Elmer John or John Elmer was the eighth child of Henry Franklin Hacking and Martha Elnora Wilcox Hacking who imigrated for Cedar Fort, Utah to Magrath, Alberta, Canada in 1909. The 1911 Census gives their residence as Stirling, Medicine Hat Alberta, Canada. Three children were born to them in Canada (#7, 8, & 9) before they moved back to the United States to Archer, Madison, Idaho, USA.
Great was their heartache when Elmer John died of pneumonia three months later, being the third of their babies to die (2 brothers, Arthur Clyde and Orris LaMar, were born and died in Cedar Fort, Utah, Utah, USA and can be found on this web site), but Elmer John was the only family member that is buried in Canada.
Elmer John's father, Henry Franklin, was an older brother of George A. Hacking who is also buried in the Magrath Cemetery along with his wife, Francis Harriet Briggs Hacking and their sons Joseph, (Ernest) Roy and Samuel Grant.

HACKING, John E. - 28 Feb 1913


The following was taken from written and oral histories and memories compiled and edited by Donna Hacking Erickson, a neice of Elmer, giving a short bio of each of the eleven children of Henry and Martha, Elmer John being the eighth:

Henry Franklin and Martha Wilcox Hacking had given up looking for a girl and they welcomed baby Elmer with warm hearts. He was born in Magrath, Canada, at Aunt Olive Heep's maternity home. Knowing relatives would be disappointed, Martha sent written announcements on penny postcards:
We're sending a message to you at this date,
To announce the arrival of son number eight.
This treasure from heaven, though preceded by seven,
Is as lovely and sweet as the first that was given.

Elmer was given much love and tender care. However, the Hacking home wasn't very warm and the cold in Canada was piercing. The baby took a cold and though he was a husky, fat little fellow it went right to his lungs. The doctor was treating the pneumonia, which was confined to one lung. The baby seemed to be doing well. Then suddenly the other lung filled. The night of his death was bitter cold. His oldest brother, Frank, went the three miles to Magrath for a dear friend of the family, Alice Wooley, who came and laid the baby out for burial. He was buried in the Magrath Cemetery. The family had been permitted to keep Elmer John a short three months.

Other family connections on Find A Grave
Parents:
Henry Franklin Hacking
Martha Elnora Wilcox Hacking
Siblings:
Henry Franklin Hacking
Donald Hacking
Clarence Marion Hacking
Arthur Clyde Hacking
Leonard Elliot Hacking
Orson LaMar Hacking
Kenneth Elbert Hacking
John Elmer Hacking
Florence May Hacking Dye
Thayne William Hacking
Bryce Dennison Hacking