John Brant signature

On this day in 1918 John Brant was drafted under the Military Service Act, 1917. He was born in Tyendinaga on August 9th, 1895, the son of Cornelius Brant and Catherine (née Maracle), who were both Mohawks. He was living at 97 Cannon Street, Hamilton when he was conscripted and working as a boiler maker. He joined the 2nd Depot Battalion of the 2nd Central Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3311427. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

Brant’s service record notes that he was struck off the strength of the regiment on June 16th at Niagara Camp because he had been “erroneously ordered to report”. Indigenous men had been exempted from conscription by an Order in Council of January 17th, 1918.

In 1921 Brant was back in Tyendinaga with his parents. A note on his service file gives his date of death as March 19th, 1977.