Perspectives On The Front

Name

Sergeant Albert Edward Shaver

Regimental Number

639192

Battalion

156th Battalion

Date and Age of Birth

1 January, 1875 (41 Years Old)

Place of Birth

Rutland, Vermont, U.S.A.

Place and Date of Enlistment

Brockville, Ontario. 11 January, 1916

Circumstances of Death

Sergeant Albert Shaver was born in the United States but moved to Canada with his family in the late 1800’s. The family, long time Loyalists, had often crossed the border between the two countries – Albert’s father was born in Osnabruck, Stormont, before moving to the U.S. in 1870.

Born in 1875 in Rutland, Vermont, Albert moved to Canada in 1883. He eventually established himself as a grocer in the small Ontario town and became a leader in the community, serving as a city councillor. Married in 1896 to Alice Rebecca Rowsome from nearby Athens, Ontario, the couple had three children – a son and daughter who both died in childhood, and a second son who died at 85. Alice died of an illness in February 1916, six weeks after Albert enlisted.

Ten days after his 41st birthday, Albert enlisted with the the 156th Battalion, appointed as Quartermaster Sergeant, and moved with the battalion to Barriefield Camp on the outskirts of Kingston. In early June Sergeant Shaver was admitted to Ongwanada Military Hospital for a kidney related illness, but was diagnosed on the 20th with cerebro-spinal meningitis and transferred to an isolation ward, where he died two days later.

A military funeral was held in Brockville six days after his death, with the accompaniment of a large firing part, drawn from the battalion, and the battalion band. Sergeant Albert Edward Shaver was buried in New Dublin Cemetery, north of Brockville and half way to Athens, Ontario.