Thomas McDonald

Thomas and Mrs. Thomas McDonald

Thomas McDonald was born May 15, 1816 in Loch Gilpshead, Scotland. He was sixteen years of age when he arrived in Canada in 1832. He was a tailor by trade. He went to Ohio where he married Eliza Jane Marietta on April 10, 1853. Eliza Jane Marietta was born in Ohio on January 27, 1837 of French parentage. Thomas moved his family to Oskaloosa, Iowa in the summer of 1856, where he opened a tailoring shop. In 1857 they moved to Nebraska where Thomas built a log cabin about 4 1/2 miles northwest of Fort Calhoun. A few months later he went to Decatur, Nebraska where he set up a trading post for the Indians. Thomas returned to his Washington County homestead in the early fall of 1858. Thomas and Eliza Jane were the parents of ten children. In order of age they were: John, William, Kate, George, Alan, Belle, Lizzie, Nellie, Jim and Edward. Alan, who was our grandfather, was born on July 19, 1866. Alan married Rachel McBride on April 24, 1895 and they started their married life living in a log cabin near the house which Alan later built for his young family. Nine children were born to this union, in order of birth they are: John, Glen, Harlan "Soren", Eva (Wilcox), Andrew, Byron "Steve", Fern (Olson), Allen, and Hazel (Wright). Alan and his brothers operated a custom threshing business in Washington County for a number of years. His hobbies were wood-working, assembling and playing bagpipes, repairing clocks, hunting and fishing. On October 17, 1910, our father Allen was born. In December of the same year, the family homestead was destroyed by fire and the family was forced to live in the original log cabin for the next two years while the new house was being completed. Grandfather McDonald died on March 6, 1923 from a stroke. Family members felt Alan's death was hastened by an injury he received while cutting wood two years prior to his death. Allen, the youngest of six sons took over the management and operation of the farm after the death of his brother Andrew in 1927. Andrew was killed in an auto accident one mile from the homestead. In 1944 Allen married Vivienne E. Watkins of Fort Calhoun and brought his bride to the William McDonald homestead which he had purchased the previous year. To this union two daughters were born, Ruth and Glenda. A back ailment required our father to give up his first love--farming. In 1945, he became a heavy equipment operator for the Washington County Department of Roads, a position he held for 32 years. In 1969 our parents received the Nebraska Pioneer Farmer Award for having owned the same farm for 113 years. Allen served as Secretary/Treasurer of School District No. #8 for many years and was a member of Blair Masonic Lodge #21. Our father passed away on May 29, 1977 in Omaha having lived all his life in Washington County on the original McDonald Homestead. Submitted by Ruth McDonald Hatcher, Glenda McDonald Sams

Source: Washington County Nebraska History 1980, page 263. The Washington County Historical Association.Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, 1980.