Known Information
James Edward Wedge moved to DC shortly after the turn of the century in the early 1900s.
Sources
Draft Registration Card
U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 | ancestry.com
Summary Statement
James Wedge registered for the draft during World War I. His birth year was listed as 1875, compared to 1881 on his death certificate.
He listed his mother, Elizabeth Wedge, as a near relative and that she lived in Marlboro, MD. He was of medium height and medium build.
His home address is consistent with the address given on his death certificate and listed in the obituary.
Giesboro Point | Steel Manufacturing
Giesboro Point is located across the Anacostia River where it joins the Potomac River. The location is now part of the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. The government rented the land during the Civil War, where it served as a Calvary Depot. Prior to World War I, the land was purchased by the the Firth Sterling Steel company and they established a steel plant with railroad lines to manufacture munitions. It became the Washington Steel and Ordnance in 1911 and was dissolved in 1921 after the war when demand for munitions ended.
World War I
During World War I, it employed thousands of men in the DC area to meet the need for munitions. It paid $2 a day for unskilled labor in order to hire laborers when immigration quota and the armed forces’ recruitment of men shrunk the labor pool.
Further Research Needed:
- The document lists his mother as Elizabeth Wedge and connects James Wedge with the Wedge family in Marlboro, Prince George’s County. What other connections between the family can be established.
stories of Then 