Deseronto Archives

Thomas Jerome Toppings, a wheelman on the Great Lakes, was conscripted in London, Ontario, on this day in 1918. His draft paper notes that he was “apprehended” on June 3rd. He was born in Deseronto on December 29th, 1895, the son of John Toppings and Annie (née Hastings). By the time Thomas was conscripted, both of his parents had died (they were buried in Kingston) and he gave his uncle, James Toppings of Montreal, as his next of kin. He listed his own address as 124 Montreal Street, Kingston.

Toppings joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Western Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3137596. He was five feet five and three quarter inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he was struck off the strength of the regiment on August 22nd, so that he could join the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve.

In 1939 Toppings married Florence Elizabeth Dickert (née Fletcher), a divorced dressmaker, in Toronto.

On this day in 1918 Alexander Stormes was conscripted in Camp Barriefield, Kingston. Stormes (sometimes Storms) was born in Violet, Ontario on February 1st, 1894, the son of Norman Stormes and Florence Thompson. By 1911 the family were living in Tyendinaga. Stormes gave his home address as Deseronto when he was drafted.

Alexander joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3060358. He was five feet eight inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he did not go overseas and was demobilized at Barriefield Camp in Kingston on January 28th, 1919.

In 1921 Alexander was back with his parents, now in Richmond Township, where he was working as a storekeeper.

John James Hoppes, a clerk from Kingston, was conscripted on this day in 1918. Hoppes was born in Deseronto on October 17th, 1894, the son of Joseph Hoppes and Katherine ‘Kit’ (née Stokes). The family were still in Deseronto at the time of the 1901 census, but had moved to Kingston by 1911. John James married Julia Beaupre Pound in Kingston on September 11th, 1917.

Hoppes joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3060377. He was five feet nine inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown eyes and dark hair. The draft form noted that he suffered from tachycardia and was ‘inclined to obesity’. A medical board determined that he was only fit for home service. Hoppes was taken on the strength of No. 3 Battalion Garrison Regiment in Kingston. He was discharged on November 25th, 1918 as medically unfit for further service.

In the 1930s Hoppes was living in Montreal and working as a merchant and exporter: he made trips across the Atlantic to England in 1939 and 1947.

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.

On this day in 1918, Montaville Sager, a farmer, was conscripted at Camp Barriefield in Kingston. According to his draft paper, he was born in Deseronto on April 28th, 1895. In the 1901 census his date of birth was noted as being April 21st, 1897. His parents were Abraham Sager and Elizabeth (née Lewis), who was a Mohawk. Abraham died on March 11th, 1910, when the family were living in Brant Street, Deseronto.

Two days before joining the army, Montaville Sager married Irene Kimball in Peterborough. He joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3060307. He was five feet five and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and brown hair and a weight of 135 pounds. His service record shows that he was demobilized from Camp Barriefield in Kingston on January 20th, 1919.

Sager registered his mother’s death in Deseronto in 1921 and gave his address at that time as Aurora, Ontario.

Roy Egerton Payne, a draftsman, was conscripted at Camp Barriefield in Kingston on this day in 1918. He was born in Deseronto on May 21st, 1894, the son of John Dorman Payne and Harriet Gertrude (née Reynolds). By 1901 the family had moved to Bancroft, Ontario.

Payne was described as five feet four and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. He joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3060188. His service record shows that he went overseas in July 1918 on the HMT Corsican. He served in England and was admitted to hospital in Eastbourne on November 1st with influenza. He was discharged back to duty on November 18th. In June 1919 he sailed back to Canada on the SS Belgic.

He was demobilized on July 3rd, 1919. He died in Bancroft on July 14th, 1925 of tuberculosis.

On this day in 1918, Sydney Frederick Tichborne, a physician, was conscripted into the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Kingston. He was a graduate of Queen’s University who joined No. 3 Depot of the Canadian Army Medical Corps with the rank of lieutenant. On his Officer’s Declaration paper he gave his current address as Camp Rathbun, Deseronto, where he was working as a Medical Officer. He was born in Enniskillen, Lambton County on 27th October, 1894, the son of William Frederick Tichborne and Grizella (née Hamilton).

Tichborne was described as six feet two inches tall, with a fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he left Canada in September 1918. He served in Shorncliffe in England and at the Kinmel Park Canadian army camp in Wales. Tichborne left England on the SS Minnekahda on July 4th, 1919 and was demobilized in Ottawa on July 18th.

He married Dorothea Saunders (born Kennell), probably in Carbon, Pennsylvania. On April 1st, 1940 the couple were living there with their daughter, Dorothea’s father, and a housekeeper. Three days later, on April 4th, Sydney Tichborne died in Toronto.