Manuel Williams was born in the United States on April 1, 1876. His connection to New York’s North Country is documented through his World War I draft registration, completed on October 5, 1918. At the time, the forty-two-year-old Williams gave his permanent home address as Rouses Point, New York, while working across the international border in Montreal, Quebec.
Manuel was employed as a cigar maker by the Landua Company at 3 St. Alexander Street in Montreal. His wife, Emma Williams, lived in Verdun, Quebec, suggesting that Manuel maintained ties on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. His draft registration described him as being of medium height and build, with brown eyes and dark hair.
The 1921 Census of Canada provides a more detailed picture of Manuel’s life in Montreal. It recorded him as a forty-five-year-old U.S. citizen who had immigrated to Canada in 1910. His racial or ethnic origin was recorded as English. Manuel and Emma rented a five-room row or terrace home in Montreal, and both were identified as Protestant. Manuel could read and write and spoke English.
Manuel Williams’ story illustrates the importance of the international border to the history of the North Country. His life connected Rouses Point and Montreal, communities linked by railroad lines, commerce, employment, and migration. His records provide a glimpse into the experience of a U.S.-born worker who maintained connections to northern New York while establishing a household and working life in Canada during the early twentieth century.