Click link here to go to the WWI collection of Laura Margaret Morton.

Spanish-American War & World War I Collection
Alexander Matier was born in 1880 and raised in New York City where in May, 1898, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He saw service in Cuba and returned to New York. In 1915 Matier enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and saw service overseas, where he was wounded in Belgium in the spring of 1916.

He spent more than two years in convalescent hospitals in England and Canada before he was discharged in September 1918. He died in Winnipeg in 1920. More information about this time period is available in his service file, which is unusually detailed about his medical history, including time spent at the Tuxedo Military Hospital in Winnipeg, receiving treatments such as galvanism, faradism, electric current baths and ionization (radiation).

The collection consists of two letters written home from Cuba in 1898 and an extended eighteen page letter written in 1918 detailing his wounding and convalescence. 

Please note: Because of the way files are organized on the website, letters written by one author but across multiple wars may not always be visible together (the pages will look very similar, only the headings above the name and the # of letters in the "Collection Contents" list below will be different. If needed, the following links can be used to move between the two time periods of the Matier collection:

Click here to go to the Spanish-American War letters from 1898.

Click here to go to the WWI letter from 1918.

William James McNabb was born in Desboro, Ontario, in March 1891. He enlisted in December 1915 in Owen Sound, Ontario, with the 147th Grey Battalion. McNabb served overseas in France and Belgium until his death in October 1918. The collection currently consists of one letter, obituaries, a field service card, and his circumstances of death report.

This collection contains over 250 letters from World War One published in the Cobourg World, a local newspaper published in Cobourg, Ontario. Newspapers across Canada regularly printed letters home from overseas, either letters written directly to the newspaper by the soldiers, or first written to the family and then contributed to the paper by the family. Collections such as those from the Cobourg World provide a fascinating look at the relationship of community and war as played out in the pages of the local newspaper. All letters in the collection have been previously published in the newspaper and were also later collected by local historian Percy Climo in a book entitled Let Us Remember: Lively Letters from World War One. The dates for which the letters are listed represent the dates on which they were published, as the original dates of the letters are not always indicated. Where the original date of writing is known it will be part of the letter text. Introductions to the letters and editorial comments as they appeared in the newspaper have been left as published. All transcriptions have been taken from copies on microfilm and as such there are no scans for this collection.

Douglas George Buckley was born in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, in January 1891. Buckley enlisted in Toronto, Ontario, in November 1914 and served oveseas with the 19th Battalion until his discharge on medical grounds in October 1917. The collection currently consists of forty letters, postcards, and miscellaneous personal items.

Lieutenant Coningsby William Dawson, Canadian Expeditionary Force, was the author of the 1917 book Carry On: Letters in War-Time. The book's letters, along with more information on Lt. Dawson, can be found in the Special Items Collections section of the website.

Raymond Ellsworth Ives enlisted in 1916 and served overseas in France, including Vimy Ridge. The collection consists of four letters, ten photographs, and a short personal memoir from enlistment to Vimy.

Cecil Moody was born in England in November, 1892, and immigrated to Canada prior to the war. Moody enlisted in October 1915 and served overseas with the 8th Canadian Field Ambulance until the end of the war. The collection currently consists of thirty-nine letters, as well as photographs and other miscellaneous items connected to his service.

Roger Wilson was born in Kendall, Westmoreland, England, in April 1896. Wilson came to Alberta, Canada, in the spring of 1914 where he worked as a farmer. He enlisted in December 1915 in Calgary, Alberta, with the 89th Battalion and then later served overseas with the 31st Battalion. Wilson died on April 9, 1917, in the attack at Vimy Ridge. The collection currently consists of four letters written by Wilson and a newspaper notice of his death.

William Robert Bell was born in Drew, Ontario, in 1915 and joined the R.C.A.F. in 1941. William Bell served overseas in Britian and returned to Canada in 1945. He died in 1977. The collection includes twenty-eight letters from William. See also the correspondence from his bothers James Bond Bell and Elmer David Bell.