ANDREW McDONALD, son of John McDonald, was born April 20, 1840. John McDonald was born in 1789, in Virginia, and was a lifelong farmer. In 1803 he moved to Washington county, Penn., and the following year purchased 175 acres of land which is now known as the old homestead. In 1839 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Fish, of this county, who bore him the following children: Andrew, Gabriel, James H., John, Hiram, Mary (Mrs. Jennings), Nancy J., Edith G. and Matilda. Mr. McDonald served as supervisor several years, township clerk for twenty-five years, school director a long time, and in various other township offices. He died in November 1853. Mrs. McDonald is yet living with her children, and enjoys good health. Andrew McDonald has had charge of the old place since his fourteenth year, having at that early ago begun the seemingly impossible task of supporting and educating the eight younger children, thus early left without a father. Heroically he toiled, and nobly did he succeed in this laudable effort. In September, 1862, he enlisted in the army, as the other children were then old enough to provide their own maintenance. He entered Company E, Twenty-second Pennsylvania Cavalry, (the Ringgold Battalion), and fought under Sheridan in all the battles of the Shenandoah Valley until the close of the war, when he returned home. On May 17, 1866, he married Isabella Whitfield, a native of this county. Mr. McDonald has been clerk of Nottingham township for the past twenty-seven years, and is now serving his third term as justice of the peace, having filled that office twelve years. He has held every office in the township with the exception of constable. He is an adherent of Democratic principles, and, in religious faith, a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Text taken from page 1476 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed February 1997 by Neil and Marilyn Morton of Oswego, IL as part of the Beers Project.
Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]