A list of men from Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, and Chamblee who were drafted for World War I in 1917 was among the documents found in a box of Dunwoody postal records. The box of historic documents was donated for preservation by the granddaughter of Sentell Spruill. Spruill was postmaster of Dunwoody, Georgia from 1949 until 1969 and his home sat where Dunwoody Baptist Church is now located at the corner of Mount Vernon Road and Ashford Dunwoody Road.
The box also contained an advertisement for Dr. Hess Stock Tonic, assorted postal records, postal price sheets and regulations, daily weather reports and a 1918 Department of Commerce Report of cotton ginning.
The list is titled “Drafted from Dunwoody” and is handwritten on the back of a daily weather report for July 20, 1917. Most likely the list was written by Columbia Cheek, who ran the post office in 1917. The names are Henry Pierce Turner, James Alexander Tiller, Ralph David Cash, Howard Calvin Eidson, Frank Eidson, Frank Jefferson Morgan, William Atwood, John B. Douglas, Robert Weldon, Howard Trimble, Jessie Wilson, Floyd Spruill, Lester Eugene Hewitt, E. Sanford, and Arthur Burdett.
Although the document is titled “Drafted in Dunwoody,” some of the men were from Oak Grove (today’s Sandy Springs), and Chamblee. Young men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty were required to register for military service with the establishment of the Selective Service Act of May 1917.
Of the men on this list, five were called to duty. The others were either not called up to serve or the records are not available. Other issues that occur with researching are the different names people use, different spelling, and names that are common. Also, not everyone in the area called to serve is on this handwritten list. For example, Elon Jordan of Dunwoody is not on this particular list, but was called to train at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia in March 1918. He did not go overseas.
William and Alice Eidson, who lived on Lawrenceville Road (now Mount Vernon Road) in Dunwoody, had two sons who were the right age to register for military service. William Jefferson Eidson was living in Chamblee when he registered. He was working as a mechanic for the Belle Isle Company in 1917. Belle Isle was an Atlanta business that included Belle Isle Motors and Belle Isle Car and Truck Rental Service. He served overseas from September 1918 until May 1919 doing the same type of work, mechanical repair. He became a sergeant in January 1919.
The Eidson’s other son, Howard Calvin was 29 years old in 1917, married and with a five-year-old child. Howard was working as a machinist for the railroad when World War I broke out. Each registration card had a place for the registrar to describe the new recruit’s appearance. Howard is described as tall, with a medium build, brown eyes, and black hair. There are no records available of Howard Eidson serving during WWI.
James Alexander Tiller born 1893, His registration card shows him living in Dunwoody and registering in Oak Grove. He was sent to Camp Greenleaf at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia and later to Charleston, South Carolina. The records indicate his service included working with animals during the war.
William Atwood also completed his draft registration card on June 7, 1917 in the Oak Grove community of Fulton County while living in Dunwoody, Georgia. Atwood was inducted August 8, 1918, sent to Camp Greenleaf as part of Company 8 Medical Dept., then sent overseas to serve at Base Hospital 118 and Base Hospital 214. He was sent overseas just as the war was coming to an end and returned in July of 1919.
Jessie Wilson was born in Campbell County in 1892, but was living in Chamblee when he was drafted. His Georgia service card shows that he was a Black man, inducted in Sylvania, Georgia. He was part of the 157th Depot Brigade. Later, he is listed as part of the 305th Stevedore Regiment. He was not sent overseas. Wilson died in 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A military headstone recognizing his service was ordered by the family to be placed at his grave in Evergreen Cemetery.
Elmer Womack was living in Doraville and working as a farmer when he registered for the draft. His draft registration form was signed by W. G. Tilly. Another member of the Womack family, twenty-four year old Lester Womack, also registered. He went from farming at his Doraville home to Camp Greenleaf. Camp Greenleaf provided medical training to prepare soldiers to work in motor field units, mule-drawn units, evacuation hospitals and base hospitals.
Henry Pierce Turner, born 1892 in Milton County, Georgia, had moved from the Dunwoody area to Atlanta when he registered for military service. He had a wife and child and worked as a driver. A search online did not produce any documents to indicate that he every was asked to report for duty. Turner died in 1946 and is buried at Maxwell Cemetery in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Ralph David Cash was born in Cobb County. In 1917, he was working at the farm Dr. Floyd McRae in Fulton County. His draft registration card indicates he was living in Oak Grove at the time. Cash was also never called to duty.
The 1930 census shows Robert Weldon living in Roswell working as a carpenter. The census indicates he is not a veteran of war. No record of service was found for others on the list, such as John B. Douglas, Frank Jefferson Morgan, Howard Trimble, Frank Eidson, Lester Eugene Hewitt, Robert Weldon or E. Sanford.
Arthur Burdett was born in 1889 to Benjamin and Jennie Burdett along Powers Ferry Road. His June 5, 1917 registration card indicates that he was currently living on Ponce de Leon Road with his wife Sadie.
After the war, Arthur became a salesman for the Hanson Motor Company. Hanson was an Atlanta automobile company that remained operational from 1919 until about 1925. There is a Hanson automobile on display at the Atlanta History Center. Later, Burdett sold real estate.
Frank Burdett, not quite nineteen when he registered for service, was assigned to the Students Army Training Corp at Oglethorpe University. Officers at Camp Gordon, located just adjacent to Oglethorpe University, administered the training program. After the war was over, Frank married Nannie Lou Nance at his Uncle William Burdett’s home on Mount Paran Road. Frank lost his arm to a cotton gin injury after the war. He later ran Burdett’s Grocery Store, served as postmaster of Sandy Springs, and drove a Fulton County school bus.
Floyd Spruill was born in 1889 and married Allie Mae Eidson on Feb 28, 1910. Allie Eidson was sister to Howard and Frank Eidson, described above. Floyd Spruill’s parents were Stephen Thomas Spruill and Mollie Lee Carter. According to his draft registration papers, Floyd had four children when he registered for service. He completed his form in the Oak Grove community, which was part of today’s Sandy Springs.
Other sources cited include: “Frank Burdett: 1st Postmaster and More,” Sandy Springs Gazette, 2017.