Ferguson Family

In 1997 Doreen Durlacher sent a note to Donald C. Harbour, her nephew. It read: “When Carol Ann (Harbour) Garavalglia was taking a course at school, writing her family history was an assignment. So with information she came up with from us this was the result. She is your St. Louis cousin, daughter of your uncle Rex.” Attached to the note was the following history and this portion concerning Samuel Cornelius Ferguson, his wife Emma Heale, and Elsie Ferguson.

Samuel Cornelius Ferguson
Samuel C. Ferguson was born in 1864 in Melbourne, Australia to John and Margarete Anne (Leechman) Ferguson. Samuel was a homesteader, farmer, real estate agent, rifleman and solder. He married Emma Jane Alice Heale in 1883 in Melbourne, Australia. In 1890 Samuel represented Australia in the Bisley Cup Rifle Matches in England. He locked the door of his real estate office in Melbourne, left for the matches and returned after six months. His wife and two children lived with his parents during his absence. He was quite deaf, believed to be from the rifle shooting. He wanted to join the British forces during the Boer War, but was declined due to the deafness. He managed to get to South Africa and was taken on as quartermaster of the Veteran’s Hospital in Transvaal. After the war, his family joined him in South Africa where he worked in the gold mines in Johannesburg, South Africa. Samuel died in South Africa at the age 54 of fever in 1918 as did his wife Emma in 1916 and his son Donald in 1919. Samuel and Emma had two children:

Donald                     b. 1889, d. 1916
Elsie Marguerite    b. April 3, 1886, d. October 5, 1981

Emma Jane Alice Heale
Emma Jane Alice Heale was born in 1864 to William Carrington and Elizabeth (Meredith) Heale in Australia. Her parents came from Wales and married in Australia. Mr. Heale was a banker from London Chartered Bank. He operated a branch bank in Victoria Territory, Australia. Emma’s mother was engaged to a jeweler, but married Heale, the banker instead. The former suitor made a broach from a gold nugget found in the Victoria Gold Mine and gave it as a wedding gift. The broach was given to Emma and then passed on to her daughter Elsie Ferguson, who wore it on her dresses up until her death in 1981. The broach now belongs to Janet Dearing, granddaughter of Elsie. Emma’s mother died early and she was raised by her father and sisters. Emma married Samuel Cornelius Ferguson in Australia in 1883 and died in 1913 in South Africa.

Elsie M. Ferguson
Married to William Crozier Harbour, Elsie was born April 3, 1886 to Samuel Cornelius and Emma (Heale) Ferguson, in Melbourne, Australia. Elsie went to school in Black Flat, Australia, 17 miles North from Melbourne. The area in 1999 is called Whttlesea and has a street named Black Flat. At age 14, Elsie went to live with Jean Bennett and her father in Stawell, Australia, which is located approximately 250 miles North Northwest of Melbourne in the Victoria Territory. Mr. Bennett was partially blind. Elsie read to him and acted as companion. Sometime after the Boer War, Elsie and her mother joined Samuel in Johannesburg, South Africa. Elsie’s brother Donald followed shortly after. She met William Crozier Harbour there. They were married April 9, 1908 in South Africa. She bore two children in Germiston, South Africa. Elsie, William and their two children left South Africa in August or September 1913. The voyage was from Capetown, South Africa to England aboard the Gloucester Castle (sunk by Germans in World War I). They spent one week in London before sailing to New York on the Olympic, Cunard Lines (sister ship to the Titanic). She then resided in St. Louis until 1947 when she moved to Kansas City, Missouri and lived with her daughter Doreen Durlacher and family. Elsie past away on October 5, 1981. The children of William Crozier Harbour and Elsie Ferguson are:

Elsie Doreen             b. November 28, 1908, Germiston, South Africa
William Clayton        b. July 9, 1911, Germiston, South Africa
Francis Rex               b. July 1, 1914, St. Louis, Missouri

Copyright © 2001 Harbour-Holst Genealogy. All rights reserved.
Revised: March 12, 2006 .