six days later he wrote, "I am in France now and the other home boys are still with me. I'm the same as ever feeling O.K. Bob is in my company, and I think he has changed more than any of us. American flags are as frequent here as is the French, which was noticed and frequently remarked of by our troops."

The training continued and on July 7, Jake wrote, We.."have been working a little harder lately, but I'm sure thankful we are here as we get plenty to eat once more. The weather is ideal here about the same as Prescott's summers, but I expect we will find the winters much colder. It was cloudy the 4th of July and some of the boys were going around with overcoats on."

On a rainy Sunday in the middle of July, Jake had a chance to write a long letter. "Our regiment save the boys that came with me are all from Kansas. They are all well-meaning, good, and congenial enough, but some of the rube talk I've heard only in burlesque shows prior to my army service, is continually going on. Bob Smith, Bert Johns, and I are all in the same squad now, Bob and I are gunners and Bert is a carrier. We have been put in the Automatic Rifle squad, which I like much better than the others I've been with."

Now that they were near the end of their training, the men were given more freedom. "We are allowed to drink a little wine or beer in the evenings as cafes are very numerous in France. If any of the boys get more than they can properly handle, they are taken care of, and handled in kangaroo court by the other members of their companies. We took 3 down to a creek and threw them in, clothes and all, on their return to camp. This is to enable the rest of us to keep our privilege. Bob and I were strolling down toward a neighboring village one evening this week when we were startled by female voices in chorus. 'Hello Boys.' This being the first we had been able to understand for some time. They were with the American Red Cross & Y.M.C.A. and it sure changed the atmosphere."

At the end of July, Jake noted that "the only news we get from the front is too unreliable to pay any attention to, other than that in the papers, so you know as much about how things are going as I do."

(Next Sunday look for part two and the conclusion to the story of Jacob Theobald.) 

(Dr. Ted Finkelston is a retired history professor and a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb082f3i3)
Reuse only by permission.
Jacob Theobald, 1894-1918, Co. D. 352 Infantry, Great War