World War I Draft Registration Lists
This is a listing of all the men in Howard County that registered for the selective service draft in May of 1917, as listed in the St. Paul Phonograph, 5/24/17. The list was divided by precinct and included 956 men between the ages of 21 and 31. The list would not include those men who may have already enlisted in the armed forces, but is a good place to start looking for a relative of the appropriate age.
The draft registration cards can be requested from the National Archives if you know the man's name and the town/precinct he registered in. For an explanation of the type of information given on the draft registration card and how to obtain a copy of the card, click here.
In June of 1918 another registration was held for those men who had turned 21 since the last registration, and another 84 men registered in Howard County. That list was published in The Phonograph on June 18, 1981. It is not divided by precinct, but the townships the men lived in are listed after their names.
I typed the names just as they were listed in the newspaper, but I suspect there may have been typos in the original list because in some instances there were men who appeared to be related, with almost identical last names, differing by only one letter, so it would be wise to check all possible spellings of the names you are looking for (this will eventually be searchable by soundex). There are also instances of the same last name appearing in several precincts, so you might find cousins in neighboring precincts if you look hard enough.