Deseronto Archives

Robert Watson, an electrician, was drafted on this day in 1917. He was born in Deseronto on November 13th, 1893, the child of Robert Watson and Marie (née Curlette). When he was conscripted he was living at 1502 Queen Street, Toronto.

Watson was five feet eleven and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He joined C Battery of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery with the regimental number 349849. His service record shows that he left Halifax on the SS Metagama in February 1918 and served in England until October 1918 when we was sent to France. He was there until April 1919 and left England for Canada on the troopship Cedric on May 19th, 1919.

Watson was demobilized in Montreal on May 29th, 1919 and was back in Toronto with his parents, living at 271 Dunn Avenue, in 1921.

Frederick George Adams, a moulder, signed up in Kingston, Ontario, on this day in 1917.  He was born in Deseronto on January 21st, 1895 (the birth registration says January 25th), the son of Joseph Henry Adams and Sarah Helen (née White). His father died of cancer in 1914 in the Rockwood Hospital in Kingston and Sarah married John Bawden in Belleville in 1916.

Adams joined the 73rd Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery with the regimental number 344109. He was five feet eleven inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that Adams arrived in England on board the SS Lapland in February 1918. He was posted to France in September, joining the 5th Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery.

Frederick received a gunshot wound to the face on October 31st, 1918 and spent the following three weeks in hospital at Le Tréport in France. He returned to Canada, again on the SS Lapland, in June 1919, and was discharged in Kingston on June 11th.

On July 11th, 1922, Adams married Stella McHugh in Belleville. He died of tuberculosis in the Belleville General Hospital on November 8th, 1929 and was buried in Belleville.

Alexander Roderick Pye was conscripted under the Military Service Act in Toronto on this day in 1917. He was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the son of John Pye and Mary (née Stewart) on April 30th, 1889. When he was called up he was working as a bank clerk at the Bank of Montreal in Deseronto.

Bank of Montreal (now Deseronto Town Hall)

He gave his next of kin as his sister, Effie Pye, of Herne Bay, Kent, England. Pye had previously served for three years as a corporal in the 13th Royal Regiment. He was five feet five and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, dark brown eyes and black hair. He joined the 69th Overseas Battery with the regimental number 340350. His service record shows that he arrived in Scotland on the SS Lapland on February 24th, 1918. He went overseas to join the Canadian Field Artillery in France on October 27th, 1918. He left England to return to Canada on March 19th, 1919 and was demobilized in Toronto on March 30th.

Alexander married Sophie May Jolley in Hamilton on July 3rd, 1923. He died on August 28th, 1958.

Harold Clement Gracey, a bank clerk, signed up in Kingston on this day in 1917. He was born in Deseronto on April 4th, 1891, the son of Albert Gracey and Mehetable (née Clement). At the time of the 1911 census he was working in Peterborough.

Gracey joined the 73rd Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery with the regimental number 344090. His attestation form notes “Enlisted under Military Service Act. Reg. No. 918385 P. C.”. He was five feet eight inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and dark brown hair. His service record shows that Gracey left Canada for England on February 22nd, 1918 on the SS Metagama. He served in England with the Reserve Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery and in September 1918 was transferred to the 9th Brigade in France, where he stayed until February 1919. Between February and April 1919 he was treated in hospital in England for inflamed connective tissue of the right hand.

Harold left England for Canada on May 11th, 1919 on the SS Saturnia and was demobilized in Kingston on May 23rd. He married Norrine Victoria Schoales in Toronto on April 24th, 1929. He died in Goderich on July 11th, 1971.

Thomas Frederick Stevenson, an electrician, was drafted into the army in Toronto under the Military Service Act. He was born in Deseronto on December 13th, 1896, the son of John Stevenson and Emma Etta (née Luffman). The family were still in Deseronto in 1911, but by the time Thomas was conscripted they were living in Toronto, at 54 Hamilton Street.

Stevenson joined the 71st Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery with the regimental number 342265. He was five feet ten inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue-grey eyes and auburn hair. His service record shows that he went overseas on October 4th, 1918 on the SS Victoria. He was only in England briefly: he came back to Canada on November 29th on the SS Aquitania. On February 3rd, 1919, he was discharged in Toronto as medically unfit due to a varicocele which required an operation.

Stevenson married Emma Adele Bowles in Toronto on June 20th, 1923. Information from an Ancestry family tree suggests that he died on July 5th, 1961.

On this day in 1917 Alexander Bey was drafted into the army in Vancouver under the Military Service Act. He was born in Shannonville on August 31st, 1892, the son of George Bey (or Bay) and Cynthia Lucinda (née Maracle), who were both Mohawks. Bey gave his home address as Fernie, British Columbia.

Alexander joined the 1st Depot Battalion of the British Columbia Regiment with the regimental number 2020341. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a medium complexion, brown eyes and brown hair.

Bey’s service record shows that he arrived in Scotland on December 31st, 1917. He served in the 16th and 1st Reserve Battalions before being transferred to France to fight with the 7th Battalion in April 1918. He survived the war and left England for Canada in April 1919 on board the RMS Olympic. He was demobilized in Kingston on April 24th. He later lived in Spokane, Washington.