Michael McDonald Obituary

Michael McDonald is my 3rd great grandfather. His obituary was published in the Clarion Democrat on October 11, 1923. Virginia McDonald Geary gave me a copy of this obituary copied from microfilm.

Michael McDonald

Last Monday evening, October 8, 1923, at 5 o'clock P.M. Michael McDonald, one of the most notable citizens of Farmington township, as well as one of the oldest, departed this life, after a brief illness.

Born June 19, 1834, at McDonald's Corners, now Vowinckel station and post office, the son of David and Bridget McDonald, the deceased has passed through a most interesting period of activity in this section. He has seen the rise, development and the end of the lumber business which wiped out our forests; he had seen the oil and gas come and practically go, and he has seen the development of the county along many lines.

Mr. McDonald always lived at McDonald's Corners, and spent his long and useful life as a citizen in helping to develop his section of the county. He was married in 1862 to Miss Anna Haggerty, of the same township (Farmington) who now survives after a union extending over sixty-one years. He is also survived by the following children: John of Crown, Robt. A., Clarion [my 2nd great grandfather]; Jerome, Sheffield; A. A., of Pittsburgh; Benjamin and Bert, Jamestown, N.Y.; Patrick, Mrs. Clara Fitzgerald, and Mrs. Mary Dodson, Vowinckel; Sister Alfrieda, Erie and Mrs. Peter Brisley, Cincinnati, O. There also survive 31 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren and one brother, Peter McDonald of Vowinckel.

Mr. McDonald was a man of great physical strength, developed in the lumber woods and on the farm. For about twenty years he was prominently engaged in lumbering and was one of the best pilots of the Clarion River. On one occasion he was swept from his raft on the river by the slush ice and for two hours battled with the current before reaching shore. His clothing froze on him but his rugged constitution carried him thru. He was always an active and leading business man of his section and had the confidence of the entire community in his integrity.

He was a lifelong member of the St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Crown where his funeral was held Thursday morning at 9:30, Requiem High Mass being celebrated by Rev. Fr. M. Fitzgerald, and the body was laid to rest in the Crown Cemetery.