History

Local Exemption Board for Worcester County

government · founded 1917

The three-man draft board created for Worcester County under the Selective Service Act of 1917: Oliver D. Collins of Snow Hill, E. D. Showell Myers of Ocean City and Dr. R. Lee Hall of Pocomoke City. It examined the county's drafted men in the Court House at Snow Hill from 7 August 1917, thirty a day, with physicals by Dr. Hall, Dr. John I. Riley and Dr. A. E. Landers, and ruled on exemption claims made on account of dependents; occupational exemptions went to a district board at Cambridge. The county's quota was 152 men and twice that number, 304, were summoned. Of the first ninety examined, forty were accepted, forty-one rejected and nine failed to appear.

In the record (1)

  1. 1917

    Worcester County's draft quota is 152; 304 men are summoned, thirty a day, and an Ocean City man sits on the exemption board.

    After the registration of 5 June 1917 and the July drawing, the Democratic Messenger of 28 July named the local exemption board for Worcester County: "Messrs. Oliver D. Collins, of Snow Hill, and E. D. Showell Myers, of Ocean City, and Dr. R. Lee Hall, of Pocomoke City." Occupational exemptions went to a district board sitting at Cambridge. The paper of 4 August set out the arithmetic: "The number of persons that will be summoned for physical examination is double the number of Worcester County's quota. The quota being 152, double that number, or 304 persons will be summoned." Examinations began in the Court House at Snow Hill on Tuesday 7 August, thirty men a day, the physicals made by Dr. Hall, Dr. John I. Riley and Dr. A. E. Landers. Of the first ninety examined, forty were accepted, forty-one rejected and nine failed to appear. The published lists carry Ocean City men through the autumn — among them Harry Leslie Wyatt, Irving Mumford, Samuel Joseph Monkhouse, Joshua Thomas Bowden, John Henry Elliott, Charles Lee Quillin, Laurence Edward Adkins, Frank W. Truitt, Emerson Purnell, Harry S. Bunting, Robert Francis Quillen, Thomas H. Purnell, Herman Adkins, Daniel Jefferson Birch, Charles S. Calhoun Jr., Lyle Richard Cropper, Guy Phillip Ralph Dennis, William F. Manuel, Rollie Collins Cropper and Granville Trimper. The paper also warned that the election supervisors' books were being compared against the draft registration and that "arrests are sure to follow" for men aged 21 to 30 who had not registered.

    E. D. Showell MyersGranville Trimper

    Source · checked 2026-08-06