This Page Last Updated on Monday March 16, 2009

ST. CLAIR VAN WYCK LAUGHTON (1886 - 

See also the story of the "Boys of Parkhill", here on the website.

All that I can recall from my own knowledge was that Great Uncle Clair was married to Eva Wickert "Great Aunt Eva", who we visited on occasion at here home in Grand Bend.  We drove by the site in April 2004, it is still standing.

In Uncle Paul's letter of April 6, 2004 there are a few comments about St. Clair:

Bits about Harry are scattered through Mary & Tot. They lived quite close to us in north Toronto & we saw a lot of them.  Clair we saw less of than the others, only occasionally at Grand Bend. He was a gravely-voiced amiable sort. Clair was a drummer (travelling salesman), like his father in later years, in his case for a pickle manufacturer. Like Fred & Myra, they had no children. They lived latterly in Royal Oak, Michigan. When he died & Eva moved to Grand Bend, Van voluntarily looked after a lot of her affairs, but got scant thanks for his pains.

Clair's Attestation Papers

Clair's attestation papers indicated that he was born on April 30, 1886 and that his Regimental Number was #823321.  He lists his occupation as a "Traveller" (travelling salesman") and that he previously served for 6 years in the 6th and 7th Regiment.  On further review of the Attestation Papers in October 2006, I noted that his papers are marked "Deserter" 11-2-1916.  I ordered his complete military record from Library and Archives Canada and it arrived on November 8, 2006.  I have copied that and included it here with a better quality set of his attestation papers as well:

Clair's Military Service Record (Discharged for Desertion)

The documents suggest that Clair was ill on or about 10 p.m. on January 16, 1916 and left the battalion, apparently without permission.  He was declared a deserter and Stuck Off Strength on January 17, 1916.  Clair was subsequently "Pardoned Under General Amnesty" on December 20, 1919.  I will check with colleagues on the CEF Study Group as to the short form notations on the sheets relating to the specific orders.

Great Uncle Clair's military record has been added to the Great Canadian War Project web site:

Clair's Military Service Record

A Web Blog of Clair's service, including a link to his complete service file is located here:

St. Clair Van Wyck Laughton Soldier Blog or http://cefww1soldierclaughton.blogspot.com/

When the 1920 United States Census came on-line in 2009 we also found that St. Clair Van Wyck Laughton and his wife Eva Laughton (nee Wickert) were residing in Los Angeles, California USA. At this time we do not have details as to Clair and Eva's movements down to California and then back up to Detroit.

1920 United States Census - click on image for full scale

Thanks to Anna Murray of Hamilton, Ontario who wrote to me in December 1987, we have some limited information about Clair's wife "Eva".  All of the grandchildren that grew up in Grand Bend in the 1960's knew "Aunt Eva" as she moved here from Michigan after Clair's passing.  As I recall she was a bit more recluse than Aunt Myra, although both "Great Aunts" by marriage.  Anna Murray was looking for "Eva Rose Laughton (nee Wickert)" in 1984 and ended up corresponding with Uncle Paul, who also provided information on the rest of the family.  Anna thought Paul was my father, not my uncle and so she wrote to me to pass on the information.  This is what she had found out about Aunt Eva through the Chas. Box Funeral Home in Parkhill, Ontario in November 1987: (see linked document from Anna Murray)

Eva Rose (Wickert) Laughton
daughter of Henry Wickert (born Ont.) and Esther Emmeline Wilson
born December 28, 1894, Stephen Township, Huron County, Ontario
died November 28, 1983
buried through Box Funeral Home in the Parkhill Cemetery

I suspect there is a story here somewhere as to why Clair and Eva are not buried in the family plot in the Parkhill Cemetery.  Unfortunately I did not think to check on this during my September 2004 visit to the cemetery.  A second visit to the site is planned for Spring 2009 and as well the Box Funeral Home will be contacted.

Update of July 2008 while checking other records we find that the 1911 Census of Canada has Great Uncle Clair living with his Mother-In-Law "Esther Wickert" (see this link). I had never known of the age difference, Great Uncle Clair is listed as 24 (born in 1887) and Great Aunt Eva is only 16 (born in 1894).  In actual fact (check him in the same 1911 Census in Parkhill) and he is 25, born in 1893 (that is the correct date).

It appears there may be more to the story of Great Uncle Clair than that hinted at by his military record!

In March 2009 we received our initial response from the Box Funeral Home in Parkhill. Clair and Eva are definitely buried in the Parkhill Union Cemetery.  There are other Wickert (or Wilson?) images that Chuck Box also sent. I am awaiting the site plan and will conduct a site visit in the Spring of 2009. Here are the photographs from Chuck Box:

Copyright 2004 - 2009 Richard Van Wyck Laughton
on behalf of the Laughton Families
http://www.richardlaughton.com

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