Deseronto Archives

Wilbert Brant signed up in Deseronto on this day in 1916. He the son of Frank Brant and Mary (née Moses), who were both Mohawks, living in Tyendinaga. Wilbert claimed to have been born on November 27th, 1897. The 1901 census record for his family suggests that he was actually born in December 1899.

Wilbert joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 636958. He was five feet nine and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. Wilbert Brant’s service record shows that he was discharged at Camp Barriefield in Kingston on July 12th, 1916 for being under age. If the census date of birth for him is correct, he would have been 16 years old when he was discharged.

Brant married Harriet Beatrice Claus on September 22nd, 1919 in Oshawa when he was 22. One of the witnesses to the marriage was George Leo Smart, another Mohawk veteran who signed up the day after Wilbert. Wilbert and Beatrice were still in Oshawa at the time of the 1921 census, living with members of the Claus family.