Deseronto Archives

Clarence Joseph Johndrew, a munitions worker, was called up in Kingston on this day in 1918. His birth was registered in Deseronto with a date of December 18th, 1893, with his parents named as Matthew Johndrow and Exina (née Marlo). In 1901 he was living with Matthew and Kate Johndraw. (Johndrow/Johndraw/Johndrew are anglicizations of the French name Gendreau.)

Clarence joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3058079. He was five feet three and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he served in Canada at Queen’s Military Hospital, Kingston, and was demobilized on October 31st, 1919, classified as medically unfit for further service.

This photograph of Clarence (from the Floyd Marlin collection in the Archives) was taken later in life, at Point Anne. A note on the back says that he and his wife Anne ran a gas bar and hamburger restaurant on the corner of Green and Dundas Streets in Deseronto.

On this day in 1918 Peter Powless was conscripted in Toronto. He was born in Tyendinaga on October 22nd, 1886, the son of Isaac Powless and Lydia (née Penn), who were Mohawks. When he was drafted he was living in New Toronto. He joined the 2nd Depot Battalion of the 1st Central Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3234069. He was described as five feet five and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he was discharged on May 21st, 1918 as having been “erroneously ordered to report” (Indigenous men were exempt from conscription under the Military Service Act).

At the time of the 1921 census, Peter was living in Whitney, near Porcupine, to the east of Timmins in Northern Ontario.

William Wesley Quackenbush, a brakeman, signed up in Montreal on this day in 1918. He was born in Deseronto in October 1891 (the birth registration says on October 3rd, he stated October 10th when he enlisted). His parents were Edley Alexander Quackenbush and Ida (née Lewis). His father died in 1896 and his mother married Edward Badgley in 1897. In 1910 Wesley and his brother Bernard were living with their uncle, Goldie Lewis and his wife Ruby, in Sandy Creek, New York. He gave his mother’s address as 2 Waite Avenue, Watertown, New York when he enlisted.

Quackenbush joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the 1st Quebec Regiment with the regimental number 3083937. He was five feet tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Oxfordshire on July 15th, 1918. He was admitted to hospital for a month in Bramshott on October 17th, suffering from influenza. The following May, he was in hospital again, in Ripon, with tuberculosis. On July 12th, 1919 he was invalided home to Canada and spent a month in hospital in Montreal with chronic bronchitis from July 22nd.

Wesley was demobilized in Montreal on August 25th, 1919. He married Mina White in 1927. There is more information about him and his brother Bernard on the Litchfield family tree. He died in Watertown, New York on June 10th, 1981.

Frederick George L’Esperance, a munitions worker, signed up in Kingston on this day in 1918. He was born in Deseronto on October 22nd, 1898, the son of George L’Esperance and Georgina (née Beyette). In 1901 the family were in Deseronto, but they had moved to Trenton by 1911 and were living there when Frederick enlisted.

L’Esperance joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the Eastern Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3057913. He was five feet seven and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. He was transferred to the Canadian Field Artillery in Kingston on November 1st, 1918 and demobilized there on November 30th.

In the 1921 census he was back in Trenton with his family, living in Ferry Street and working as a labourer. He married Albina Bernard on February 11th, 1926 in Trenton. By that time, he was a plumber and he gave his address as Detroit, Michigan.

On this day in 1918 Frank Clinton Kimmerly, an assistant purchasing agent, was conscripted in Toronto. He claimed to have been born in Deseronto on April 5th, 1888, but his birth was registered as May 15th, 1880. His parents were James Kimmerly and Martha (née Dafoe). The family were still in Deseronto at the time of the 1901 census, but they were living in St. Catharines when he was drafted into the 1st Depot Battalion of the 1st Central Ontario Regiment with the regimental number 3035201.

Frank was five feet five and three quarter inches tall, with a medium complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was single when he was conscripted, but got married a few weeks later, on May 13th, to Mina Winnifred Earl in Toronto. His service record shows that he left Canada on the SS Pannonia on June 5th, arriving in England on the 28th. He served in England with the Canadian Artillery Regimental Depot until September 1919, when he returned to Canada on the SS Regina, arriving on September 19th. He had been promoted to the rank of sergeant in April 1919.

Frank and Mina moved to the United States and were living in New York City with their two children in 1925 and 1930. Frank died in Kingston, Ontario on August 8th, 1955.