Using Roots Magic Custom Reports to Help with World War I Draft Registration Look-ups

Roots Magic is my genealogy software of choice and one of the things I enjoy about using it is its' Custom Reports option.  I used Custom Reports when the 1940 Census images were released.  I have created Michigan Deaths, 1921-1952 reports, specific county reports, and more.

My latest report was a World War I Draft Registration look up report.  There were three registrations held in 1917-1918.  The dates they were held are:

1. 5 June 1917-Men who were between the ages of 21 and 31 registered during this draft.
2. 5 June 1918-Men who had turned 21 since the first draft registration registered on this date.
3. 12 September 1918-Men who were between the ages of 18 and 45 registered at this time.

Men who were born from 11 September 1872 to 12 September 1900 were required to register for the draft.  This is how I figured out who in my database had to register for the draft.  To create your own World War I Draft look up follow these steps:

• Click on 'Reports', then 'Custom Reports'.
• Click on 'new'.
• In the Header row, add the heading you would like on your report.  I used:  Surname, Birth Date, and Birth Place.
• Click on the box under 'Name' in the Row 1 row.  In the field box above, select Name-Surname, Given.
• Click on the box under Birth Date.  In the field box, select Birth Date.
• Click on the box under Birth Place.  In the field box, select Birth Place.  Click ok.

Note:  This is how I did my report.  There are many options in the Field section, if you want to add other facts to your report.

• Next, select "Choose from List".  A new window opens.  
• Select "Mark Group" and "Select people by data fields".
• A search for information box opens.
• Enter search parameters in the boxes.

• Click "ok"
• Report will be generated.
• A box will open and you can label your report.  I labeled mine "World War I Draft Registration".

You can use this report to look up World War I Draft Registrations at ancestry.com. I didn't worry about country of birth as all of my ancestors were in the United States by 1850, but you may want to add that to one of the search parameters to weed them out.

Are you a Roots Magic user?  How do you use Custom Reports?