{"id":8432,"date":"1901-10-29T17:20:00","date_gmt":"1901-10-30T01:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peipioneercemetery.com\/staging\/?p=8432"},"modified":"2026-10-29T17:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T00:26:19","slug":"veterans-of-st-margarets-parish-and-surrounding-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peipioneercemetery.com\/staging\/veterans-of-st-margarets-parish-and-surrounding-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans of St. Margaret\u2019s Parish and Surrounding Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Military service forms part of the history of St. Margaret\u2019s parish and its families. Jenny (O\u2019Hanley) McQuaid\u2019s Genealogy of St. Margaret\u2019s Parish<\/em> identifies several men from Hermitage, Naufrage and Monticello who served during the First and Second World Wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These brief accounts bring their names together as a starting point for remembering their service. This is a developing list, rather than a complete roll of everyone from the parish who served. It also includes a clearly identified account from neighbouring Souris. Inclusion here does not establish burial in either St. Margaret\u2019s cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier conflicts: a soldier remembered at Souris<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Corporal Francis Albert \u201cFrank\u201d McCormick (1878\u20131901)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Island Register identifies Frank McCormick as a corporal who served in the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion, and who was killed in action during the Philippine-American War. His life ended in 1901, well before the First World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same source lists him at St. Mary\u2019s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Souris. He is included here as part of the wider area\u2019s military history; this does not establish a burial at St. Margaret\u2019s or a confirmed parish connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Island Register also records the belief that he was the only Islander killed in that conflict whose remains were returned to his native country. That distinction remains an attributed claim pending confirmation from military or repatriation records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First World War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emmanuel MacDonald \u2014 Hermitage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

McQuaid records Emmanuel MacDonald\u2019s years as 1878\u20131941 and identifies him as a First World War soldier. He never married and remained in Hermitage until his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis MacDonald \u2014 Hermitage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lewis MacDonald served as a lieutenant in the British Army during the First World War. According to McQuaid, he was on loan to Russia as a consultant on railway construction. His later life took him to Vancouver, where he became a businessman, before he returned to the family home in Hermitage to live with his brother Gabe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabe MacDonald \u2014 Hermitage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

McQuaid also identifies Gabe, Lewis\u2019s brother, as a First World War veteran. The account places the brothers within the extended MacDonald family of Hermitage. Further service details would help give a fuller picture of Gabe\u2019s wartime experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph O\u2019Henley \u2014 Naufrage and Monticello<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Joseph O\u2019Henley is named as a First World War veteran and a son of Ronald O\u2019Henley and Elizabeth Dunphy. McQuaid raises a question about whether Joseph and the next-listed Angus J. were the same person. That uncertainty remains unresolved; they are not presented here as two separate veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel L. O\u2019Hanley \u2014 Naufrage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

McQuaid identifies Daniel L. O\u2019Hanley as a First World War veteran and as the third keeper of Shipwreck Point Light at Naufrage. His story connects military service with the work of maintaining a light on the parish\u2019s coastline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second World War<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jim MacDonald \u2014 Hermitage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Jim, identified in McQuaid\u2019s account as a son of Angus Dan MacDonald, served during the Second World War. His branch of the Hermitage MacDonalds is distinguished by the family name \u201cAngus Dan.\u201d Further records may help establish his full name and the details of his service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building a fuller record<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Service files, photographs, letters and family recollections may add units, ranks, dates and personal experiences to these short accounts. Names and spellings also need careful comparison, especially where several relatives shared a name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can add information about a parish veteran, please share the person\u2019s full name, their family or community connection, and the source of the information. Photographs of service papers or inscriptions can be especially helpful. Any military-service identification and any cemetery burial will be checked separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Frank McCormick: The Island Register, Burial Sites of Interesting People on Prince Edward Island, page 4<\/a>, under St. Mary\u2019s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Souris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the parish veterans: Jenny (O\u2019Hanley) McQuaid, Genealogy of St. Margaret\u2019s Parish<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n