Kenora Great War Project

 

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The People

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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.

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McFadden, John Albert

John Albert (Bert) McFadden was born on 6 July 1898 in Keewatin, Ontario, a small town a few kilometres west of present day Kenora in northwestern Ontario. In his early years he went by the name of Albert while in adulthood as Bert. His father Alpheus McFadden, a miller, was from the Marlborough Township in… Read More »

Burnett, Francis Henry

Francis Henry Burnett was born on 9 August 1872 in Bristol, England. His father Henry Burnett, mason, was from Minehead in Somerset while his mother Susannah Williams was from Turnham Grove in Middlesex. The couple married in 1865 in Bristol. Francis had an older sister Alice Maud (1870-1872) and a younger brother Ernest Thomas (1875-1942)…. Read More »

Steinke, Daniel Ernest

Although a birth record was not found, by most accounts Daniel Ernest Steinke was born on 1 January 1896 in Sandstone, Minnesota. He was the son of Julius Steinke and Justina Pitt, both likely from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. The couple, along with infant son Carl August who was born in 1889 in Hamburg, immigrated to… Read More »

Longlade, Joseph

According to his attestation papers, Joseph Longlad (later spelled as Longlade) was born on 26 April 1883 in Penetanguishene, Ontario although his gravemarker gives the year as 1882. His parents, as found in the 1901 census, Penetanguishene, were likely Joseph and Mathilda, and his siblings Amelda, Havier (Xavier), Willis, and Louisa/Lorine although birth dates do… Read More »

Dostal, Frank

Sergeant Frank Peter Dostal enlisted in Kenora, Ontario in February 1916 and served in Canada for six months. In 1917 he joined the American Expeditionary Forces and he spent two years overseas, returning home in August 1919. Frank was born on 29 June 1895 in Chicago, Illinois. His father Joseph Dostal was from Bohemia (Czechoslovakia)… Read More »

Coppard, William

Private William Coppard was one of three brothers who served in the First World War. He was wounded twice but he survived the war and returned to Canada in January 1919. William was born on 9 September 1897 in Rat Portage (later called Kenora) in northwestern Ontario, the youngest son of Henry Coppard and Maria… Read More »

Emerson, Robert Stewart

Robert Stewart Emerson was born on 27 November 1886 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His parents Robert Wellington Emerson and Catherine (Kate) Wilson Martin married on 3 March 1882 in the RM of St Andrews, Manitoba. Kate’s family had been farming just outside of Rat Portage and the newlyweds were to make Rat… Read More »

Aube, Hermidas

Hermidas Aube was born on 12 May 1866 in St. Jerome, Quebec to Vincent and Margaret Aube.  He came west as a young man and worked as a labourer and a miner. By 1901 he was living in Rat Portage (Kenora) Ontario with a wife and children.  He worked at the Sultana Mine and also… Read More »

Lake, James Alfred

James Alfred Lake was born on 13 January 1873 in Blairton, Peterborough County, Ontario. His father was Wellington Lake who was from Sidney in Hastings County while his mother Ellen Simpson was from Scotland. By the time of the 1861 census the couple was married with one son, John Bidwell, and living in Sidney. By… Read More »

Sherrett, Joseph Allan

Joseph Allan Sherrett was born on 02 May 1897 in Dundee, Scotland.   He was the youngest child of James Sherrett, a railway engine driver, and Rebecca Macallister. His siblings included James A. (born 1880), Annie F. (born 1882), Margaret M. (1884 – 1937), Jean Belle (1886 – 1972), John Ross (1888 – 1955), Isabella… Read More »