Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McDonald, Family 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 1:39 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

THE McDONALD FAMILY. As is indicated by their name, the McDonald (or 
Macdonald) family of the oldest settlers of Will County, in Illinois, is of 
Scottish extraction, but whether directly descended from one of the survivors 
of the massacre of Glencoe the little history or legend which remains fails to 
show. The pedigree is traced, however, to Michael McDonald, a sea-faring man, 
who came from the old country through Canada and began life in America in New 
England. In olden times when St. Michael was revered as a patron saint by the 
highlanders of Scotland, the name was more of a favorite in family 
nomenclature than it is at present; the descendants of Ireland are now 
monopolizing it. June 20, 1766, Michael married a widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, 
by whom he had a son, Asa, and a daughter, Betsey, the latter dying young. He 
moved with his family to Liverpool, near Syracuse, N. Y., and left them there 
to pursue his calling as a sailor, and it was rumored that he was drowned in 
Lake Ontario. But rumor again states that he was the head of two families, and 
that he passed the balance of his days with the other branch. Asa became the 
main support of the family and soon displayed an ability to perform this duty. 
Before he was of age he served as a drummer in a company raised to oppose the 
British at Niagara, in the last war with England. He became prominent in the 
New York militia as a captain and expert musician. Following various 
avocations until 1836, he then emigrated from Onondaga County, N. Y., to Will 
County, Ill., and settled at first in Joliet, then at Five Mile Grove, and 
afterwards bought a farm on Spring Creek, in New Lenox. He married Olive Rudd 
at Syracuse and reared a family of six daughters and one son, namely: Rosanna 
E., Jane C., Jonathan S., Clarissa C., Harriet, Lovina and Ellen, of whom the 
son and Rosanna E., Jane C. and Lovina are surviving at this date. Although 
ostensibly a farmer, Asa employed his energies more in the cultivation and 
practice of music, and was a leader in many public and social enterprises, but 
did not aspire for political preferments. His fame as a violinist is well 
remembered by those who attended his dances and social gatherings. He was born 
May 9, 1802, and died December 4, 1857. His wife, Olive, was born September 
23, 1805, and died March 1, 1873. Jonathan S. McDonald was born at Liverpool, 
N. Y., April 17, 1829; he was therefore seven years old when the family 
settled in Joliet. Being the only son, his place would naturally be on the 
farm, but this proved to be too tame a life for him to follow. At the age of 
eighteen he began teaching a district school in the winter and worked on the 
farm in summer, but when the California gold fever broke out he crossed the 
plains in 1849 and spent four years in the mines, returning with a 
moderate "pile" with which to start in business at home. His effort to acquire 
a college education at Oberlin, Ohio, lasted only two weeks. He then turned 
his attention to banking at Lockport, at which he was engaged until the Civil 
war began in 1859, when the turn of events almost despoiled him of his wealth. 
December 12, 1857, he married Louisa, the daughter of Col. George Snoad, who 
was born in England. Immediately after his failure as a banker he visited the 
newly discovered gold mines at California Gulch, Colo., but returned in the 
following spring and recruited a company at Lockport, which became a part of 
the One Hundredth Illinois Infantry. He bad command of this in the battles of 
Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, and numerous skirmishes and 
was "promoted for meritorious conduct in the field." He was wounded at Stone 
River and is now quite deaf as a consequence. After the war he served as a 
cashier in railroad business in Chicago, then returned to Will County and 
engaged in politics and newspaper publications until increased deafness 
compelled him to turn his attention to other enterprises. The Highland Scotch 
are noted for possessing a tendency to mysticism and "second sight," and this 
faculty seems to have developed in him; he is now engaged in philosophical 
pursuits, and has become noted in occult circles as the author of several 
books on ancient magic and esoteric philosophy. Leon McDonald, son of J. S. 
McDonald, was born November 2, 1860, in the township of New Lenox, Will 
County, Ill. His education was acquired in the public school at Lockport, and 
at the Wisconsin State University. He learned the printing and publishing 
trade in his father's office, serving in all capacities from "printer's devil" 
to editor. In 1880 he went to work on the reportorial staff of the Joliet 
News, afterward occupying the chair of the city editor on the same paper. He 
left the News to engage with two others in the founding and publishing of the 
Joliet Daily Press. This venture was an extraordinary success while the 
original founders remained in possession. Mr. McDonald sold out his interest 
in 1884 and returned to Lockport, the home of his parents, where he assumed 
control of the publication of the Lockport Phoenix, this paper being still 
owned and published by him. Since attaining his majority he has taken an 
active part in county and state politics. For nineteen years he has been a 
member of the county Republican central committee, and during nearly all of 
the time a member of the executive committee of that body. Locally he has a 
number of times been called to positions of public trust and honor, among 
other things serving two terms as president of the village council. It was 
during his second term of office that Lockport's excellent system of water 
works was built. In 1897 he was appointed general superintendent of the 
Illinois & Michigan canal, which position he still holds. Since he assumed the 
duties of this position the canal has passed through some of the most critical 
experiences of its existence. The authorities of the sanitary district of 
Chicago avowedly sought to destroy it and acquire valuable rights belonging to 
the state, held under the care and control of the canal officers. The contest 
that ensued, both from an engineering and legal standpoint, was a huge one and 
most bitterly fought. It resulted, however, in a victory for the canal people 
on every point and saved to the state property and rights worth several 
millions of dollars. For the part he had in achieving this result, Mr. 
McDonald earned and received a great deal of credit. He was married September 
21, 1898, to Claire Augusta Rudd, daughter of Charles H. and Esther (Leonard) 
Rudd. Miss Rudd was born April 26, 1875; was formerly a resident of Oberlin, 
Ohio, and is a graduate of the college in that city. They have one daughter, 
Louise E., born July 13, 1899.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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