Charlse W. Mcdonald Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1156-1157 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	CHARLES W. McDONALD, who is the honored judge of Jerauld county 
and a distinguished member of the bar of the state, was born in St. 
Joseph county, Indiana, on the ~5th of July, 1845, being a son of 
Jeremiah and Eleanor (Almeda) McDonald, to whom were born three sons and 
one daughter. The father of the subject was a master ship carpenter, and 
was born and reared in the state of Vermont, whence he removed to 
Indiana prior to the advent of railroads in the middle states. He died 
at Abilene, Kansas, while his wife died in the Hoosier state. The 
subject of this review completed the curriculum of the common schools of 
his native state and then entered the celebrated University of Michigan, 
at Ann Arbor, where he continued his studies for two years. He studied 
law under an able preceptor in Mishawaka, Indiana, and has ever been a 
close reader in a technical line, so that he is thoroughly well informed 
in the science of jurisprudence, having not only gained precedence as a 
strong trial lawyer and conservative counsel, but having also been 
signally fair and impartial in his rulings on the bench, his decisions 
being based upon the proper application of the law and equity involved. 
He came to what is now the state of South Dakota in 1873 and in the year 
1877 was admitted to the bar of the territory of Dakota. He located in 
the city of Sioux Falls, where he continued in the practice of his 
profession until 1882, and in that place he was also the editor and 
publisher of the Sioux Falls Independent, which was subsequently merged 
into the Daily Press, which remains one of the important papers of the 
state. In March, 1882, Judge McDonald came to Wessington Springs, where 
he has since maintained his home and where he has been in the active 
practice of his profession save for the period which has represented his 
service on the bench. Upon the organization of Jerauld county, in 1884 
he was appointed clerk of the district court, and continuously held this 
office until the admission of South Dakota to the Union. He was elected 
state's attorney for Jerauld county in 1890, again in 1896 and reelected 
in 1898. During two years, 1877-8, he was probate judge of Minnehaha 
county. He was elected county judge of Jerauld county in 1900 and in 
1902 he was again elected to this dignified and responsible office, of 
which he is in tenure at the time of this writing. The Judge is a 
stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party 
and has been a prominent figure in its councils in the territory and 
state. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, his wife of the 
Free Methodist church, and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic 
order. It may be noted at this juncture that Jerauld county was 
organized and settled by temperance people, and there had never been a 
saloon within its borders from the time of its erection until 1903. The 
subject is an uncompromising advocate of temperance and of the 
prohibition of the liquor traffic through legal measures. 

	In 1866 Judge McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Clara P. 
Burr, of Mansfield, Ohio, who died in 1879, being survived by one son, 
Willis B., who is now a resident of California. On the 17th of August, 
1882, the Judge wedded Miss Fanny M. Tofflemire, of Wessington Springs, 
South Dakota, and they are the parents of five children, namely: Robert 
F., Charles E., Walter H., Leigh L. and Almeda.