Guysborough County Enlistments - July 7, 1916

Two Guysborough County natives enlisted for service with Canadian military units on July 7, 1916: 

Pte. E. J. "Ted" MacIntosh

1. Edward James “Ted” MacIntosh was born at Stillwater, Guysborough County on November 29, 1898, son of William A. and Olive (Hingley) MacIntosh. Ted enlisted with the 193rd Battalion at Camp Aldershot, NS on July 7, 1916 and departed for England with the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade in October 1916. No further details on his overseas services available at present, as Ted’s service record is not yet available online. According to Ted’s son, Edward, he participated in an exhibition match against a professional boxer while serving in France—no word on how Ted performed!

Edward James "Ted" MacIntosh (post-war).

Ted returned to the Stillwater area after the war, earning a reputation as a skilled trapper, salmon fisherman and sporting guide. In fact, he held the record for the greatest weight in salmon caught by fly in one day. Ted was also an excellent shot with a rifle, a talent that no doubt served him well in the trenches.

Ted salmon fishing on the St. Mary's River.

Ted married Anna Beulah Jack on August 18, 1936, the couple subsequently raising six children—four daughters and two sons. Tragically, Ted passed away at Sherbrooke on December 24, 1942. While the primary cause of death is listed as myocarditis, the contributing factors listed on his death certificate—acute bronchitis and laryngitis—suggest that exposure to poison gas during military service contributed to his death at the age of 44.


2. George Rufus MacKenzie was born November 17, 1876 at Whitehead, Guysborough County, son of John and Susan Caroline (Grover) MacKenzie. John’s first wife, Henrietta, gave birth to two children Malcolm (1898) and William (1902), but passed away a year after her second son’s birth. In 1904, George married Clara Ethel Scranton of Manchester, sister of John Scranton, who was later killed in action in Belgium on July 5, 1916. The couple subsequently had three children—Carl (1907), Margaret/Marjory (1908) and Helen (1915).

 As George’s age and family circumstances virtually eliminated the possibility of overseas service, he enlisted with the “Home Service” at New Glasgow, NS on July 7, 1916, two days after his brother-in-law’s death in combat Sometime after the war, George and Clara relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where George passed away around 1950.