Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1918 Clement Archie Jones enlisted in the United States Army in Rochester, New York. He was born in Deseronto on August 14th, 1890, the son of James Jones and Annie (née Clement). James died in 1892 and by the time of the 1915 New York census the family had moved to Rochester. Clement completed a draft registration card in June 1917, claiming exemption due to the need to support his widowed mother. He was described as tall, of medium build and with dark blue eyes and dark brown hair.

Jones enlisted in the 12th Company, 3rd Training Battalion, 153rd Depot Brigade and was transferred to Company K, 310th Infantry on April 25, 1918, according to the World War Service Record Rochester and Monroe County, New York. He trained at Camp Dix, Wrightstown, New Jersey and went overseas on May 20th, 1918.

Some 96 Deseronto-born men completed draft registration cards in the United States. However, only a small percentage of those who registered went on to serve in the armed forces. Most of the US army personnel files of the First World War were destroyed by fire in 1973, so it is not easy to establish which of these Deseronto men joined the America military.

On this day in 1918, William Howard Lee Roy, a cook, signed up in Toronto. He stated that he was born on September 18th, 1897 in Deseronto and that his mother, Ella Paterson (né Howard) was still living in Deseronto. When he enlisted, he was living in St. Louis, Missouri.

William joined the 2nd Depot Battalion of the 1st Central Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3233521. He was five feet three and three quarter inches tall, with a medium complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on June 21st, 1918 and joined the 19th Battalion in France on October 29th. In December he was treated in hospital for 12 days for flat feet. By February 1919 he was back in England and he left for Canada in March. He was demobilized in Toronto on April 8th, 1919.

After the war, William Howard Lee Roy was living at 8 Grape Street, Rochester, New York, with his mother and her husband, John Paterson and his uncle, Lorenzo Howard.

On this day in 1918, George Arthur Dafoe, a farmer, was conscripted at Kingston. He was born in Tyendinaga on August 30th (or 31st), 1888, the son of James Dafoe and Sarah Eliza (née Scrimshaw).

Dafoe joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3057582. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he did not go overseas and was demobilized in Belleville on January 13th, 1919.

George was living in Deseronto in 1936 and 1937 when his parents died. He died in Belleville in 1960, according to a brief obituary in the Intelligencer newspaper.

Walter Charles Lasher, a carpenter, was conscripted in Kingston on this day in 1918. He was born in Deseronto on December 3rd, 1891, the son of Peter Lasher and Maria (née Deline). Walter married Mary Phyllis Cains in Kingston on October 12th, 1912, but gave his marital status as single on his draft form. His service record reveals an even more complex history: this man originally enlisted in May 1915 as William Lasher, with a wife called Ida and an address of 72 Cedar Street, Belleville. He appears to have been struck off as medically unfit in June.

When he was drafted in 1918, Lasher joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3057551. He was five feet eight inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. A will made by him on the day of enlistment gives his wife as Effie Lasher of Selby, Ontario. Lasher spent 12 days in hospital in Kingston in April 1918 with bronchitis. He was re-admitted on May 6th with the same complaint and left without permission of the medical officer on June 15th. His medical notes record that he “went to United States”. His service record states that he was struck off the strength of the Battalion as a deserter on August 7th, but that he re-enlisted on November 23rd (another note on his file states that he was in isolation in Belleville with bronchitis on this date). He was again struck off as a deserter on December 27th, 1918.

After the war, Walter lived in Toronto and possibly in Marlbank, Hastings County.

On this day in 1918 Asa Steed, a blacksmith, was conscripted in Hamilton. He was born in Deseronto on December 15th, 1896, the son of Asa Steed (also a blacksmith) and Katherine (née Moriarty). By the time Asa was drafted into the army, the family had moved to Sudbury.

Asa joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the 2nd Central Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3108585. He was five feet six inches tall, with a ruddy complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he left Canada for England on May 15th, 1918 on the SS City of Marseilles and arrived in France in September, where he served with the 7th Battalion. He reported sick with an infection in January 1919 and was sent to England for treatment. He left England on the SS Celtic on May 7th, 1919 and was demobilized in Toronto on May 17th.

Steed was back in Sudbury in 1921, living with his parents and still working as a blacksmith. He married Pearl Diana Lachance in Espanola, Ontario, on 26 October 1937.

Charles Warren Ludbrook was conscripted on this day in 1918 in Kingston. His birth registration records that he was born on July 26th, 1890 in Portland Township, Ontario. His parents were Albert Ludbrook and Ann Amelia (née Snider). Albert, a photographer, died in Verona in 1915 and by 1917 the family was living in Deseronto, where Ann Amelia Ludbrook died on May 28th.

Charles Ludbrook joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3057214. He was five feet six and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he was examined by a medical board on May 24th, 1918, which determined that he had been experiencing epileptic fits from the age of 15. He was discharged as medically unfit for service on June 1st.

In the 1920 US census, Charles was living with his sister and brother-in-law in Oswego, New York. He died of epilepsy in the Lockwood Hospital in Kingston on November 23rd, 1920. He was buried with his parents in Verona Cemetery.