Lieutenant Joseph Emmett Stauffer (October 29, 1874 – April 10, 1917) was a teacher, politician and soldier from

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Early life

Stauffer was born October 29, 1874, in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of ...

, to parents of German-Swiss ancestry. He moved to Canada at a young age with his family, and was educated at

Berlin, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a 1916 referendum change ...

. He married Emma Ernst. Stauffer worked as a real estate agent, forest ranger, and Homestead Inspector.

Political career

Stauffer was elected to the Alberta Legislature in the 1909 Alberta legislature. In that election he defeated incumbent Cornelius Hiebert in a landslide in the new

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

district. He was re-elected to a second term in office in the 1913 Alberta legislature, winning with a comfortable but reduced plurality.

Military career

Stauffer enlisted in the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...

and served overseas with the Canadian Infantry (Alberta Regiment) 50th Battalion in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He kept his seat in the provincial legislature while he was overseas fighting in the war. On April 10, 1917, he was killed in action during the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Robert Brett Robert George Brett (November 16, 1851 – September 16, 1929) was a politician and physician in the North-West Territories and Alberta, Canada, and was the second lieutenant governor of Alberta. Early life Robert George Brett was born on Nove ...

honored Stauffer's memory and military service by making special note in the

Throne Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened. The address sets fo ...

at the opening of the

4th Alberta Legislative Assembly The 4th Alberta Legislative Assembly was in Legislative session, session from February 7, 1918, to June 23, 1921, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 1917 Alberta general election held on June 7, 1917. The Legislat ...

on February 7, 1918. The small town of Stauffer,

is named in his honor.

References

External links

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Lieutenant Joseph Emmitt Stauffer
– Canadian Great War Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Stauffer, Joseph 1874 births 1917 deaths People from Manassas, Virginia Alberta Liberal Party MLAs Military personnel from Virginia Canadian military personnel killed in World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force officers American emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Swiss descent 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta