09.17.08
Historical photos – WWI
Here are some pictures posted online by the Canadian War Museum.
The Howitzer guns – Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE was a gunner with a Howitzer; and pack horses used to transport artillery.
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- Library and Archives Canada pa 000743
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- Library and Archives Canada pa 001229
09.06.08
Carmania
Here’s a picture of the ship Carmania that brought Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE back from England in 1919 – it was an ocean liner that was being used as a battle and troop ship.
Percy Robertson ARBUCKLE – First World War Records
Percy was Eddy’s older brother. He served in the first world war for over 4 years and was a member of the Canadian forces during the battle at Vimy Ridge (this info from EA). His service record is pretty basic, but here are a few interesting pieces:
From the pay record, we can see that Percy’s parents Samuel and Margaret moved to a new address (RR#2 in Aylmer) in 1916. Also, that Percy sent his pay home to his father. He was paid $15/month as a private; Eddy was paid $20/month as a sargeant but did not receive pay while in hospital.
Also, you have to wonder a bit about what Percy was up to before and during the war. His medical records show that he had a few infections: gonorrhea (recovered), a testicular infection (lasting 1 year) and a positive Wassermann test (a not very accurate syphilis test). All of these infections can now be treated with antibiotics – no antibiotics during WWI. But really. 1 year with aching privates! While fighting in a war!
Finally, Percy was discharged and returned to Canada.
09.05.08
Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE – First World War
Today was a fun day. I had made a request to see the service record of Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE (Son of Samuel and Margaret Jane) and generally an important person to this blog. I got the email a few days ago that the box had arrived at the viewing area of Library and Archives Canada… I have no idea where they keep these thousands of boxes otherwise, but I was happy to be able to search through the files for Eddy’s…
Here are some pictures of the documents.
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- Injury sustained
09.03.08
Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE & Edna Pearl ORMOND
Here’s the form that Eddy and Edna Pearl filled out to ask for their marriage license. Edna Pearl was Eddy Earle’s first wife, the woman who died in childbirth in 1925. On this document, it says that Eddy was living in Englehart, Ontario while Edna Pearl was living in Ottawa at 129 Waverley Street. Her parents lived at 25 Strathcona Avenue. This is really close to downtown Ottawa today and I’m pretty sure both houses are still there. When I get a chance, I’ll swing by and take some pictures… But for now, here’s the record – again I think that this is Eddy’s writing…
09.02.08
Eddy E ARBUCKLE – a sad story unfolds
WARNING – heartbreaking post.
Imagine my delight when I found the marriage record for Eddy E ARBUCKLE and his wife! I didn’t know the full name of his wife, so this was fantastic. Marriage records are great because the show lots of information: the bride and groom, ages, their occupations, where they were born, where they were living, their parents, and include the names of witnesses. Here’s what I found:
In Carleton County, 1924 – Eddy Earl ARBUCKLE, 27, farmer, born in Wright township Quebec., living in Englehart Ont., son of Samuel ARBUCKLE (b. Russell Ont) & Mary MINION, married Edna Pearl ORMOND, 27, born in Eardley Que., now living at 129 Waverly St. in Ottawa, daughter of Henry ORMOND (b. Breckenridge Que) & Elinor RICHARD, witnesses: Elizabeth NEIL of Ottawa & Milton RICHARDS of Breckenridge, 2 Jan 1924 at Ottawa
Yey! A family name and place to search! So, off I went, searching the census for 1911, 1901… to find the Ormond family and got pretty far… And then I came upon this; a death notice for a year after Eddy E and Edna Pearl were married:
ARBUCKLE, Baby, m, Jan. 15, 1925, Englehart, cause – stillbirth, burial – Englehart, s/o E. Arbuckle & Pearl Ormonde, infm – Percy Arbuckle, uncle, Englehart, (Temiskaming Dist)
Now, having a child myself, I was very sad to see this posting. Later, when I had a chance to search for the original death notice (it was a boy), I found that the next entry in the death notice book was for Edna Pearl herself. This must have been devastating for Eddy and the whole family.
Edna Pearl ORMOND is buried with her parents in the Bellevue cemetery in Aylmer, Quebec. I have not found a mention of where the baby was buried. I like to think he was buried with his mother.
08.31.08
Eddy Earle ARBUCKLE – migrant worker
So, in the search for information in the census records, I typed the name Arbuckle. Well, there were alot of Arbuckles in the province of Ontario in 1911, but one caught my attention. An Eddie ARBUCKLE located in Lanark North, listed in the household of James Y ROBERTSON and Jennie MINION. This is Eddy Earle ARBUCKLE, gone to work on his grandmother’s brother’s farm where his mother’s sister was keeping house.
This was a great piece of information to find, because it links Jane ROBERTSON into a specific Robertson family. ROBERTSON is a very common name; the family settled in Ontario very early on (1820s). But more on that another time.
James Y ROBERTSON has a grave marker in the Robertson Cemetery of Lanark county – I know this is him because the birth dates on the census and on the gravemarker are identical. Archibald G. was his brother.
Jennie (Janet) MINION has a grave marker in the Ramsayville Cemetery in the family plot next to her father Stephen’s and with her brother James.
Eddy Earle ARBUCKLE
Eddy Earle was the first child born to Samuel ARBUCKLE and Margaret Jane MINIONS after they moved to Aylmer Quebec. Eddy was born March 13th, 1896 and was named after E.B. Eddy (naturally).
Eddy fought in the first world war; his attestation papers are available online here. When I showed these documents to E.A. (Eddy’s son), he said that the forms were definitely completed by Eddy Earle – he could tell because of the capital Es.
