Resources:
Enrollment of Persons Subject to Military Duty
July 1, 1863
Yates County, NY
When the military draft was reinstated by Congress in 1863, it was left up to the Counties to enroll and draw the names of eligible men. Yates County's Enrollment Book, like presumably all others, consists of printed forms laid out in columns, which respectively ask for the residence and name of each man; his age on July 1; his race; his profession, occupation or trade; the state, territory or country where he was born and the nature of any former military service; another column is left for remarks.
The men to be drafted were divided into two classes: Class I comprised "all persons subject to do military duty who are between the ages of 20 and 35, and all unmarried persons subject to do military duty who are above 35 and under 45." Class II is "all other persons subject to do military duty." Clearly between them these two classes would include nearly every male resident of the county between the ages of 20 and 45; the town of Barrington, which had a total population of not much more than 1000, produced a roll with 303 names on it. Some of these were, in those brutally frank days, noted down under the remarks as "cripples," "foolish," and in a few cases "dead." Many were married, and this is noted. If a man had put in prior service, the regiment and company are noted, and whether he was discharged or mustered out.
The roll was done by town, and the rolls of all nine towns are extant, and kept in the County Archive. A name index to this roll is posted on line. As usual for records indexed on this site, the County Historian will provide copies of the original pages, on request, for a fee of $1 a page.
To get your copies in timely fashion, you must include:
The copies will be mailed to you with a bill.
- the name of the town
- the exact reference from the index, including the man's name and the page number;
- your postal address;
- the phrase "County Historian Records Request" in the subject line.
Name index to the Yates County Civil War Draft Roll
Barrington
MissingJerusalem Potter Benton Middlesex Starkey Italy Milo Torrey
