Erastus Heyborne MacFarlane was born on 18. Apr. 1887 at Saint George, Washington County, Utah. He was the son of
John Menzies MacFarlane and
Agnes Eliza Heyborne. Erastus Heyborne MacFarlane married
Lillian Higbee, daughter of
Samuel Alonzo Higbee and
Sarah Ann Jones, on 24. Jun. 1913 at Cedar City, Iron County, Utah. Erastus Heyborne MacFarlane died on 13. Aug. 1954 at Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, at age 67; heart attack. "Grandpa Mac" was a bookkeeper for the hosiptal in Cedar Ci
ty.
All the grandchildren remember him as someone they loved t
o be around. I remember when we moved to the farm in Idah
o (about 1953) grandpa came up there to visit us and taugh
t us how to catch chipmunks. He made a trap out of an ol
d wooden box and carved the trigger mechanism by hand for u
s. After we baited the trap he became just like one of th
e kids waiting there for our first catch. When we finall
y got our chipmunk, Mary Jo reached into the box and picke
d the chipmunk up by its tail. We didn't know that chipmun
k tails are detachable. Mary Jo found out the hard way. T
he chipmunk scampered away and all that was left was a wigg
ling tail being held by a screaming Mary Jo. As I recall
, she didn't come out to catch chipmunks much after that ex
perience.
Grandpa was always fun to be around and would play with u
s kids anytime he got the chance. It was a shock when he d
ied at a fairly young age. I would like to have been aroun
d him more.
The following was written by Eva Macfarlane Mertlich. It i
s a history of her father:
Erastis Heybourne Macfarlane
(The following is a history of Erastus Heybourne Macfarlan
e written by his daughter Eva Macfarlane Mertlich in 1999.)
Erastus Heyborne Macfarlane, my father, was born April 1
7 1887, the last of 9 children born to Agnes (Tillie) Heybo
rne and John M. Macfarlane.
When he was five years old he moved with his mother and old
er brothers and sisters to Colonia Juarez, Mexico where the
y joined the third wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Adams and her c
hildren. They each had their own home which were next doo
r to each other. The first wife, Ann Chatterly remained i
n St. George, Utah. She bore ten children, five of whom di
ed before the age of two years. In total the three wives b
ore 26 children, eighteen lived to adulthood.
John M. Macfarlane became ill shortly after Agnes arrived i
n Mexico. He returned to Utah for medical help in the earl
y spring of 1892 and died June 4, 1892.
The two families left in Mexico returned to Utah, traveling by train after selling their possessions to help cover the cost of the trip. All three women worked very hard at various tasks to keep food on the table and body and soul together. This polygamist family was very close and caring of one another. I remember my father, "Rass" telling me he called the first wife "Ma" and the second wife (his own mother) "Mother" but they were held in the same esteem, and were both mothers to their fourteen children. They truly loved each other. I am grateful that I remember that feeling of affection they had for each other. My sister Mary and I thought Daddy was the most handsome man we ever saw. I don't remember him with much hair. It was dark with just a sort of fringe. Maybe a dozen or so hairs that he parted and very fastidiously combed over the top of his head. He went to the barber shop every two weeks and would be a bit hurt if we didn't notice he had a hair cut. Daddy was the youngest in the family he was looked after by his older siblings. His mother always called him "Rassy
" and she tried faithfully to get him to change some bad habits he picked up as he grew older. We called her "Grandma Mac". This distinguished her from John M's first wife "Ann" who we knew as "St. George Grandma". Our "Grandma Mac" moved to Cedar City in order to insure the education of her children. She lived with Ann (Tootie) who was our maiden aunt. Tootie married after the age of 50 after the death of her mother. Grandma Mac was a tiny little lady, spoke with a definite English accent with a touch of Australian twang. There was a family plan for all the family members who were able to help Menzies (Daddy's older brother) through medical school, then to help my dad to go.