Is this the enlistment or discharge date?

Question

In this listing for military service on Ancestry, only one date is given, 24 February 1914.  Would this be the date of Albert's enlistment or his discharge?  https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/1944656?mark=9112ef7de882118f98c2910eb743b722ab472627daf27378738518b858e0e032

Answer 1

I believe that this is his enlistment date. If you look at his Draft Registration card from 1917-18  (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11370417:6482), he claims 3 years of service. Thus, he would have enlisted in 1914.

Comments

Yes, I did see that record, but it could also mean he served 1911-1914.  He appears in the 1915 census in New York with a wife and infant daughter (the same wife & daughter he claims in order to request deferment in the WWI Draft).

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Registering for the draft does not equal serving.  Any prior to WWI service was likely in the State military. (National Guard?)
The US didn't enter the war until April 6, 1917, yet he was requesting deferment in 1914.

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Where do you see that he's requesting deferment in 1914?

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I will revise my answer based his obituary and the other comments. According to his obituary, he served in the Mexican conflict of 1910. So it is possible that he served from 1911-1914.

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52383875/obituary-for-albert-c-brentnall-aged/

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Thanks for the clipping.  There was the possibility he could have been part of the Pancho Villa expedition if he served 1914-17, but that conflicts with the 1915 New York census.

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True - but the US Army was involved as early as 1910. He could have enlisted in 1911.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Border_War_(1910%E2%80%931919)

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FWIW, this is the bio that I've pieced together for him.  You can see where I'm scratching my head over the dating.

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Hi Nancy,

You have prepared a very nice bio for Albert. Would you double check the birth/death dates for his daughter? In his bio you have 1869-1969 listed, but in her mother's bio, you list 1913-1978. Based on the info you have provided, the latter is correct.

Kind regards

Mack

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Done.  Thanks for the heads up!

Answer 2

Nancy, you are correct.

The date on the "Veterans Administration Master List" is the discharge or service ending date. So I would say, if he served 3 years, it would have been 1911 to 1914.

Comments

Thanks Luther.  1914 as the discharge date does fit in better with the rest of his biographical timeline.