Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa
New York, Chicago: Lewis publishing Co., S. Thompson Lewis, editor. 1903
Transcribed by Renee Rimmert. A complete copy of this book is available on-line at archive.org.
Ma - McD
CHARLES M. MARSHALL , the postmaster of Moulton, Iowa, is a member of a large family of men noted for their public spirit and enterprise, and his excellent career as a business man and as the incumbent of the most important public office of his city makes him specially deserving of a place in this volume. His parents are William and Arminda (Hayes) Marshall, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Ohio and in 1872 came west, first locating in Missouri, where for a time he ran a hotel in Coatsville. In 1873 he removed to Iowa, since which time they resided in Moulton. For many years he was in the real estate business, and for twenty-one years was assessor of his township. His long and blameless career was ended in death on December 17, 1902. He was a Republican and in religion a Methodist. William Marshall was married three times, and our subject is the son of his third wife. There are five living children of the first marriage, one of the second and four of the third. Those living are as follows: W. J. Marshall is a prominent banker of Sardinia, Ohio, the original home of the family; Mrs. Dr. W. W. Glenn, of Hillsboro, Ohio; Judge H. L. Marshall, of Eufaula, Indian Territory; Robert L. Marshall, of Cincinnati, Ohio, an employee of the Big Four Railroad; James O. Marshall, also in the railroad business; W. L. Marshall, a farmer in Indian Territory; our subject; Guy Marshall, in the employ of the rural free delivery service at Moulton; Cam. G. Marshall, assistant postmaster of Moulton; and Booze Marshall, at home in Moulton.
Charles M. Marshall claims Brown county, Ohio, as his native home, having been born there February 5, 1864. He has spent most of his life in Moulton, where he was reared to manhood and given a common school training. After reaching manhood he entered the clothing house of Wooldridge & Pulliam at Moulton and continued in their employ for eleven years. In 1898 he was appointed postmaster of Moulton and took charge of the office on the anniversary of his birthday of that year. Four years later he received a reappointment and is still filling this position. That Mr. Marshall has been faithful and progressive in the performance of the duties of this office is substantiated by the fact that under his administration three rural free delivery routes have been established, and that the salary of the office, which depends upon the receipts, has been raised from twelve hundred dollars to fifteen hundred dollars a year, and through his efforts the office is now located in a new brick building, heated with steam and provided with conveniences such as few towns the size of Moulton have. Mr. Marshall is a thorough believer in the principles of the Republican party. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason and a Knight of Pythias. He is active in church work and is chorister in the Methodist church. In 1885 he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie D. Gale, of Moulton, and they have two bright children, Olive and Lucile. The family occupy a prominent place in the society of the town and are held in high esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
JOHN H. MAY - The press has not only recorded the history of advancement, but has also ever been the leader in the work of progress and improvement, in the vanguard oi civilization. The philosopher of some centuries ago proclaimed the truth that "the pen is mightier than the sword" and this statement is continually being verified in the affairs of life. In molding public opinion the power of the newspaper cannot be over- estimated, but at all events the influence is greater than any other single agency. Since Mr. May became a factor in the journalistic field he has done much to promote the welfare and progress of his town, and the Cincinnati Review, of which he is the editor and proprietor, is found as the champion of all measures for the general good.
Mr. May is a native of Adair county, Missouri, born December 26, 1859. His parents were James W. and Mary A. (Forrest) May. The father was born in eastern Tennessee in 1805, a son of William May, who was born in Tennessee and was of English lineage. William May married a daughter of Governor John Sevier of that state, and among their children was James W. May, who after arriving at years of maturity wedded Miss Mary A. Forrest, who was born in Pike county, Missouri, in 1817. Mr. May had been previously married and by the first union had three children, while by his marriage to the mother of our subject he had eleven children. In 1844 he came to Iowa, settling in Wapello county, and subsequently he removed to Missouri, but in 1864 he came again to Iowa, this time settling in Appanoose county. In 1868 he took up his abode in Cincinnati, and the northwest part of the town has been built upon a part of his old farm. Throughout his active business career he carried on agricultural pursuits and thus provided a good living and comfortable home for his family. In his political views he was a Republican. He died in 1876, and his wife survived until 1882, when she was also called to her final rest.
When but a lad John H. May came with his parents to Cincinnati, where he was reared and educated, and in his youth he worked upon his father's farm. In early manhood he engaged in teaching school and later purchased the old homestead from the other heirs and laid it out in town lots, making several additions to Cincinnati. To a considerable extent he has engaged in the real estate business, and his property investments and sales have brought to him a desirable profit. In 1893 he purchased the Review, which he has since published. It is a well edited journal, neat and attractive in appearance, and has secured a good circulation. He also conducts a job printing business in connection with the publication of the paper and has a well equipped newspaper plant.
In 1894 Mr. May was united in marriage to Miss Anna Fox, a daughter of John and Sarah (Boyles) Fox. Mrs. May was born in Cincinnati and by her marriage she has become the mother of three children: Elbridge Fox, Jennie Pauline and Erma Josephine. The parents hold membership in the Christian church, and Mr. May is a member of the Modern Woodmen camp. In his political views he is a Republican and publishes his paper in the interest of that party. Well known in the community in which almost his entire life has been passed, he has become a popular as well as widely known citizen, and his efforts in behalf of his town have proved of value to the community.
GEORGE W. McCLOUD , is one of the representative farmers of Appanoose county and deserves special mention on account of the active part he has always taken in affairs of public nature and his character as a worthy and upright citizen. His parents were George R. and Mary Jane (Warner) McCloud, natives of Virginia. The former died Februarv 3, 1886, but the latter still survives and makes her home with her children in Appanoose county. Mrs. McCloud has the unique distinction of being at the head of five generations. Four different groups of children have descended from her, and she is now variously designated as mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grand- mother, a relationship almost incredible without the actual facts at hand. This estimable lady was born in Pendleton county, Virginia, January 26, 1818, and was there reared, remaining at home with her parents, William and Jane Warner, until she married Mr. McCloud. After their marriage they remained in Virginia until November 7, 1865, when they started on the trip to Iowa. They made the entire journey by wagon and finally located in the northern part of this county, near Iconium. Mr. McCloud made farming his occupation all his life, and his death occurred in Iconium. Ten of their children grew to maturity and eight of these are living: Nathaniel, residing at Moravia; the subject of this sketch; Susan Teegarden, of Moravia, Iowa ; Elizabeth Sheeks, of Kansas; Asa R., of Iconium; Mrs. Amanda Myers, of Kansas; Henry, of Mystic; Anna Burns, of Iconium.
George W. McCloud claims the Old Dominion state as the place of his birth, being born in Pocahontas county, March 1, 1845. When only seventeen years old he bravely shouldered a musket in defense of the Union, enlisting December 4, 1861, in Company B, Tenth West Virginia Infantry. In 1863 he was attached to Battery G, First Virginia Flying Artillery, and was a participant in many of the important battles of the war, some of them being Droop Mountain, Maryland Heights, Winchester, Woodstock, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. In the last mentioned both ex-Presidents Hayes and McKinley took part. He was also in several raids in Tennessee and Virginia under General W. W. Averell. On returning from the war, he soon forgot the sanguinary struggles on the battlefield in the engrossing occupation of a farmer, to which pursuit he had determined to devote himself; and in this calling he has made a gratifying success and at the present time owns a farm of one hundred and sixteen acres, one-half mile north of Mystic, which is a model in many respects.
Mr. Cloud's marriage occurred in 1874 to Miss Jennie Thomas, whose parents, Asbury and Mary A. (Bowers) Thomas, are both deceased, the father dying in Texas and the mother in Appanoose county. Jennie Thomas was born on February 14, 1852. Mr. and Mrs. McCloud had nine children born to them, of whom six are now living: Linnie Myrtle Garton, Minnie, Lillie, Harrison, Mary and McKinley. The members of this family are well known in the community, and their lives have always been such as to command the high regard of their friends and acquaintances.
NATHANIEL McCLOUD - This well-known farmer of Taylor township became a resident of Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1864. He has, therefore, been identified with its agricultural interests for almost forty years, although he did not locate upon his present farm until April, 1901. He was born in Highland county, Virginia, April 4, 1841, the same year in which King Edward of England was born. He belongs to a family noted for industry, honesty, morality and courage. His ancestors came originally from the highlands of Scotland, being descended from McCloud, a Scottish chief, who was prominent in the wars of that country two hundred years ago. His grandfather, Nathaniel McCloud, was also a native of the Old Dominion, as was also his wife Margaret McMahan, who was of Irish lineage.
Nathaniel McCloud, Sr., was a soldier of the war of 1812. He received a land warrant calling for one hundred and sixty acres of government land for his services. Not having a disposition to farm, after having the land warrant in his possession for thirty or forty years he traded it for a horse valued at about seventy-five dollars. He never was the owner of any real estate, but spent his life in hunting wild game in the Cheat and Allegheny mountains. At the age of three-score and ten years he died in Pocahontas county, West Virginia, at the home of his youngest daughter, Mrs. Mahala Jackson.
Their son, George Riley McCloud, father of our subject, was born and reared in Virginia. In early life he wedded Miss Mary J. Warner, a native of Pendleton county, that state. Her parents were James and Jane Warner of Virginia, where they spent their entire lives. The Warners were a well known and prominent family of that state. Two of its representatives became distinguished ministers of the gospel. George Warner was a member of the Methodist Church South. He moved from Pendleton county to Fayette county, West Virginia, where he married and spent the remainder of his life. He died during the war of the Rebellion at an old age. Zebedee, a nephew of the Rev. George Warner and a first cousin of the subject of this sketch, was a minister of the United Brethren Church of Christ, one of its most noted members. He held the degree of LL.D. He was the presiding elder of Clarksburg district, West Virginia, during the war. During his eldership he had a discussion with the editor of the standard church paper, published at Dayton, Ohio. Warner took the position that the discipline would have to be changed on the subject of secret organizations; that the members should have the right to exercise their own judgment as to the teachings of the Bible on the subject of secret orders. Since that time the rules of the church have been changed, thus showing that Warner's position was right. He died in Nebraska at about the age of fifty, while serving as a missionary. Z. Warner was married near Boonesville, Maryland, September 11, 1856, to Sarah C. Snively, who survives him and makes her home at Parkersburg, West Virginia. To them were born nine children, seven of whom are still living.
With team and wagon George R. McCloud, X. McCloud and families came to Iowa in 1864, settling in Chariton township, Appanoose county, where George R. followed farming the remainder of his life, dying there at the age of sixty years. He was a Democrat in politics. He had been a member of the Christian church for a number of years, to the time of his death. His widow still survives him, having reached the advanced age of eighty-five years. Of the twelve children ten reached the age of maturity, namely: William E., who died in York, Nebraska, June 11, 1902; Nathaniel, of this review; George; Nancy J., deceased; Elizabeth; Susan; Asa; Amanda; Henry; and Anna. Under the parental roof Nathaniel McCloud passed the days of his boyhood and youth, assisting his father in the operations of farming when not in school. At the age of nineteen years he was married at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, September 20, 1860, to Miss Rachel J. Tomlinson, both of Highland county, Virginia, his wife being a daughter of Zacariah and Huldah Tomlinson, who made their home there throughout life. She was third in order of birth in a family of five children, the others being Henry, Sarah Ann, Hester, and Mary, two of whom are now residents of Kansas; the brother Henry lives in Oklahoma, and the other sister lives in Virginia. As previously stated, N. McCloud came to Iowa in 1864 and cast his first vote at Moravia, Iowa. The first land he purchased was in Chariton township, in 1870. After securing one hundred and fifty acres of land near Maine station, he remained a resident of that neighborhood till 1901. He was the promoter of the post office known as Maine and served as postmaster during 1887. He afterwards had the name of the post office changed to that of Ray in honor of his eldest son. He and family, with many others, were in a cyclone which passed over their home on the evening of May 5, 1894. The cyclone began about six miles west of the home of this family and swept away all the buildings in its path for a distance of many miles, taking away all the out- buildings of this family, leaving the dwelling, but moving it from the foundation. The family took refuge in a cave. Only one person - Mrs. William McDanel - was killed in this storm, but a number of others were seriously injured.
William E. McCloud, above mentioned, the eldest brother of the subject of this sketch, came to Iowa at the age of seventeen years. At the age of nineteen he married Miss Ann M. Sears of Taylor township. He followed the occupation of farming some years, but later in life was an extensive stock shipper, at one time being in partnership with Captain E. Cummins in the shipping business, and afterwards was a partner of R. M. Hicks. After moving to York, Nebraska, Mr. McCloud engaged in the commission business in the stock-yards at Omaha; was also one of the organizers of the bank at Waco, Nebraska. His son, C. A. McCloud, and nephew of the subject, is now engaged in the real estate and insurance business at York, Nebraska. He is very prominent in the county in Republican party politics, and is among the wealthiest citizens of his county.
Mrs. Rachel J. McCloud died March 12, 1883, having lived a number of years as a faithful and consistent member of the United Brethren church, leaving one daughter, now Mrs. R. H. Raster, of Chariton township. On June 15, 1884. our subject was again married, his second union being to Mrs. Mary J. Breese, widow of Timothy Breese, deceased. Timothy Breese was a member of the Eighth Iowa Cavalry. He was born in Ohio, but reared in Lee county, Iowa, dying near Iconium, Iowa, December 15, 1880, holding membership in the Christian church at the time of his death. He left three surviving sons: Alpha A., by a former wife; Mary Hazlewood; and Ira E., now of Chicago, Illinois. One son, Everett, died at the age of four months.
By the union of Nathaniel and Mary J. McCloud were born four children, three of whom are now living - Alta, Ray and Irl, Fannie having died in infancy at the age of twelve months. Mrs. McCloud, the present wife, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, November 8, 1850, near Greencastle. She was a daughter of James and Anise Nicholson, formerly Anise Brewer. Her father was a farmer by occupation; also a brick mason. He brought his family to Iowa in 1860 and located near Iconium and died in 1875 at the age of sixty-two years. His political support was given to the Republican party, and he was an active member of the Methodist church, in which he served as class leader for a number of years. His wife, who was also an earnest member of the same church, was born in North Carolina and died in Monroe county, Iowa, February 10, 1896, at the age of seventy-eight years. To James and Anise Nicholson were born thirteen children, as follows: Edna, Martha, Melvina, Nancy, Mary J., John; Ephraim and Hannah, deceased. The others died in infancy. Ephraim enlisted in the Thirty- sixth Infantry, Iowa Volunteers, and served until the close of the war. He died at Duvall's Bluff of smallpox just after the remainder of his company were mustered out of the service.
In March, 1901, N. McCloud purchased the Jefferson Turner farm of one hundred and forty acres in Taylor township, where he now resides. This farm is located on the Albia and Centerville wagon road, one mile south of Moravia. On this farm is a two thousand dollar house and brick cellar. The lawn is adorned with pine, cedar and other shade trees, and there is a good orchard and a large pond well stocked with fish. In fact, it is one of the most attractive and desirable farms of its size in the county. In addition to the raising of grain, Mr. McCloud raises and feeds stock for market and has found this branch of his business quite profitable. The Democratic party finds in Mr. McCloud a stanch supporter of its principles. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs. Both he and his wife are connected with the Methodist church and are people of refinement and culture, who make friends wherever they go.
Ira E. Breese, before mentioned, the stepson of our subject, made his home at the home of X. McCloud from June 15, 1884, till the spring of 1895. Then, to get better school facilities, he went to Shenandoah and attended Western Normal College. From there, in September, he went to Quincy, Illinois, and attended the Gem City Business College and graduated from there in the shorthand course in April, 1897. He enlisted May 27, 1898, in the United States navy and was discharged September 30, 1898. During his service in the navy he was at New York, Brooklyn, Norfolk, Hampton Roads and Key West, returning by way of Philadelphia and Chicago. He is at present engaged with the American Railway Guide Company as stenographer, with excellent chances for promotion.
 John C. McDonald |
JOHN CRATON McDONALD - One of the most successful, enterprising and progressive business men of Cincinnati is John Craton McDonald. With him success in life has been reached by his sterling qualities of mind and heart, his manly principles, by unfaltering determination, by unflagging industry and by a diligence that has enabled him to persist in a course which he has marked out. We read of the lives of the heroes of the past, and they not only prove of historical interest, but serve to inspire and encourage us. Yet we need not go to former ages for examples well worthy of emulation. The men of prominence today equal in exemplary traits of character those who have passed away, and the life record of Mr. McDonald is one which proves what may be accomplished with individual effort when guided by sound judgment and correct business principles. |
Mr. McDonald was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, July 13, 1845, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Stewart) McDonald. The father was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, on the l0th of March, 1814, and was a son of John and Mary (Uber) McDonald. The grandfather of our subject was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and when a young man removed to Mercer county, that state, where he spent his remaining days, dying at the age of sixty years. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, against the Indians in Ohio. His father was William McDonald, who emigrated from Scotland and settled in Pennsylvania. He had but two children, John and Susan. John McDonald was united in marriage to Mary Uber, who was a native of Pennsylvania and was descended from an old Hessian family that settled in the Keystone state soon after the Revolutionary war. Among their children was Daniel McDonald, the father of our subject who was reared in the state of his nativity and after arriving at years of maturity wedded Mary Stewart, who was born September 15, 1816, in county Londonderry, Ireland, and was a daughter of Craton and Nancy (Sloan) Stewart. Her father was a son of Sir John Stewart, whose father was a son of Walter Stewart and a cousin of King Charles the Second, and removed from England to county Antrim, Ireland, in 1648. In the year 1816 Craton Stewart emigrated to the United States and settled in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. There he spent his remaining days and it was in that county that the parents of our subject married on the 25th of November, 1841. They took up their abode in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and there lived until April, 1852, during which time six children were born to them. With their family they then removed westward, locating in Lee county, Iowa, and in March, 1854, came to Appanoose county, Iowa, settling in Cincinnati, where they resided until called to their final rest. The father was a well-to-do farmer, carrying on his work along progressive lines and thereby securing a good competence. In politics he was first a Whig and then a Free Soiler. Later he advocated the cause of the Abolition party and when the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks and became one of its stalwart advocates. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church in early life, but afterward became identified with the Congregational church. Eight children were born to them, of whom one died in infancy, while seven reached years of maturity, namely: Mrs. Nancy Sloan Baker, who died May 12, 1894; Mrs. Mary Lucetta Root, of Centerville, Iowa; John C, of this review; Albert Clark, of Cincinnati, Iowa; Mrs. Eliza Josephine McCann, who died November 26, 1900; Mrs. Harriet Beecher David, of Cincinnati, and Wilber Sumner, who is associated with his brother, John C., in business. The mother of these children passed away on the 18th of May, 1878, and on the 19th of April, 1895, the father was called to his final rest.
John Craton McDonald was born and reared upon the farm and was seven years of age when brought to Iowa. When a youth of nine years he became a resident of Appanoose county, where his home has since been. He acquired a common school education and assisted in the task of improving his father's farm. In April, 1863, feeling that the country needed his services, he joined the Union army, enlisting as a private of Company E, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, for a term of three years. He served against the Indians on the plains and was honorably discharged on the 17th of May, 1866, with the rank of sergeant major of his regiment. He is now a member of Henry Jaquiss Post No. 325, G. A. R., and thus maintains pleasant relationship with his old army comrades and has spent many a social hour with them recalling scenes which occurred upon the tented fields or in the midst of battle.
Upon his return from the war Mr. McDonald resumed farming and was thus engaged in connection with his father until 1870. In that year he was married and began life as a farmer upon his own account, continuing the cultivation of the soil for about ten years. In 1880 he embarked in the furniture and undertaking business in connection with his brother, A. C. McDonald, and in 1882 they also added a lumberyard to their enterprise. In the same year the father became a partner, but in 1885 our subject purchased both his father's and his brother's interest and continued alone in business until 1888. In that year his brother, Wilber S., became his partner, and the business has since been carried on under the firm name of J. C. McDonald & Brother.
They have enjoyed a liberal and growing patronage as furniture and lumber merchants, their sales being quite extensive. On the 1st of April, 1889, they also widened the scope of their labor by entering the banking business under the firm name of J. C. McDonald & Brother, bankers. In 1898 they established the Citizens' Bank, the subject of this review acting as president, while Wilber S. McDonald is filling the position of cashier. Our subject also has some farming interests, and the various branches of his business are returning to him excellent profits.
In 1870 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. McDonald and Miss Mary Boyles, a daughter of John P. Boyles. She was born in Belmont county, Ohio, September 22, 1846, and died March 30, 1895, leaving one child, while five children born to them had passed to the home beyond. The one that was living at the death of the mother was Catherine, and she subsequently died at the age of twenty-five years. In 1896 Mr. McDonald was again married, his second union being with Miss Alice Reed, of Jackson, Michigan. In 1890 he erected a large and handsome modern frame residence in Cincinnati. It is one of the most tasteful homes in this part of the state and would be a credit to a city of much greater size than the one in which Mr. McDonald makes his home. In his political views he is a Republican and fraternally is a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow, having taken all three of the degrees in the latter organization. He likewise belongs to the Congregational church. His unswerving purpose, his unquestioned fidelity, his unfaltering honesty and his unchanging will have commanded the highest respect of all. He has been a leader in the cause of liberty, freedom and progress, and his hearty co-operation has ever been given to that which tends to elevate mankind.
WILBER S. McDONALD - One of the leading and representative business men of Cincinnati is Wilber S. McDonald, a member of the firm of J. C. McDonald & Company, dealers in furniture and lumber. They are also bankers, and the subject of this review is acting as cashier of the Citizens' Bank, the success of this institution being largely due to his efforts and capability. He was born in Cincinnati on the 29th of April, 1856, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Stewart) McDonald, who are mentioned in connection with the sketch of J. C. McDonald on another page of this work. He was reared upon a farm and the educational advantages afforded him were those provided by the common schools. He remained upon the old homestead until twenty-five years of age. In 1884 he went to Green City, Missouri, being preceded to that place only by the station agent. He built the first house and became the first merchant there and also the first real estate dealer, and in his business operations he prospered, his sales of lands and of goods bringing to him a good financial return. Mr. McDonald remained there until 1886, when he went to Greencastle, Missouri, where he resided for two years, and acted as foreman of a large hoop and railroad tie company. In 1888, however, he returned to Cincinnati, and since that time has been associated with his brother in business as a banker, lumberman and furniture dealer. As cashier of the Citizens' Bank he has thoroughly mastered the business in all its departments. He has become a popular official because of his obliging manner and unfailing courtesy, combined with excellent business ability and executive force.
In 1882 Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Phillips, of Sullivan county, Missouri, and they now have four children: George S., Wendall Phillips, M. John, and Cora Marie. The parents hold membership in the Congregational church and have a nice home in Cincinnati. Mr. McDonald is a Republican and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, and is thus enabled to support his position by intelligent argument. Prominent as a Knight Templar Mason, in his life he exemplifies the benevolent and helpful spirit of the craft. Through his own exertions he has attained an honorable and marked prestige among the representative business men of his native town, and with equal consistency it may be said that he is the architect of his own fortunes and one whose success amply justifies the application of the somewhat hackneyed but most expressive title, "a self-made man."
WILLIAM BARTON McDONALD - During his long life the gentleman above named has spent a good deal of time in three different states, but has been a resident of Appanoose county for nearly half a century. While his career has not been especially adventurous, it has been one of usefulness, and contributory to the full extent of his abilities to the welfare of each and every community in which he has resided. More than this no man can do, and it will be well with the best of us if the same can be truthfully said when we come to render the final accounting for deeds done in the flesh. Thomas McDonald, who was a native of Maryland, found his way to Kentucky when it was still the "dark and bloody ground" of song and story, and became a participant with the other settlers in the adventures incident to the pioneer period. Some years after arriving there he met and married Frances Smoot, a native of the state, and who had lived for twenty years in Kentucky. In 1846 he removed with his family to Indiana, but within a year after reaching that state the final summons came both to himself and wife, and the children were left to shift for themselves.
William Barton McDonald was born in Kentucky on the 15th of January, in 1818, and was consequently twenty-eight years old when his parents took up their residence in the Hoosier state. He spent his twenty-first year in the college at Bloomington, Illinois, and for some time afterwards was engaged in farming in the Indiana counties of Montgomery, Jennings and Monroe. Mr. McDonald was a resident of Hendricks county, in the same state, for twenty years, six of which were devoted to school teaching and fourteen to farming. On November 5, 1847, he was married to Lucinda Dale, and eight years later removed with his wife to Appanoose county, of which they have been honored residents for forty-seven years. Originally Mr. McDonald located three miles northeast of Centerville, where he owned three hundred and seventy-six acres of land, most of which was subsequently sold or divided among the children. The latter were eight in number and the ones now living are Mrs. Mary Frances Shaw, George W., John D., Mrs. Emma Florence Long, and Henry McDonald. Those deceased are James W., Thomas J., and Mrs. Luella Jane Evans. In 1902 Mr. and Mrs. McDonald took up their abode at Centerville and have since been comfortably located in a cosy home on Seventh street. They are both members of the Christian church at Centerville, and are objects of almost reverential esteem by those who are familiar with their blameless lives and exalted worth. Mr. McDonald holds fraternal connections with Lodge No. 42, F. and A. M., of which he has been a member in good standing for twenty-six years.