By Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
He was the first Sarnia Mayor to face an international crisis.
William Robert Paul became our 35th Chief Magistrate in 1915, just as the First World War was beginning to heat up.
Warfare isn’t normally considered a municipal matter but with more than 1,000 of the City’s 10,000 residents headed for the meat grinder that was the Western Front, Mayor Paul decided something had to be done to ensure the economic security of the loved ones they left behind.
Specifically, he decided the Municipality should buy life insurance for every Sarnia soldier. Council went along with the proposal and a deal was struck with the State Life Insurance Company of Indianapolis.
Tragically, the insurance soon came in handy for scores of local families. Some 1O2 of the City’s young men were killed in action before the war ended and State Life paid out thousands of dollars to their dependents.
Other local families needed help not because sons and husbands had been killed, but simply because they were overseas for three years and could not help with the day-to-day costs of running a household.
To get around the problem Council granted an allowance of $10.00 per month to the wives or mothers of enlisted men. Families also received $2.00 per month for each child of a soldier.
In other words, if a young soldier had a wife and two children, his family would receive $14.00 a month from the City. If he wasn’t married, his mom would get $10.00.
It may not sound all that generous today, but in 1915 it was a significant amount of cash. And the City was under no obligation whatever to provide such assistance.
He did not seek re-election in 1916.