Lowndes County GaArchives History .....The McDonald's of  Cat Creek, Georgia Preface 1981
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
William McDonald williamteomi@yahoo.com June 24, 2008, 3:52 am

"About 1970 I was doing Pest Control work on the genealogical library in
Bartow, Florida. One day while working there I was on my lunch break, and
browsing through the library I found a set of books called 'Pioneers of
Wiregrass Georgia.' In Volume VI of this set I found a William McDonald
who previously resided at Cat Creek in Lowndes County, Georgia.

After reading the sketch on William, I knew that he was my Great Grandfather.
This peaked my interest and started my long search of family history. The
volume on William McDonald originated in Hawkinsville in Pulaski County. I 
traveled to the Pulaski County Courthouse and genealogy libraries, but 
didn't discover any information on William. A couple of years later I was 
looking through books at the Bartow Public Library and found one which
reflected the birth and death notices taken from 'The Southern Recorder.' This
was an old Georgia Newspaper printed in Milledgeville, Georgia between 1830
and 1855.

In this book I found the death record of Isham McDaniel, who died in the
home of his son, William McDaniel in Lowndes County, Georgia. Isham was
nearly 100 years of age, and his date of death was listed as 1845. I asked
my Uncle Perry McDonald, who was 90 years of age at the time, if this was
his Great Grandfather. He had forgotten the name, but it came back to him
and he agreed that Isham was, indeed, the name.

I had found my Great Great Grandfather. I went back to Pulaski County and 
discovered that Isham McDaniel served on the Pettit Jury in 1809 and 1810,
and drew land in the 1820 and 1827 Georgia Land Lotteries. Isham shows up
again on the 1830 Federal Census. The lottery records also indicate that
he was a Revolutionary War Soldier.

In the Bartow Genealogy Library I found a book titled 'Revolutionary Soldiers
in Georgia.' It seems that Isham served in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment 
during The Revolutionary War. In the 1790 Federal Census, Isham was living
in the Orangeburgh District of South Carolina. He had two children. By
1800 he had moved to Georgia. The 1800 Federal Census of Georgia had been
destroyed in a fire, so I searched other sources. Isham served on juries in
Pulaski County, and was recorded on the Census of 1830, along with William,
his son.

Isham won 490 acres of land in the 1820 Georgia Land Lotteries. At the time
this land was located in Irwin County. In 1820 Irwin County bordered Pulaski
County. Later part of Pulaski County became Wilcox County.'"

Additional Comments:
The foregoing record is a transcription of the preface of "The McDonald's of 
Cat Creek, Georgia" by Henry W. McDonald Jr., the father of the submitter.

It is worthy of note that both Isham and William were members of the local
state militia unit, and participated in battles against Native American tribes
in the Valdosta area. William McDonald contributed the land for the 
establishment of the church, and the cemetery where he and his father are 
interred.

Though William McDonald and his wife, Harriett have marked graves at Cat Creek
Cemetery near Valdosta, Georgia, Isham McDonald's gravesite and headstone 
disappeared sometime in the 19th or 20th Century. A military headstone for
Isham was installed next to William on June 24th, 2008. A dedication ceremony
is scheduled for October, 2008.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/lowndes/history/other/preface730gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/

File size: 3.8 Kb