Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1916, James Alfred Turner enlisted in Toronto, where he was working as a machinist. He stated that he was born in Deseronto on April 4th, 1898 (the 1901 census gives his date of birth as March 4th, 1897). His parents were Alfred Turner and Maria (née Bruyea) and they had moved to Toronto by 1901. Alfred died in 1903 and Maria got married again to Thomas Hughes. She had four boys from her first marriage and by 1911 she had another four children. She died in 1914.

James joined the 208th Battalion with the regimental number 249136. He was five feet four and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. James gave his next of kin as Miss Nellie Verrall, his aunt, whom he was living with at 26 Ashburnham Road, Toronto. James’s brother, Charles Ross Turner (born in Toronto in 1895) signed up on April 1st, 1916, giving the same address and next of kin and joining the same battalion. Charles was five feet five and three quarter inches tall, with a medium complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.

James’s service record shows that he sailed from Halifax on the SS Justicia on May 3rd, 1917. In June 1918 he was admitted to hospital with bronchitis, and in October he was wounded by a gas shell and spent another month in hospital, being discharged on November 13th, 1918. He came back to Canada on the SS Empress of Britain in February 1919 and was demobilized in Toronto on March 31st.

Both James and Charles Turner survived the war and in the 1921 census were still rooming with Nellie Verrall and her husband, Alfred, at 204 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto. James was working as a salesman and Charles as a clerk. Charles was still at this address in 1933 when he died of a fractured skull after falling off a ladder on May 22, 1933 at Glidden Ltd., 382 Wallace Avenue. Information from a family tree on Ancestry suggests that James died on June 24th, 1980.

Isaac Barnhardt signed up in Webbwood, Ontario on this day in 1916, under the name Isaac McDonald. He was born on March 5th, 1888 in Tyendinaga, the son of Joseph Barnhardt and Annie (née Doreen), who were both Mohawks.

Isaac joined the 119th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 754640. He was five feet five and three quarter inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. His service record shows that he sailed from Halifax on the SS Metagama on August 8th, 1916. He was transferred to the 52nd Battalion and joined them in France on December 6th.

In January 1917 Isaac was admitted to hospital suffering from inflamed connective tissue in his right foot. He returned to duty in February. A shell explosion at Vimy Ridge in March left him partially deaf in his right ear. On November 13th, 1917 McDonald was admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound to his right shoulder. He rejoined his unit on November 22nd.

In August 1918 he was promoted to lance corporal, and a month later became a corporal. In March 1919 he was awarded the Military Medal for his actions at Boiry in August. The 52nd Battalion’s war diary explains more:

754640 Pte. I. McDonald

During the attack on BOIRY, August 28th, 1918, this man, when his platoon and section commanders had become casualties, reorganized and took charge of a Lewis Gun Section and succeeded in disposing of some enemy machine guns which were holding up the advance. Later in the day, when his machine gun was destroyed by a shell, he immediately salvaged another, and used it with such good effect, that an enemy counter attack was beaten off.

Isaac returned to Canada in March 1919 and was demobilized in Toronto on March 30th. He married Charlotte Hill on October 29th, 1919 in Tyendinaga.

On this day in 1916 Randall Edward Smith signed up in Napanee. He was born in Tyendinaga on May 25th, 1895, the son of John R. Smith and Martha Ann (née Thompson).

Randall joined the 80th Battalion with the regimental number 220534. He was five feet nine inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark hair. His service record shows that he sailed from Canada on May 16th, 1916 on the SS Baltic.

In August 1916 Smith was diagnosed with defective vision due to congenital amblyopia, which prevented him from serving overseas. In November 1917 Smith was admitted to hospital with chronic bronchitis. He was discharged in January 1918. In May 1918 he was in hospital with neurasthenia, and in July he was admitted for six weeks, suffering from influenza. In October 1918 Smith joined the 44th Battalion in France and he stayed in France until April 1919.

Randall Smith returned to Canada on the SS Empress of Britain, arriving in Quebec City on June 4th, 1919. He was  demobilized on June 6th. He married Margaret Reid on September 6th, 1919 in Belleville. He died in Shannonville on May 26th, 1932 of a heart attack brought on by pneumonia.

On this day in 1916 Andrew Loft enlisted in Oshawa. He was born in Tyendinaga on November 25th, 1894, the son of Lawrence Loft and Mary (n&eactue;e Maracle), who were both Mohawks. He married Delia May Brant on May 18th, 1915 in Napanee.

Andrew joined the 182nd Battalion with the regimental number 868045. He was five feet six inches tall, with a dark complexion, dark brown eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Justicia on May 14th, 1917. In February 1918 he joined the 116th Battalion in France. He was wounded by gun shots to the left arm and leg on April 1st, 1918 and was sent back to England to recover. From June to August he was treated for an infection, then at the end of August he was operated upon to remove foreign bodies (shrapnel) from his left leg. He was discharged to duty on September 27th.

Loft left England on the SS Olympic in March 1919 and was demobilized on March 28th in Toronto. At the time of the 1921 census he was living with Delia at 53 Peter Street, Toronto. Loft served in the Second World War as well as the First. He was a member of the Deseronto Branch, No. 290, of the Royal Canadian Legion. He died in Belleville General Hospital in November 1965, leaving a daughter.

James Bardy signed up in Ohsweken, Ontario on this day in 1916. He was born in Tyendinaga on August 12th, 1895, the son of Peter Bardy and Margaret (née Maracle), who were both Mohawks.

Bardy joined the 114th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 739285. He was described as five feet five inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. Bardy was later transferred to the. His service record shows that he arrived in England on November 11th, 1916. He was in hospital in England with mumps in February 1917 and  joined the 18th Battalion in France on June 15th, 1917.  On July 21st 1917 he received a gunshot wound to his left forearm, fracturing the ulna bone, and was sent to England to recover. He was granted permission to marry on September 12th, but there was no marriage registered in his name in England in 1918. He left England for Canada on December 12th, 1918.

James was demobilized in London, Ontario on January 6th, 1919 and married Lucretia Ann Brant on December 24th, 1919 in Deseronto. He died in his home on College Street, Deseronto, on July 26th, 1937 of acute nephritis. He was 42. An entry in the Canadian War Graves Registers notes that “Death was the result of a condition incurred on service but not pensionable under the Statute”. James and Lucretia were both buried in Christ Church Cemetery, Tyendinaga.

On this day in 1916, Harry Aylesworth signed up in Belleville. He was born (and named William Henry Aylesworth) in Odessa on June 27th, 1888, the son of William Aylesworth and Jane (née Burley). He married Cora Hestella Carter in Demorestville on September 30th, 1908 and the couple had two children and had moved to Deseronto by the time Harry enlisted.

Harry joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 636832. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he was transferred to the 21st Battalion after arriving in England.

On August 9th, 1917 Harry received a gunshot wound which fractured one of the bones in his right forearm. There is an x-ray of the injury in his service file.

The damage to Aylesworth’s arm was so severe that he was invalided back to Canada as unfit for further service in May 1918. He was living in Belleville with his wife and three children at the time of the 1921 census and was working as a letter carrier. He died on July 23rd, 1935 in the Prince Edward County Hospital in Picton due to complications from a burst appendix, aged 47.

On this day in 1916, Amos Campbell Masters signed up in Deseronto. He was born in the town on March 24th, 1894, the son of Robert Masters and Eva (née Gilchrist).

Masters joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 636805. He had a dark complexion, grey eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on October 28th, 1916 and was transferred to the 21st Battalion, which he joined in France on December 8th.

In August 1917 Masters was wounded by a gas shell and admitted to hospital for three months in France. He returned to the 21st Battalion and was wounded by a gas shell again in September 1918.

Amos was demobilized in Kingston on March 22nd, 1919. He was living with his parents in Thomas Street, Deseronto in 1921, working as an electrician. He died of acute myocarditis in Deseronto on January 25th, 1937, aged 42. He was buried in Morven, Ontario.

Wheeler Maracle signed up in Napanee on this day in 1916. He was born in Tyendinaga on April 1st, 1896, the son of Daniel Maracle and Annie (née Brant), who were both Mohawks.

Maracle joined the 80th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 220513. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the RMS Baltic on May 29th, 1916. He was hospitalized by an attack of tonsillitis shortly afterward and was transferred to the 50th Battalion in November, arriving in France on November 29th, 1916.

Wheeler did not come home.

On this day in 1916 John Jacob Breaugh signed up in Napanee. He was born in Deseronto on March 6th, 1874, the son of Michael Breaugh and Sara (née Nolan). His mother died in 1877 of tuberculosis.

Breaugh joined the 80th Battalion with the regimental number 220500. He was five feet two and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He had a tattoo of the letters JB and a small star on his left forearm. His service record reports that he arrived in England via the RMS Baltic on March 29th, 1916 and was transferred to the 51st Battalion in June. He went to France with the 10th Canadian Railway Troops in May 1917 and was transferred to the Canadian Forestry Corps in England in March 1918. While in France, John suffered from myalgia in September and October 1917. When he was in England with the Forestry Corps he was sentenced to 21 days of Field Punishment Number Two for “attempting to force his way into a private house without permission of owner”.

John returned to Canada on the RMS Carmania, leaving England on February 1st, 1919. He was discharged in Kingston as medically unfit for further service on March 8th, 1919. At the time of the 1921 census he was living with his sister, Bridget and her husband in Main Street, Deseronto. Family tree information on Ancestry suggests that he died in 1931. He was buried in the Roman Catholic section of the Deseronto Cemetery.

Ernest Arthur Dennee signed up in Belleville on this day in 1916. He was born in Amherst Island on October 9th, 1887 (as James Ernest Dennee), the son of John Dennee and Mary Jane (née Bailey). He married Eliza Luffman (née Tomkins) in Amherst Island on December 28th, 1910 (she was a 50-year-old dressmaker and widow from Deseronto, he was 23 and a fisherman).

Ernest joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 636792. He was five feet five and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Northland on October 28th, 1916 and was transferred to the 2nd Battalion, joining them in France on December 6th.

On February 26th, 1917 Ernest was sentence to two days of Field Punishment No. 2 for “destroying Government property by removing cross pieces from Drain Trench in Bosch Walk”.

On August 18th, 1917 Dennee received a gunshot wound to his left arm: he was initially reported missing, believed killed, but was found to have been admitted to No. 22 General Hospital. He rejoined his unit on November 13th. He had two weeks’ leave in the UK over the Christmas period, returning on January 1st, 1918. Six days later he was sentenced to seven days of Field Punishment No. 2 for being absent without leave for 35 hours between January 7th and 8th.

Ernest did not make it home.