This fonds consists primarily of correspondence received by Oakley and Sophia Orser and members of their family, including their daughter, Augusta Orser Burrill; Oakley's father, John W. Orser, and sister, Georgia Orser, from family members serving overseas during the First World War. Taken collectively, these letters underscore the fact that many young men from Carleton County, a number from, and related to, the Orser family, enlisted for wartime service, and suggest the impact this had on their families and community.

The bulk of the correspondence is from John A. Orser, Oakley and Sophia Orser's son, but there are also letters from Augusta Orser Burrill's husband, William E. Burrill; cousin Samuel Gilbert Barter; and two of John A. Orser's wartime friends, Fred B. Wallace and Bert [?]. These letters offer news of wartime activities in England and France and, particularly, information about soldiers from Carleton County who were at the Front. They also highlight family and community ties and provide insights into feelings of loneliness, dangers, and difficulties soldiers faced during wartime.

There are also a few letters between family members at home during wartime; correspondence relating to Sophia Orser's attempts to have her son's estate distributed after his death and pertaining to Oakley Orser's claim to a pension on account of his son's wartime service; a poem by John A. Orser about working on farms in the state of Maine; a scroll commemorating the wartime sacrifice of Pte. William E. Burrill; and two photographs, one of Orser family siblings taken on the farm,and the second, a studio portrait of John A. Orser and his friend, Harold Olney, in uniform.

The fonds consists of diaries and a paybook. The diaries describe enlistment, training in barracks, shipping off to Europe from Halifax, and his experiences on the front line in France including at the battle of the Somme, and the armistice in 1918 then heading for home. The diaries are detailed and well written giving a vivid picture of life in the trenches. They also include his impressions of London, England, France and Belgium.

Some loose papers and ephemera related to his military service were filed in the paybook. There is also a card from the Grand Lodge of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen of Cleveland Ohio which exempts him from all dues and assessments during military service. Also included with the paybook is a newsclipping and a card from a Paris hotel.

This fonds consists of membership lists, correspondence, a report, a map of plots, postcards and printed ephemera. The membership lists are categorized by size of plot, area cultivated, and lots wanted. The typed report, dated February 1919, includes statistics on membership by category but is incomplete. A map of plots on Hawthorne Avenue is included.

There is correspondence with seed companies, and citizens requesting vegetable seeds. Correspondence from the Department of Agriculture, Office of the Food Controller, and the Canadian Government Seed Purchasing Commission is included as are letters from the Experimental Farm at Fredericton, N.B. and the Motor Vehicle Board. Included too are invoices for equipment and supplies.

This fonds consists of 45 pieces of correspondence written by Walter A. Evans to Eva May Fleet, between 1915 and 1919, while he was serving overseas with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. It documents his activities as a soldier, conditions in the trenches, and his experiences on the battlefield. As well, the letters provide insights into the relationship developing between Eva and Walter that culminated in their marriage in 1921.

Walter Evans describes the Front as a God-forsaken place, and comments on the mud, damp, and cold. He notes bombing raids; the deaths of men, mules, and horses; and the need for more men at the Front. In particular, he discuss his role in the Battle of Passchendaele, what he saw on the battlefield (10 December 1917), and mentions the boys from home, particularly his brother, Alder, whom he meets overseas. As well, he notes his activities on leave, his training period in England, and the need for conscription. His last 5 letters (24 November 1918 to 27 April 1919) discuss his desire to return home, his attempts to make this a reality, and his hope that Eva will agree to marry him.

This fonds consists of Frederick D. Foley's military appointment as a lieutenant, 1915; his death certificate; a personalized commemorative scroll and a memorial from King George V, both honouring the war dead.

There is also a postal card addressed to Mrs. Violet Foley of Loch Lomond Road, from Frederick, dated just 23 days before his death, letting her know a letter would soon follow.

This fonds consists of records pertaining to Phoebe Ann Crouse, Samuel Crouse, Myles Hayward Crouse, and Ellsworth Burtus Crouse. The bulk of the fonds consists of correspondence written by Myles Hayward Crouse and Ellsworth Burtus Crouse to their mother, Phoebe Ann Crouse, while they were serving in the Canadian Army during World War I. These letters offer insights into living conditions overseas, trench warfare, food, homesickness, communications from home, illness, wounded soldiers, and conscription, as well as army leaves and travel in Britain.

The fonds also contains a few records pertaining to Samuel Crouse's work with the C.P.R., including the Canadian Railway War Board, Wage Agreement No. 2 (1918) and a C.P.R. circular concerning Spanish Influenza (1918). A postcard of the troop transport ship R.M.S. Olympic [191-?] is also included.

These 5 army (field service) correspondence books relate to Capt. C. F. Inches's tour of duty in France, in 1916, with the 1st Canadian Heavy Battery. He records information about his routine administration duties, while also providing information about ammunition, equipment, weapons, horses, the awarding of honours and medals, charges of insolence and desertion, military court martials, attack plans, activities at the Front, and feats of gallantry. A number of names of officers and enlisted men are included. The correspondence book dating from June to July 1916 (MS1A) contains a few letters written or signed by Lt.-Col. C. G. Pritchard, R.G.A.

This register records the voluntary recruitment of 553 men in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, for service overseas during the First World War, dating from 27 September 1915, when a major recruiting drive was underway in the province, until 30 August 1917, the day after Prime Minister Robert Borden's Military Service Act became law. It may be a manuscript copy of the enlistment register in which names of volunteers were recorded initially during or immediately after recruitment rallies.

Each entry provides the recruit's name, place of residence, age at recruitment, marital status, date of enlistment, nationality, and the unit to which he was assigned. Most of the men were Canadians, natives of Charlotte County, N.B. Other places of residence include Albert, Charlotte, St. John, York, Carleton, and Kings counties in N.B.; Nova Scotia; Prince Edward Island; Ontario; United States of America (Maine); England; Ireland; Scotland; Newfoundland; Denmark; and Romania. A very few gave their nationality as Italian, Danish, Norwegian, Russian, or Syrian.

A few notations, such as "stopped by mother," "discharged," "wife objected" or "rejected," are recorded in the margins. Occasionally, the name of the recruiter -- H. V. Dewar, Herman G. Smith, or ? McDowell -- and the place of recuitment -- St. George, St. Andrews, Castalia -- are given. The entries are in several different hands.

On the record book's cover is printed "Hospital Admission & Discharge Book". The recruitment entries begin at the back of the book.

This is a single item, sheet music entitled "Canadian Kilties songs" with words and music by J. Benison Rainsford. The music was printed by Louis H. Ross Music Publishing Co., of Boston, Massachusetts. The copyright (1917) is held by J. Benison Rainsford.

This letter is representative of hundreds of such thank-you letters written by Canadian soldiers serving overseas during the First World War to New Brunswick school children. Here Staff Sargeant V. A. Giles, of the 1st Canadian Division, thanks Muriel Edwards, then a girl of 11-years-old, for her letter and an "awfully nice bag of candy" he received in the post. He comments that "you cannot tell what great pleasure it gave all the Canadian Soldiers to receive them and knowing that all our dear little Girls at home are working for us."