Introduction / Barbara Allan / Westray Allans / Marion Allan and James Harcus / John Harcus and Jane Drummond / John Hercus and Margaret Seater

James William Hercus and Jessie Crawford Mack

James William Hercus was born 21st May 1860 at Doggerboat, Pharay, the son of John Hercus and Mary Seator. He left Orkney as a young man and on 26th January 1883 he married Jessie Crawford Mack, of Linlithgow, daughter of William Mack and Janet (Jessie) Crawford, born 23rd September 1861. James and Jessie had nine children:

• William Mack Hercus, b.1883 who married twice and had three children. He was a purser with a shipping line and died in 1956.

• Jessie Hercus, b. 1885 and d. 1894

• Margaret Seater Hercus, b.1st Oct 1886 who immigrated to the US in 1906 and was living with her aunt and uncle John and Jane Seater in Washington DC. She visited Scotland in 1911. She married David Rucker, a carpenter from Virginia probably not long after returning from Scotland. They lived in Sacramento, California where they had four children. Margaret died 2nd January 1964.

• John Hercus, b. about 1888 who married a woman named Jane and had one daughter. He died January 1959 in Winnipeg.

• Mary (Maisie) Mack Hercus, b. 1889 who married Cyril Whitaker 26th July 1915 in Winnipeg and had two children. After Mr. Whitaker's death she married Carl. F. Pye. She lived in Winnipeg and spent part of the year at nearby Clearwater Bay.

• James Hercus, b. 13th Sep 1891 who married Gertrude Louise Dunphy on 3rd Sep 1920 and had three children. They lived in Winnipeg.

• George Crawford Hercus, b. 1897 who lived in Winnipeg and worked at City Hydro.

• Crawford Mack Hercus, b. 17th July 1899 and married Estelle MacGregor on 7th July 1920 in Winnipeg and had three children. They lived in Ontario where Crawford worked for the Department of Labour.

• Alexander Gilch Hercus, b. 1901 after the census. He married, first, Ms. Smith and had one son. He later married Millie Dixon. He was living in Brandon, Manitoba at the time of his father's death, but later returned to Winnipeg.

James and Jessie lived in Glasgow where James was a boot maker with his own shop. About 1910 they moved, probably with several of their children, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. There James established a shoe and dry goods store which he operated for about twenty years until his death. He died in Winnipeg 8th March 1931, at age 70. The Hercus Store continued in operation for a few years but was gone by 1940. Jessie died at Winnipeg, 2nd February 1943, at age 82.