Clippings and Memories- Cullen Wright Crawford Prime and Hooper

There was tremendous involvement, and tremendous loss, and over time it has become clear that Carleton Place, given its size, was a remarkable contributor to the war effort.” Fifty men from a pool of perhaps 300 able-bodied men in a total population of what was then 4,000 people died in the First World War. Another 50 perished in the Second World War. And each year on Nov. 11, in events that reach beyond mere ceremony to palpable grief for many relatives and friends of fallen townsfolk, residents of the picturesque town along the Mississippi River gather at Memorial Park to remember their 100 dead and more than 300 others who served and returned.  Randy Boswell—Ottawa Citizen-12 Nov 1998

Carleton Place is proud of two things. It is proud of the athletic prowess of its young men, especially on the water. It is also proud of the manner in which Its young men went to the front in the Great War. Twelve Carleton Place boys Joined the first Canadian contingent. Forty-seven Carleton Place boys sleep in Flanders Fields. The town has remembered their sacrifice by a memorial park and monument, which were bought and erected by public subscriptions.–

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa CitizenOttawa, Ontario, Canada14 Jul 1928, Sat  •  Page 32

Appointment of Donald C. Cullen, of Niagara Falls, and for many years a resident of Carle-ton Place, as treasurer of War Supplies Limited, in Washington, was ratified last week. He left for Washington Sunday evening. Mr. Cullen has been head of the accounting department at North American Cyanamid Company since 1925, and was transferred in that capacity to the Welland Canal Chemical Company. He is a son of Mrs. John Cullen and the late Mr. Cullen, who lived in Carleton Place for many years.

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa JournalOttawa, Ontario, Canada24 Dec 1941, Wed  •  Page 9

 Prisoner of War CARLETON PLACE, May 4. (Special) Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wright of Carleton Place have received word that their son. Flying Officer William Arnold Wright, who was reported missing overseas In March, is prisoner of war. FO. Wright enlisted in Toronto in 1941 and graduated with a commission at Malton. He went overseas in November, 1942.

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa CitizenOttawa, Ontario, Canada04 May 1944, Thu  •  Page 5

Carlcton Place Flier Now Missing Overseas Sergeant Air Gunner Arthur Esmond Prime, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Prime of Carleton Place, Is reported missing on active service following’ air operations overseas, according to the latest R.C.A.F. casualty list issued last night.

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa CitizenOttawa, Ontario, Canada02 Jun 1943, Wed  •  Page 23

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa JournalOttawa, Ontario, Canada04 Nov 1944, Sat  •  Page 2

CLIPPED FROMThe Kingston Whig-StandardKingston, Ontario, Canada20 Jul 1916, Thu  •  Page 6

CLIPPED FROMThe Ottawa CitizenOttawa, Ontario, Canada16 Jan 1931, Fri  •  Page 7

Miss Tena Stewart War Heroine — Almonte Appleton and Carleton Place

War Time Homes Carleton Place 1946

James Reynolds “Were the Carleton Place Boys Safe?”

Glory Days in Carleton Place- Tom Edwards– Horrick’s and Air Raid Sirens

Stuck in Carleton Place April 8 1885

A Letter of Love on Remembrance Day Linda Knight Seccaspina

Photo of Frederick J. Knight in the British Army in WW1 who immigrated to Cowansville, Quebec and was one of the founding members and president of Branch #99 Canadian Legion in Cowansville.

Dear Grammy and Grampy, 

November 9, 2021

Tonight I felt I should write you a letter because it’s almost November 11th. Even though you are no longer here, I feel your presence and I know you would be happy to hear Remembrance Day is still firmly planted in my heart. It was always a hallowed event in the Knight family each year and we were up with the birds that day as Grammy used to say. Mocha cakes had to be finished for the Branch #99 Legion refreshments. Shoes and medals were polished, and bodies were trying to warm up in advance for the parade.

I remember that Grampy said I should always keep a stiff upper lip and a Knight family member respects and honours our Legions and veterans. His stories of how hard life was in the cold and the muddy trenches in France during World War 1 have not been forgotten. Not one word of what he and others went through during the first World War will ever leave my mind.

Each Remembrance Day I can still hear Grampy yelling out orders during the parade: ‘left right, left right’.  I was always the last one in the parade every year. I never understood why the Brownies were placed at the end and I was always pulling up the rear in my too short Brownie outfit, bare legs with knee socks, and no boots. 

Standing at the Cowansville High School cenotaph freezing to death and chattering with friends each year I always got the stink eye from Grampy who was always watching me. I could never avoid his stern gaze and I knew he was telling me silently, 

‘Respect, Linda, respect, remember what these men did for you’.

The solo bugle playing The Last Post would always make the odd strange noise from the cold outside on the first few notes and the freezing November breeze would circle around my legs turning them bright red. I could see tears in my Grandfather’s eyes, remembering his friends that never made it home. 

Each Remembrance Day I still remember the past November 11th services. I wish for a lot of things, but now besides remembering all the veterans I pray and hope for the continuation of our local Legions. As you said Grampy: 

‘I have seen war. I hate war!’

For years Grampy lived in pain from being one of the first gassed in the trenches. As he said each time he had a migraine: 

‘I’ll be okay, but in the meantime I just have to hold strong’. 

We are trying Grampy to hold strong, we are trying to keep these Legions solvent and the memories continious, but in the meantime we try to inherit your great examples. We remember each and every soldier who gave up so much for our freedom and ensure they are never forgotten. As you always told me, it’s not just November 11th we should remember them, but every single day, and we should honour the dead best by treating the living well.

I miss you so much..

Your ‘Birdie’,

Linda

Also read

My First Memory Of Remembrance Day — The Legion Kettle

The Story of Trenches –Fred Knight Legion Branch #99 Cowansville

alos read

My First Memory Of Remembrance Day — The Legion Kettle

The Story of Trenches –Fred Knight Legion Branch #99 Cowansville

War Horses — Between 500 and 1,000 Horses Were Shipped to Europe Everyday

Bring your war horses January 26 to the Mississippi Hotel 1917- Clipped from The Ottawa Journal, 22 Jan 1917, Mon, Page 10

What type of horses were used in ww1?

By 1917, Britain had over a million horses and mules in service, but harsh conditions, especially during winter, resulted in heavy losses, particularly amongst the Clydesdale horses, the main breed used to haul the guns.

How Many Canadian Horses were killed in World War 1

Col. Harry Baker, the only MP killed in action in the First World War. He was the member of Parliament for Brome, Que. Canada sent about 130,000 horses overseas during the First World War, according to Steve Harris, chief historian of the directorate of history and heritage at the Department of National Defence

How many horses were killed in the First World War?

Eight million horses, donkeys and mules died in World War I, three-quarters of them from the extreme conditions they worked in.

A war horse is often thought of as a huge cavalry charger or a smart officer’s mount. But during the First World War (1914-18), horses’ roles were much more varied. Their contribution included carrying and pulling supplies, ammunition, artillery and even the wounded. Without these hard-working animals, the Army could not have functioned.

The “pack horse was more important than the cavalry charger” in the First World War, noted Cook, pointing out that moving supplies of food and ammunition to the front lines was a constant need whereas waves of armed riders on galloping horses — both virtually defenceless against machine guns — had mostly become a thing of the past.

The film version of War Horse, he added, is sure to offer Canadians an informative glimpse of a little-remembered feature of the First World War.

Rick Robertsa day
My wife’s grandfather, Walter Darnbrough was attached to an ambulance unit during part of his WWI service in France. On the day that his quick thinking and determination earned him the Canadian Military Medal (MM) for bravery under fire, he was a mounted outrider accompanying a horse drawn ambulance taking wounded to the rear. The ambulance came under enemy machine gun fire, killing the horses that were pulling the ambulance plus the driver, and an officer seated next to the driver. With the crippled ambulance still under fire, Walter disconnected it from the dead horses, and used his surviving horse to pull it to safety. I haven’t been able to find records that indicate how many of the wounded that were on the ambulance that day survived. Walter recovered from his WWI wounds to marry his British war bride in Yorkshire and return to Canada to live out a long and productive life.

Because military vehicles were relatively new inventions and prone to problems, horses, and mules were more reliable — and cheaper — forms of transport.

Thousands of horses pulled field guns; six to 12 horses were required to pull each gun.

Eight million horses, donkeys and mules died in the First World War, three-quarters of them from the extreme conditions they worked in.

At the start of the war, the British Army had 25,000 horses. Another 115,000 were purchased compulsorily under the Horse Mobilization Scheme.

Over the course of the war, between 500 and 1,000 horses were shipped to Europe every day.

Dummy horses were sometimes used to deceive the enemy into misreading the location of troops.

Many horses were initially used as traditional cavalry horses but their vulnerability to modern machine gun and artillery fire meant their role changed to transporting troops and ammunition.

Veterinarians treated 2.5 million horses; two million recovered and returned to the battlefield.

The British Army Veterinary Corp hospitals in France cared for 725,000 horses and successfully treated three-quarters of them. A typical horse hospital could treat 2,000 animals at any one time.

Well-bred horses were more likely to suffer from shell shock and be affected by the sights and sounds of battle than less-refined compatriots.

Horses on the front line could be taught to lie down and take cover at the sound of artillery fire.

In muddy conditions, it could take up to 12 hours to clean a horse and the harness.

One-quarter of all deaths were due to gunfire and gas; exhaustion and disease claimed the rest.

Horse fodder was the single largest commodity shipped to the front by some countries, including Britain.

Fearing their horses would face terrible and terrifying conditions at war, some owners took the drastic measure of humanely putting their animals down before the army could seize them.

In a single day during the 1916 Battle of Verdun, 7,000 horses from both sides were killed by long-range shelling, including 97 killed by single shots from a French naval gun.

Losses were particularly heavy among Clydesdale horses, which were used to haul guns.

Britain lost over 484,000 horses — one horse for every two men.

Horses were considered so valuable that if a soldier’s horse was killed or died he was required to cut off a hoof and bring it back to his commanding officer to prove that the two had not simply become separated.

Second Lieut. H. A. Powell, to Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Lowry, of Pakenham — Steam in WW1

Such tractors would have roadways prepared for them in World War 1-Steam engines used in the first world war

With the Steam Co. in France.

The following is a letter from Second Lieut. H. A. Powell, to his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel H. Lowry, of Pakenham.

“At present I am in a very nice place and a good many miles behind the lines. We are busy building roads. My company is all steam so I am right at home. I have thirty steam wagons, fifteen Fodens non-trippers, 13 Sentinel Hydraulic tip and two Garret’s screw tippers. So you see I have a pick and choice. Their capacity is 5 to 8 tons, without trailers. The Sentinel wagons are 70 horse power poppet valve engines. Speed five to twenty miles an hour. Just now we are trying some plan to keep the frost away from the pumps but I think we will succeed. Yesterday I was at a steam conference and arguments were comical, mostly by men who only knew the difference between steam and petrol engines by seeing the smoke and steam.

The weather has been very wet for some time but now it is clear and cold, but not too cold for comfort. I have a very fine billet with a French count, his wife and daughter. They are extra well educated people and much different to most of the people I have met. Well, I suppose you have heard that I got married last 30th Oct. to a girl in London. We had a fine time at the wedding and went to Ventnor, Isle of Wight, for our short trip. We were married in St. Mary’s Cathedral, West Ealing, and then went to lunch at the Frocaden Hotel, supposed to be the finest place in London. My best man was a Capt. Harry Driver, Bachelor of Science, D.S.O. and M.C., the two bridesmaids were Dimple and Winnie Middleton, daughter of a multi-millionaire. Their father is manager of the Universal Motor Co., Universal Insurance Co. (automobiles), and a large stockholder in the Phoenix Life Insurance Co. He gave us our lunch, also supplied all the cars to take us to church and back. Flo has been his secretary for ten years and two months.

She still goes up two days a week to look after the paying of the men and do the banking. I expect to leave here some time soon to take over the duties of workshop officers at a base shop. I will be in charge of repairs to Caterpillar and Foster Daimler engines. I have passed all my tests as a work shop officer and the knowledge will be very useful in civil life. It is hard to say when we will finish up out here but I may be home in the fall of 1919. Fighting may finish next fall but it is hard to say.”

Steam engines used in the first world war

Steam engines used in the first world war

STEAM ENGINES IN FRANCE WORLD WAR I -1918– click

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
31 Oct 1946, Thu  •  Page 24

related reading

Ernie Giles Steam Engine Man

Steam Engines– Clippings About Harold Richardson

Photos!! Who is With These Steam Engines?

Glory Days of Carleton Place–So What Happened to the Moore Steam Engine?

The Old Steam Engine Tractor on Mullet Street

James Miller Steam Engine Man from Perth

Hissing Steam, Parades and a 1930 Hearse–Pioneer Days Middleville

Shipman & Acme Engines Clippings and Notations

“Where Are They Now?” Des Moore’s Steam Engine

“Around the Local Fairs in 80 Days”? Lanark County Minor Steampunk Story

Memories of a Photo — The Forgotten Canadian Forestry Corps, Booze and a Mud Quagmire

Photo Larry Clark 1917-Linda I added to the Lindbergh file but this photo should go with it–Read– Tales You Did Not Know About—Charles Lindbergh Landed in Carleton Place

Thanks to one of my regular submitter Larry Clark for sending this photo that sent me seeking more information to document. I love the thrill of the kill as they say in history or murder mysteries. Any photo you have, study it as there is a story behind it that needs to be told.

Canadian Forestry Corps

Larry Clark has been sending me a lot of interesting pictures and this one he has of the Canadian Forestry Corps in the Rockcliffe Camp is an original. I am assuming that as I can’t see to find anything close on the Rockcliffe Camp photo site. So what was life like for these men photographed in 1917? The Canadian Forestry Corps was a 25,000 unit served as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the war in 1914-1919, yet very little mention is made of their war effort in history, and their service records has been omitted in many history books. They were often called upon to do menial jobs such as cleaning up former logging sites even though 1000s of soldiers serving in the CFC had physical disabilities. Did you know there is only one memorial in memory of CFC located in the National War Memorial? Next time you are in there look for a statue of a lumberjack that represents the thousands of men, immigrants, minorities or wounded/disabled that are forgotten in our history.

These Forestry Corps soldiers worked for over 2 1/2 years in Britain and France to make sure those serving at the front were supplied with timber for shelter and moved supplies and ammunition across the front lines at great risk. Not to mention the construction projects and the aerodrome construction in 1916-1919 they were involved in only to be forgotten about. Hopefully clicking on this link will add respect to those that served in the CFC.

In October of 1917

Four soldiers in October of 1917 were accused of peddling whiskey amongst the soldiers at Lansdowne Park and also at Rockcliffe Camp, according to information supplied by Inspector McLaugalin. Mr. Giroux, who drove a taxicab took large quantities of whiskey in flasks from the Rockcliffe Camp down to Lansdowne Park. There they were cached in the stables and retailed to the soldiers who wanted a drink, at$1.50 per flask, although the flasks were only worth 50 cents each. Some of the soldiers were found with flasks in their possession and admitted they had obtained them from the soldiers at Rockcliffe Camp, and this led to the arrest of the accused.

The Quagmire that was called Rockcliffe Camp October 1917

In any write up I have read about Rockcliffe Camp in the news archives it was called nothing but a quagmire, and the soldiers lived in dire straits when it was wet and cold. In October of 1917 an Ottawa Journal reporter took a tour through the camp and said: had the Glebe Curling Club and the Winter Fair Assc. accompanied him on the journey to Rockcliffe Camp perhaps all the opposition to having soldiers at Lansdowne Park would evaporate.

For two hours the journalist plowed through mud that sometimes reached over his boot tops and it was a wonder why more soldiers were not in the hospital with pneumonia. Conditions were even worse after two days rain and it was the same no matter where you went in the camp: from the signal training depot, railway construction and the Forestry Depot. As you can see by the photo above, there were lots of ups and downs in the topography of the camp. They said the conditions exceeded the front lines of the trenches in France. Things were so bad for the Forestry Corps soldiers that they requested major F.O.W. Tidy to permit them to hold a march upon the soggy grounds to get their blood circulation going and avoid further chills.

The reporter had an interview with Lieutenant Powers and he wrote that the next 12 minutes before it were spend dodging small lakes and the excruciating mud clung to everything. When he finally arrived at Lieutenant Powers tent he noticed the lieutenant was sitting next to the only operating stove in the camp wearing a heavy overcoat. Viewing the officers quarters next his feet were now as he said ready to bring on pneumonia or pleurisy. The wooden floors were drenched and the wind that blew through them was raw. The winds however that blew through the privy commode section were so bad that shaving was done in quick order.

The kitchens were in small shantys but that did not protect the men peeling the vegetables as they only had a canvas roof quarter and that provided no protection from the elements. The regular quarters were worse than the officer quarters with thick mud on the floor and the tents were cold and damp. At night they spread their blankets over their cold feet and tried to sleep surrounded by pools of water.

The hospital tent was apparently the end all. Sick soldiers said they were going to come out of the infirmary worse than they came in and they had not been able to get their feet warm since they arrived there. On top of one man burning with fever from pneumonia was two blankets and a great wool coat and there was not a working stove to be seen anywhere.

Later that day things got worse and the sick were sent to the local hospitals and the men were instructed to march around the grounds to keep warm. Others were digging a trench near their tents to carry away water that threatened to come above the floor level where they slept.

One asked the reporter, ‘Think you would like to live here? Why bother going to France and live in the trenches when you can have the same conditions in Canada?’

While some men were taking it in good form, but the reporter saw that they had just about enough. How much longer could they live in this state? Where they were to be quartered in the future remained with the militia. Hard to believe that this transpired in Ottawa, Ontario and not in some foreign country.

NOTE

MaryAnne SharpeIf you Google “CEF Forestry Corps War Diaries”, Library and Archives Canada has a 167-page PDF guide to these war diaries that are in its holdings. Other references come up as a result of this search, as well.

more photos from Larry Clark

Close up of Will Slade in the CFC photo. He was the one that had the Lindbergh photo in his possession. He was my wife Beth’s grandfather. I had already picked him out and then when I cropped the photo, realized that there was a pencilled ring around around him. Also the possessor of the Forestry photo that I sent you above. Larry Clark.

Lost Ottawa

April 23, 2014  · Rockcliffe Camp, to the East of Ottawa in August, in 1899.

There was no real “base” at the time, and certainly no airbase. But there was a rifle range, and the lads in these tents were likely training for service in the Second Boer War, 1899-1902

Found the hockey photo-His name was William Thomas Slade and is right, in the back row. He was my wife Beth’s grandfather.
Larry Cark

Update to the Charles Lindbergh Story — Larry Clark

 Tales You Did Not Know About—Charles Lindbergh Landed in Carleton Place

Memories of Neighbourhood Kids — Larry Clark

Larry Clark Memories : Billings Bridge, Willow Trees and the Orange Lodge

Skating on Fraser’s Pond and Hobo Haven — Larry Clark

Glory Days in Carleton Place– Larry Clark

Larry Clark — Your Veribest Agent

A Personal Story — Caught in the Ice– Rocky Point- Larry Clark

more photos from Larry Clark

Private Norman Turner and Leslie Owrid — The Rest of the Story

Norman Turner

From Randolph Dallas

Hi Linda, I’m sending a pic of Pt Norman Turner, from Almonte who had emigrated from England with his family in 1912.

He was brother of Edna Fraser who with her husband, Gordon, ran Fraser’s Snack Bar. (see Community Comments — Memories of 46 Queen Street.) Norman enlisted at Montreal with his best friend, Leslie Owrid was also from Almonte. Norman was shot and Les killed during the horrendous gas raid March 1917.

The Victoria Daily Times
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
07 Mar 1917, Wed  •  Page 1

Norman Turner’s name is here as having been wounded-The Gazette
Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
13 Mar 1917, Tue  •  Page 2

Les’ name is on the Vimy Memorial. Norman was shipped from the field hospital to Aldershot, then sent to Kingston War Hospital where he met and married his nurse.

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
10 Jun 1911, Sat  •  Page 2

I have a letter also that was sent from Norman after he was shot, from the field hospital. Edna, his sister, was my grandmother. Another soldier had to rewrite it for him because it was near illegible, writing with his wrong hand. He was shot from behind, went through his arm, which severed the main nerve so he lost the use of his arm permanently.

The Turners emigrated from Yorkshire, England a month before the Titanic sank. Edna was chosen to recite the Sinking of the Titanic to a packed Almonte Town Hall. If you’re interested, I can send you a copy of the letter. It describes in-depth the the day, much like the chapter in Pierre Burton’s book. Thanks very much for posting the pics tomorrow. Norman never got over losing Les. He died at 45 in Kingston from malnutrition.

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
12 Sep 1923, Wed  •  Page 5

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
26 Feb 1916, Sat  •  Page 11

In memory of:

Corporal Leslie William Owrid

March 1, 1917

Military Service

---

Service Number:

132683Force:

ArmyUnit:

Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment)Division:

73rd Bn.

Additional Information

---

Commemorated on Page 304 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page.

Burial Information

---

Cemetery:

VIMY MEMORIAL
Pas de Calais, FranceGrave Reference:

Canada’s most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA

Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as ‘missing, presumed dead’ in France. A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was ‘the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada’. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made. On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.-Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Captain Hooper was His Name

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
18 Jul 1929, Thu  •  Page 13

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
18 Jul 1929, Thu  •  Page 13

Michael Lotan Does anyone remember Major Hooper who was the Postmaster. He was a decorated hero in both the Boer war and in WWI. One famous battle is covered in Brian Costello’s fine book. I found the original plan for this building at Public Works Canada when I worked there. Our PO Box was 103. Last point Major Hopper was a great man, a hero in two wars. He ran a tight ship at the PO. I knew him well. The den in his home was amazing with war memorabilia, weapons, and animal heads.

Jane Chamney Major Hooper was my great-uncle Will. He and his wife Mabel lived in a lovely English Cottage home where the Canadian Tire Gas Bar is now. My memories of Uncle Will were certainly not of a grumpy man. I loved playing with his grandchildren at his home and after his wife’s death, he even held a draw where each of us went home with a trinket or two. I came away with a china wall decoration of an old woman reading tea leaves. I still cherish it today.

1901 William H. Hooper, who had returned to Ottawa from the South African War, bought Charles C. Pelton’s Carleton Place photographic business.

Unknown Lady, taken at Hooper Studio, Carleton Place, Ontario.

1914 –WW1 broke out and within two weeks, the town’s first dozen volunteers under Captain William H. Hooper left Carleton Place.

Their parade to the railway station was attended by town officials, the Carleton Place brass band, the Renfrew pipe band and hundreds of citizens.  The send off ended in the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
04 Mar 1916, Sat  •  Page 10

Major W. H. Hooper, husband of Mabel McNeely Hooper –home after four years’ service in the first world war including two years as a prisoner in Germany, was welcomed in a reception held outdoors. Indoor meetings had been banned by reason of deaths from a world influenza epidemic.

Carleton Place Then and Now.
Canadian Gas Bar–6 Bridge Street Carleton Place

Photo from John Armour–read Before the Canadian Tire Gas Bar There Was..

This land was part of the original land grant from the Crown to Edmond Morphy. In 1839 Edmond’s son Edmond owned the land. This lot was divided and passed through many hands before it became Major Hooper and his wife’s residence in 1920. Hooper’s residence was referred to as the Raloo Cottage.

Major Hooper’s wife before she was married was Mabel McNeely. It remained in the hands of the Hooper Family until 1954 when McColl Frontenac Oils purchased the land. A gas bar and convenience store has been at this location ever since and today it is a Canadian Tire Gas Bar.

Major W.H. Hooper was appointed Post Master in 1920 and served as Post Master until his retirement in 1950. During Hooper’s time in office many changes occurred.He had control of the clerk for the position of Telegraph operator until the telegraph service moved to its own building. The Central School children popped in daily to get warm on cold days and enjoy the steam heat.

Memories today–The Old Federal Building/ Post Office-The Government built a new federal building in 1891 on Bridge Street during Mr. Struthers’ term of office. This new building called the old brown stone building was the post office for years between the Franklin street site and the present post office opened in 1963. This building also housed the Customs Office and caretaker’s apartment, and later the unemployment office. Findlay McEwen was appointed Post Master in 1907 after the death of Struthers. McEwen fulfilled the role until his death in 1920. During his term of office three rural mail deliveries were established: Ashton, Innisville, and Appleton.On the first floor was the post office with Mr. Struthers as postmaster and two ladies for clerks (The Virtue Sisters). Here too as a part of the post office was the Railway Telegraph Service (Myles Shields being CPR operator with Mina Scott).

This service later moved to its own building.Major W.H. Hooper was appointed Post Master in 1920 and served as Post Master until his retirement in 1950. During Hooper’s time if office many changes occurred.He had control of the clerk for the position of Telegraph operator until the telegraph service moved to its own building. The school children popped in daily to get warm on cold days and enjoy the steam heat. The caretaker lived on the upper floor and could be counted on to appear as soon as the children entered the building and order them out. Major Hooper was also a gruff individual and his family on the corner of Lake Ave and Bridge Street.

Rodger-Holley Gardiner My grandparents bought the building after the new post office opened and lived in the apartment behind it . My grandfather converted the first floor into offices and the other two floors into apartments (I helped a little bit). I carved this piece from white oak in memory of those wonderful days.

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
15 Dec 1939, Fri  •  Page 25

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
16 Sep 1939, Sat  •  Page 25

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
05 Sep 1935, Thu  •  Page 10

Captain Hooper IODE–The IODE of Carleton Place 1985

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
09 Jun 1954, Wed  •  Page 17

Captain William Hooper and his wife Mabel at “Raloo Cottage”. Mabel (1879 – 1952) was the daughter of Brice McNeely Jr. and Mary MacDowell. They were married in 1905.

HOW CHRISTIE STREET GOT ITS NAME by Chris Redmond

HOW CHRISTIE STREET GOT ITS NAME

by Chris Redmond

The street that connects Coleman Street to the new subdivision near Walmart has a name now: Christie Street, in honour of a young man who played an unusual role in the history of Carleton Place before he died in battle in 1917.

He was John H. H. (for Hatchell Halliday) Christie, who came to the town, and to Canada, to be a student minister at the Methodist Church on Franklin Street (what’s now Zion-Memorial United Church). He was born in Ireland, in a village called Glenavy in County Antrim, and interrupted his studies to cross the ocean to help meet an urgent need.

It was a difficult time for churches in Canada, with the population growing faster than the church leadership could find ministers to look after them. The problem was worst in the western provinces, and would continue until three denominations merged to create

the United Church in 1925, but the shortage hit home in Carleton Place when Dr. J. H. Sparling, the well-liked Methodist minister, died suddenly. (To be precise, he dropped dead while out on a bicycle ride.)

The best that could be arranged for a replacement was John Christie, the 23-year-old student who came over to serve as the congregation’s minister. He was quickly very popular, perhaps especially with the mothers of daughters, and he was well known

for his charming tenor voice. Someone noted that one of his favourite hymns was “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder”. But World War I was starting, and within a year the roll call he was answering was that of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He headed back across the Atlantic with the Canadian Expeditionary.

September 1934–Memorial Park and United Church Carleton Place

Force; starting out as a private, he was soon a corporal, then commissioned as a lieutenant, and in early 1917 he was assigned to the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles. Within three weeks he was dead, killed near the village of Givenchy-en-Gohelle during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917.

John Christie was one of five young men from Carleton Place who never returned from Vimy. He and other fallen soldiers were remembered at a service in the Methodist Church, where the four men’s photos were displayed at the front of the sanctuary, wrapped in a Union Jack. His body was buried in La Chaudière military cemetery near Vimy.

John Hatchell Halliday Christie
2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion
10th April 1917, aged 25.​
Plot VII. C. 2.

Son of the Rev. William John Christie and Emma Jane Halliday Christie, of Barnbidge, Ireland.

---

It took until 1918 before the Methodist church found a new minister. After the war, in the 1920s, the area near the corner of Franklin and Beckwith Streets, which had been standing empty since Carleton Place’s great fire in 1910, was developed as Memorial Park. And when the Cenotaph was put up there, one of the names engraved on it was that of the Rev. John Christie.

Newspaper Clipping – From the Perth Courier for 4 May 1917

Lt. Rev. John Hatchell Halliday Christie was 25 years of age when he lost his life on the second day of the Battle at Vimy Ridge. He too is buried in a Canadian war cemetery in France.

Another Example of Local Random Acts of Kindness- Zion Memorial United Church

Faces of Lanark County — Trudy Hardy — Rebel with a Collar

St. Andrew’s United Church

Clayton United Church Quilt Fran Cooper

And They Kept Singing in Church While it was on Fire

In Memory of David Scharf — Almonte United Church Tragedy

The Almonte Fire 1955– Almonte United Church

St. Peter’s Celestine Church Pakenham

PAKENHAM PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1897– $338.50 on the Cornerstone?

Did You Know the Ashton Anglican Church Dates Back to 1845?

Lanark’s First Church in the Middle of the Forest

At Church on Sunday Morning From the Pen of Noreen Tyers

The Remains of the Bethel Methodist Church

For the Love of St. Andrew’s– 130th Anniversary

Who Really Built the Baptist Church in Carleton Place?

Drummond Centre United Church — and The Ireton Brothers 38 Year Reunion–Names Names Names

Notes About The First Baptist Church in Perth

Smith’s Falls and District Baptist Church

Memories of The Old Church Halls

Tales From the Methodist Church in Perth

Knox Church– McDonald’s Corners

The Littlest Church in Ferguson Falls

Another Example of Local Random Acts of Kindness- Zion Memorial United Church

St. Augustine’s Church and Christ Church

Before and After — Auld Kirk

Another Example of Local Random Acts of Kindness- Zion Memorial United Church

The Beckwith Baptist Church

Hallelujah and a Haircut —Faces of St. James 1976

What did Rector Elliot from St. James Bring Back from Cacouna?

The Emotional Crowded Houses– St. James

A Sneeze of a Tune from St. Andrew’s Church in Carleton Place

Let The Church Rise– A Little History of St. James Anglican Church

A Letter from the Trenches from the Carleton Place Lads

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
04 Jun 1915, Fri  •  Page 7

The Gazette
Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
11 May 1918, Sat  •  Page 13

 

 

Photo- Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

WW1 broke out and within two weeks, the town’s first dozen volunteers under Captain William H. Hooper left Carleton Place. Major W. H. Hooper, husband of Mabel Hooper –home after four years’ service in the first world war including two years as a prisoner in Germany, was welcomed in a reception held outdoors.  Indoor meetings had been banned by reason of deaths from a world influenza epidemic.

Major W.H. Hooper was appointed Post Master in 1920 and served as Post Master until his retirement in 1950. During Hooper’s time if office many changes occurred.He had control of the clerk for the position of Telegraph operator until the telegraph service moved to its own building. The school children popped in daily to get warm on cold days and enjoy the steam heat. The caretaker lived on the upper floor and could be counted on to appear as soon as the children entered the building and order them out. Major Hooper was also a gruff individual and his family on the corner of Lake Ave and Bridge Street. READ more here..CLICK

 

 

CLIPPED FROM

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
04 Mar 1916, Sat  •  Page 10

 

where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and theSherbrooke Record and and Screamin’ Mamas (USACome and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place. Tales of Almonte and Arnprior Then and Now.

 

The House at 180 Henry Street Carleton Place – John Armour

Walter and John Armour and A Findlay Stove

The Photos of John Armour

The McNeely Family Saga– Part 3

The McNeely Family Saga– Part 1 and 2

James Reynolds “Were the Carleton Place Boys Safe?”

 

 1 August 1917.
Credit: Imperial War Museum (Q 5935) Photographer: Brooke, John Warwick (Lieutenant)

 

 

 

 

1st Battalion
Background Information–Enlistment of 18 bandsmen as stretcher bearers
RG 24, vol. 856, file HQ 54-21-12-13
Organized at Valcartier Camp in accordance with Camp Order 241 of 2
September 1914 (Copy in RG 24 vol. 1258, file HQ 593-2-1 pt.1).
Composed of recruits from MD 1 (Western Ontario), commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel F.W. Hill. Other Officers Commanding: F. A. Creighton
(24/1/16) G.C. Hodson (27/6/16).
Embarked from Quebec 25 September 1914 aboard LAURENTIC.
Disembarked in England 14 October 1914.
Strength: 45 officers, 1121 other ranks.
Arrived in France 11 February 1915.
1st Division, 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade.
Reinforced by 4th Canadian Reserve Battalion.
Returned to England 26 March 1919.
Arrived in Canada 21 April 1919.
Demobilized 24 April 1919.
Disbanded by General Order 149 of 15 September 1920.
Brass Band “John Peel” bugle band.
Regimental colours handed over to General Officer Commanding MD 1 on
demobilization, to be deposited in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Ont. Colours
were purchased in England before the return of the battalion to Canada.
Perpetuated by the Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

 

 

where you can buy all Linda Seccaspina’s books-You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and theSherbrooke Record and and Screamin’ Mamas (USA — check out The Tales of Carleton Place. Tales of Almonte and Arnprior Then and Now.

A Carleton Place Fenian Soldier’s Photo

Bert Prendergast Carleton Place

Perth’s Soldier Terrible Ordeal in Prison Camp 1917 Clyde Scott

1. The Names of the Exempt of Lanark County- WW1

2. The Fighting Lads of Lanark County WW1–Who Do You Know?

3. Our Fathers Never Talked About the War — Clippings of Norman Melville Guthrie

4. “Nanny Shail’s Nephew”– Gerald Whyte World War 2 Veteran

5. Remembering Private Gordon Willard Stewart WW 2 Veteran

6. Glory Days in Carleton Place- Tom Edwards– Horrick’s and Air Raid Sirens

7. 90 Day Fiance and Mail Order and War Brides

8. The Home Guard of Carleton Place

9. The War Children that Tried to Come to Canada–SS City of Benares

10. The Children of Ross Dhu –Evacuation to Canada

11. Does Anyone Know What This is?

12. The Very Sad Tale of Horace Garner “Sparky” Stark of Carleton Place

13. Did You Ever Notice This in Beckwith Park? Thanks to Gary Box

14. George Eccles Almonte Hero!