Name: Arthur Gilman (Gilmour) Spates Rank: Private Service Number: 2329301 Service: 59th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps, Canadian Expeditionary Force Date of Birth: November 22, 1878 Place of Birth: Tusket Lakes, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: March 3, 1917 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Gavelton, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 38 Height: 5 feet, 9 inches Complexion: Medium Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Brown Occupation: Farmer Marital Status: Married Religion: Church of England Next of Kin: Hannah E. Spates (Wife), Yarmouth Co., NS Date of Discharge: March 19, 1919 Age: 40 Date of Death: October 30, 1939 Age: 60 Cemetery: Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Arthur Gilman (Gilmour) Spates was the son of Joseph Gilman Spates (1841-1924) and Araminta (Bullerwell) Spates (1846-1921), and the husband of Hanna Everett (Marling) Spates (1880-1972), and the father of Milby Murray Spates (1899-1919), Charles H Spates (1900–1919), Cecilia Mildred Spates Lambert (1902–1998), Lyle B Spates Hatfield (1904–1993), Muriel Clarice Spates Gavel (1908–2002), Irving Spates (1911-1989), Lester A Spates (1913–1983), and Barbara Emma Spates (1914–1942). Arthur’s father was born in Barton, Digby Co., NS and his mother was born in Pleasant Lake, Yarmouth Co., NS. The Spates family name originates from the surname Specht. Arthur’s paternal grandfather, Thomas William Spates, was born with the name Specht. Thomas’ father, Lieutenant Johann Anthon Julius Christopher Specht, was a German officer serving in the Braunschweig Jäger (Infantry) Battalion, a contingent under British General John Burgoyne during the American Revolutionary War. Captured by American forces at the Battle of Bennington, Vermont, on August 16, 1777, Johann eventually made his home in Nova Scotia. Arthur married Hannah Everett Marling May 29, 1899, in Raynardton, Yarmouth Co., NS. Arthur’s son Milby Murray Spates served in the First World War, and his sons Irving and Lester served Canada in the Second World War. Arthur reported his year of birth as 1879 but his family bible, as confirmed by his brother, and his Nova Scotia registration of live birth confirms his year of birth as 1878. Arthur’s middle name is recorded Gilman and Gilmour on different records. His father’s middle name was Gilman. Artur enlisted with the 1st Nova Scotia Forestry Corps and served with the Canadian Forestry Corps in Canada, England and France. He embarked June 22, 1917 from Halifax to the UK on the SS Justicia, and arriving in Liverpool, England on July 7, 1917. He landed in France on July 30, 1919, and served with the 59th Company of the Canadian Forestry Corps. He was granted leave September 12, 1918, and rejoined his unit on September 25th, serving with the unit until returned to Canada and discharged at the end of the war. He returned to Canada in 1919, lived in Yarmouth County, and in 1921, was living in Pleasant Valley as a lodger with Randall Hugh Gavel (1889-1952) and Myrtle Eugene (Hurlburt) Gavel (1899-1984). Arthur died at the age of 60 on October 30, 1939, of a stroke while also suffering from heart disease. He is interred at the Mountain Cemetery in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

Source: findagrave Library and Archives Canada