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Fergus Herbert Elgin Mackain (my 3rd cousin 3 times removed) was born on 28th March 1886 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, the 2nd child and eldest son of Fergus Henry McKain and Georgina Anna (nee Smith). Fergus senior was born in England in 1856, moved out to Canada some time around 1875 and subsequently married and had 7 children. By 1890, the growing family had moved to the United States and continued to relocate in various states over the next 20 years. By 1910, Fergus junior, then aged 24, was based in New York, lodging at 86 West 14th Street, working as an advertising illustrator, married 1 month, although his wife was not listed with him (1910 Federal Census of New York City, Manhattan borough - ED162 sheet 12A). He was married to Louise Joan Beers and had two sons, Fergus and Lindsay.
At the start of the 1st World War (1914-1918), Fergus worked his passage to England on a horse-transport to join the British Army and on 2nd November, 1915 he enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers, 23rd Battalion (Sportsman's). At the date of enlistment he was staying with relatives in England. He sailed to France in 1916 and fought with the the 23rd as part of the Somme offensive, was wounded at the Battle of Delville Wood (14 July to 3 September 1916) and was later transferred to the Army Service Corps as a result of illness.
While serving in France, Fergus published a series of illustrated postcards that documented the experiences of a soldier who goes through training before being shipped out to the front to fight in the British Expeditionary Force. See Fergus Mackain's Wartime Sketches
In 1920, he returned to the United States, departing from Liverpool on the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria and arriving in New York on 9th September. On the passenger manifest at Ellis Island he is listed as 6 ft 3 inches tall with a fresh complexion, fair hair and blue eyes. His next of kin in the UK was his uncle, Rev. W.J.Mckain.
In 1923 Fergus contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and died on 3rd July 1924 at the Oteen Veterans Hospital, Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina and was buried at the Riverside Cemetery there. (Source:- Find A Grave Memorial # 36841431 )
