Deseronto Archives

On this day in 1916 William Edward Maracle, a wood turner, signed up in Deseronto. He was born in Tyendinaga on November 19th, 1870, the son of James Maracle and Rachel (née Brant), who were both Mohawks. He married Julia Ann Williams, who died on April 10th, 1912 of tuberculosis. They had three sons and a daughter and the eldest two, Philip and Solomon, had already enlisted.

Eddie joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 637122. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

His service record shows that Maracle went absent without leave before his unit left Canada. He was discharged on his return as being medically unfit (he was 46 years old, considered to be overage).

Eddie tried to enlist again, on December 15th, 1916 in Kingston, but was rejected as medically unfit. In 1921 he was living with a new wife, Mary, in Tyendinaga.

On this day in 1916 Joseph Corby, a sailor, signed up in Deseronto. He was born on October 10th, 1874, the son of Louis Corby (a Mohawk born in Kahnewake) and Elizabeth (né Green), who was a Mohawk of the Bay of Quinte. His two younger brothers, Jake and Harry, had already enlisted. Joseph married Mary Frances Maracle on April 1st, 1897 in Tyendinaga. By 1911 they had two sons and were living in Park Street, Deseronto. Joseph’s eldest son, Sam, enlisted in February 1915.

Joseph joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 637096. He was five feet seven and three quarter inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

Corby’s service record shows that he was examined by a medical board on September 6th, 1916 and discharged from the army for being medically unfit.

10. (a) Disease or disability. Over age. Bunions both feet, right eye blind.
(b) Date of origin. Prior to Enlistment
(c) Place of origin. Unknown.
(d) Cause. Unknown.

11. Present Condition. (Most Important). (To include full description of present disabling condition or conditions.) Shows marks of senility, large painfull bunions both feet, blind in right eye.

In the 1921 census, Mary Corby and her two sons were living in College Street, Deseronto. She was described as a widow.

William Harry Anderson, a printer, signed up in Alameda, Saskatchewan on this day in 1916. He was born in Deseronto on April 17th, 1895, the son of Alexander Anderson and Georgina (née Asselstine). The family had moved to Alameda by the time of the 1901 census.

Harry joined the 152nd Battalion with the regimental number 925727. He was five feet seven and a half inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. His service record shows that he was transferred to the 5th Battalion in April 1917.

Anderson was involved in the Second Battle of Passchendaele and was awarded the Military Medal.

William Harry Anderson’s Military Medal citation, courtesy of Library and Archives Canada

This man was a runner in “C” Company during the operations of the 10th November 1917 and repeatedly carried despatches to and from Company to Battn Headquarters, and over the open through the fire of snipers from VENTURE FARM and so enabling communication to the kept up with our exposed flank.

Anderson was awarded 14 days’ leave in Paris over Christmas 1917. He returned in January with an infection and spent nearly two months in hospital being treated.

Harry received a gunshot wound to the wrist in September 1918 and left hospital a month later. He departed England on April 26th, 1919, on board the RMS Empress of Britain. He was demobilized on May 7th, giving his home address as 152 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Arthur Lionel Malley signed up on this day in 1916 in Cobourg. He was born on December 8th, 1896, the son of William James Malley and Ada (née Moodie). He noted on his attestation form that he had attended two courses with the Royal School of Artillery. The photograph above was taken in 1914, when Arthur was a member of the Deseronto Fire Team.

Malley joined the Cobourg Heavy Battery with the regimental number 1260514. The picture below shows the fourth draft of this unit, which left for England in June 1916. Arthur was five feet ten inches tall, with a dark complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on June 28th, 1916 on the RMS Empress of Britain. He was promoted to Corporal on the following day, but reverted to the rank of Gunner at his own request in January 1917. He served with artillery units in England and was posted to France in May 1918 to join the 12th Canadian Siege Battery.

Fourth Draft of the Cobourg Heavy Battery, courtesy of Cobourg Public LIbrary

Malley was demobilized in Montreal on May 11th, 1919. He married Hellen Isobel Weaver in Trenton on June 20th, 1928, when his occupation was customs clerk. He died 0n May 13th, 1952 and is buried in the Deseronto Cemetery alongside his parents.

Brant Brant signed up in Belleville on this day in 1916. He was born in Shannonville on February 10th, 1893, the son of Brant Brant and Margaret (Maggie) (née Hill).

Brant joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 637076. He was five feet six and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. After arriving in England in October 1916, Brant was transferred to the 2nd Battalion and joined them in France on December 9th, 1916.

His service record shows that Brant Brant was injured in the arm and leg by shrapnel wounds on May 3rd, 1917 in the Third Battle of the Scarpe. He was sent to England to recover, then returned to France in March 1918. Brant fell ill with influenza in November 1918 and was again admitted to hospital. He recovered by the end of January 1919 and was discharged from the army in March.

Brant married Dorsey Claus in Deseronto on April 27th, 1920. In 1921 the couple were living with Dorsey’s parents at 177 Pinnacle Street, Belleville, with their seven-month-old son.

On this day in 1916 William ‘Willie’ Pinn signed up in Belleville. He was born in Shannonville on August 12th 1895, the son of John Pinn (or Penn) and Christina (née Hill), who were both Mohawks.

Pinn joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 637077. He had previously served in the 49th Regiment for a year. Willie was five feet six inches tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His service record shows that he was in hospital between May 15th and May 27th with pneumonia in Belleville. 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 9th, 1916.

William was killed on May 3rd, 1917.

On this day in 1916 Ernest Pringle, a commercial traveller, signed up in Huntsville, Ontario. He was born in Deseronto on September 24th, 1892, the son of Ezra Pringle and Annie Elizabeth (née Watson). The family had moved away from Deseronto by 1901, when they were living in Tay Township. Ezra died in Fesserton in 1907, while Annie died in Toronto in 1913. Ernest gave his sister, Edith Evans, as his next of kin.

He joined the 122nd Battalion with the regimental number 763594. He was five feet six and a half inches tall, with fair hair, grey/blue eyes and lightish brown hair. His service record shows that he arrived in England on the SS Olympic in June 1917 and was sent to France with No. 44 Company of the Canadian Forestry Corps later that month, as Company Quartermaster Sergeant. He left France for England in January 1919 and returned to Canada on the SS Scotian in February.

Ernest was demobilized in Toronto on March 17th, 1919. He married Eva Hildred North in Toronto on December 11th, 1920. In the 1921 census the couple were living at 40 Peterborough Avenue, Toronto with Hildred’s sister. He died on October 8th, 1964.

Calvin Leslie Myles, a craneman, signed up in Toronto on this day in 1916. He was born in South Woodslee, Ontario, on March 18th, 1889, the son of William Nelson Myles and Emma (née Brown). In 1916 William Myles was the proprietor of the Deseronto House Hotel on Main Street. Calvin’s younger brother Clifford had joined the army in January 1916.

Like his brother, Myles joined the 92nd Battalion. His regimental number was 193598. He was five feet seven inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His service record shows that he arrive in England on May 29th, 1916 on the SS Great Britain. He was transferred to the 42nd Battalion and joined them in France on September 11th. On February 13th, 1917 he was wounded by a bomb which left pieces of shrapnel in his left wrist. An x-ray photo in his service file shows the dark shape of the shrapnel fragment:

He spent the next few months in hospital but did not regain the full use of his left hand. He was sent back to Canada on the SS Olympic in November 1917 and discharged from the army on the recommendation of a medical board in Toronto on January 11th, 1918.

Myles was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and the French  Medaille Militaire. The citation for the former is on his service file:

For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during a raid on the enemy’s trenches. He carries a wounded officer from the enemy trench for a considerable distance back towards our lines under very heavy fire. Later, he again rejoined his party and was wounded.

Calvin married Hazel Faustina Walter in Orono, Ontario on December 12th, 1922. He died in Bowmanville in 1985, according to information from family trees on Ancestry.

On this day in 1916 Wesley Maracle signed up in Belleville. He was born in Tyendinaga on April 8th, 1899, the son of Seth Maracle and Catherine (née Leween), who were both Mohawks.

Maracle joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 637075. He was five feet four inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. His service record shows that Wesley arrived in England on October 28th, 1916. He was transferred to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in May 1917.

On October 30th, at the Second Battle of Passchendaele, Wesley Maracle was wounded in the right thigh. He was sent back to England to recover. In the following April, he was hospitalized again with measles and broncho-pneumonia.

Maracle survived the war and returned to Canada on the RMS Olympic in January 1919. He contracted influenza on the voyage and recovered in hospital in Halifax before returning to Kingston to be demobilized on February 18th, 1919.

Wesley married Dina Maracle on February 2nd, 1928 in Gananoque.

Charles Richard Knight signed up in Deseronto on this day in 1916. He claimed to have been born in 1872, but was actually born on May 29th 1860, making him 55 years old on the day he joined up. He was born in Bethnal Green in London, England, the son of Thomas Edward Knight and Elizabeth (née Hodges). He married Elizabeth Mary Ann Bacon in Hackney on May 18th, 1891 and the couple were living at 40 Elm Road, Leyton, Essex in 1901 with their children, Charles, Elsie and William.

Passenger list extract for the SS Kensington, arriving in Portland, Maine on April 10th, 1907, courtesy of Ancestry.ca

The family moved to Canada in 1907, travelling on the SS Kensington from Liverpool to Portland, Maine, with a final destination of Toronto. Their passage had been paid by the East End Emigration Fund. This organization aimed to resettle people at risk of unemployment in London by paying for families to move to Canada. A letter to the Spectator on March 14th, 1908 described the 1907 shipment of people in these terms:

The Joint Committee of the East End Emigration Fund and the Charity Organisation Society has for many years been selecting with great care, and placing in work in Canada, a large number of London families, sober, steady people, capable and willing for work, yet in danger of demoralisation if left hopelessly without work in London. The number sent in any year reached its maximum last season, when eight hundred and twenty-five families, comprising four thousand two hundred and sixty-eight persons, were emigrated. Only those who conducted the selection can adequately realise the conditions to which a very large number of these unfortunate people had been reduced owing to lack of employment in this country, and what the new opportunity meant to them.

In the 1911 census the family were living in Dundas Street, Deseronto. Charles was working as a labourer in a cement works (probably at Point Anne).

Charles joined the 155th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the regimental number 637066. He was five feet two and a half inches tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair with grey. His service record shows he was discharged on August 20th, 1916 for being overage: he displayed “very evident wasting of senility”.

In 1921 Charles was living in Thomas Street with Elizabeth and their children: Elsie and William. He died in Deseronto in September 1939 and was buried in Deseronto Cemetery in plot 303I.