William Henry McEachran

Wm Henry McEachran lead an interesting life. He was born on May 29 1849 in Northumberland New Brunswick, Canada to Sally Jane Gillis and Malcom John McEachran. Jane and Malcom John were married in Jan 1841.

Together this couple had five children named Jonathan b 1842; Catherine b 1843; Mary b 1845; Daniel David b. 1847; and Wm Henry b. 1849. Apparently Jane died shortly after Wm Henrys birth. His father Malcomb John McEachran needed to work but he wa responsible for five young children. Wm turned his children over to his in-laws Jonathan Gilis and Mary Woods Gillis.

In 1854 Malcomb John remarried Mary Desmond and brought his children from the previous marriage into his new marriage. Malcoms John went on and had eight more children; Thomas b. 1855, John b. 1857, Edward b.1860, Charles Archibald b. 1862, Malcomb Penrose b. 1863, Anny Jane b.1867, Robert Ambrose b. 1869,and Charles Robert b. 1871.

In 1888, Malcomb and his children second family followed his son Wm Henry to Minn.

McEachran-Donalds

Hugh Patrick McEachran (1887-1918) was the son of Wm Henry McEachran (1849-1944)and Abigail Catherine Donalds (1854-1954). Wm and Abby were married on 21 May 1877 at St Michaels Catholic Church in Chatham, New Brunswick.

A cute aside is that Abby was engaged to be married to Wm Henry's cousin but he died while working on board ship in the Atlantic. Wm was there to console Abby and married her a year later. Four years after their marriage they immigrated to Stillwater, Minnesota.

They had eight children as follows. Jane Dorothy (1880-1967) who married Wm Jennings Hemsch in 1906. Angus James (1882-1918) who married Stella Grehan in Tenn.
in 1905. Ann Thersa (1884-1971) who married Conrad Graff in 1910. Hugh Patrick (1887-1918) who married Bertha Gehrmann in 1910. Mary Margaret Cecilia (1889-1969) who married Oscar Gallus in 1914. Catherine Gertrude (1892-1969) who married Peter Schweigel in 1917. Wm Bertman (1895-1964) who married Alice Clark in 1934. Agnes Serena (1898-1963) who married Raymond Little in 1918.

Bertha Gerhmann McEachran remarries

Pictured above are left to right: Paul, Anna Elvera, Mary Leone and Bertha in about 1930.

After the death of her beloved Hugh McEachran, Bertha went to work for a German immigrant man who owned his own restaurant. He hired her as his cook for the business. She became close to him and admired the fact that he was so good to her girls. She married Paul Robert Helmut Scharfenberg (1881-1861)in 1921.

After their marriage Paul built Bertha and the girls a lovely home in St. Paul. Meanwhile, he earned his money by boot-legging during prohibition. As a result he was occasionally in trouble with the law. The business must have been profitable because he moved the it several times so he could continue to sell the liquor under the table.

Finally, Bertha demanded, that he quit the illegal business and get a legal job. He went to work for a big company that built refrigerators. While working, an appliance fell on his foot and he developed gangrene. The disease spread into both legs and he ended up a double amputee for the last ten years of his life.

An interesting note was that when Bertha was married to Hugh, she meet a
lady who told her that in her future was a man who had wheels instead of legs. Bertha thought the woman was crazy. Forty years later she found that in deed the
woman was correct.

German-Irish side of family

To the right is a wedding
picture of Carl Deifel
(1905-1951) and Anna
Elvera McEachran (1914-
1984) taken in 1936. Anna
brings in the Irish-Scot
side of the family.

Anna saw Carl for the
first time when she was
14 years old. She was
in the back yard with a
girlfriend when he came
to her home to visit her
Mom and step-father Paul
Scharfenberg. At the time
the two girls laughed because Carl was wearing Knickers.
Something fashionable in Europe but not the USA.

Eight years after she first meet him, they were married.
She was 22 years old and he was 31 years. The marriage
lasted 15 years when Carl died of a heart attack. Anna
Elvera raised their two daughters alone and then Anna
died at the age of 70 of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma.