Name: Harold Everett DeWinter Rank: Private Service Number: 564495 Service: Battery D and Supply Company, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Division, United States Army Date of Birth: July 6, 1892 Place of Birth: South Alton, Kings Co., Nova Scotia Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Brown Next of Kin: Eliza Durkee (Mother), 46 Lovell St, Brockton, Mass. Date of Discharge: June 8, 1919 Date of Death: June 28, 1955 Age: 62 Cemetery: Spirit River Cemetery, Spirit River, Grande Prairie Census Division, Alberta Harold Everett DeWinter was the son of William Henry DeWinter (1851-1925) and Eliza Jane (Mosher) DeWinter, later Durkee (1860-1929). When his mother remarried in 1915, Harold became the stepson of Asa Porter Durkee of Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Harold married Mary Jane Ferguson (1903-1984), and had 3 children, George Everett Dewinter (1928-2006), Roy Charles DeWinter (1932-1992), and Clara Cecilia Smith (1935-2011). His siblings were Catherine Cassie DeWinter (1881-1926), Annie "Elodie" DeWinter (Lloyd) 1884–1979), Allison Ira DeWinter (1886-1969), Agnes E. Dewinter Copp (1888-1906), James Edward Dewinter (1890- 1959), Clara Gertrude DeWinter (1896-1978), Myrtle Marie Dewinter (1899-1982), and Nellie DeWinter. Harold’s sister Clara married Alonzo Willis Durkee who also served during the First World War. When Harold’s mother married Alonzo’s father in 1915, his brother-in-law Alonzo became his stepbrother. Harold’s great grandfather, Sergeant Francis Robert DeWinter (b. 1786), was born in Prussia and came to Nova Scotia from Holland and had crossed the Alps while serving in the French Army of Napoleon Bonaparte. He settled in New Ross, Lunenburg Co., NS. Harold registered for the US Draft on June 5, 1917, in Brockton, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts. Single at the time, he was employed as a farmer working for E. Porter in Brockton. He noted at the time that he had served as a Private in the Cavalry in Kentville, Nova Scotia for 3 months. After enlisting to serve during World War I, Harold served with the 16th Field Artillery during World War I. The Regiment’s motto was “Macte Nova Virtute” (Go Forth with New Strength). He departed the United States from Hoboken, New Jersey for Europe on May 10, 1918, aboard the Duca D’Aosta. The 16th Field Artillery was constituted July 1, 1916, in the Regular Army. It was organized May 21, 1917, at Camp Robinson, Wisconsin, and assigned to the United States 4th Army on November 19, 1917. Harold survived the war and was discharged in early 1919. After the war, Harold, his brother James, and his father moved to Western Canada. Harold died at the age of 62 in Alberta on June 28, 1955, and is interred at the Spirit River Cemetery.

Sources: findagrave.com U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940