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BIOGRAPHY For the family of Daniel Henderson McDonald and wives
DANIEL HENDERSON MCDONALD was born about 1819 in Tennessee . His parents are believed to be Archibald McDonald and Elizabeth (----?-----). Daniel married ELIZABETH (----?----) about 1842, based on the birth date of their first child. No marriage record has been located yet.
Daniel and Elizabeth moved into the Perry County Tennessee area sometime before 1848 with his mother Elizabeth, and his brothers Alexander H. and P.B. McDonald. Archibald McDonald, the father, had died in 1844 and it is possible that when he died and the probate of his estate was settled, that they all decided to get a fresh start and move to a new area. It is not known at this time where they were living before they went to Perry County . The first mention that I have found of Daniel in public records is in the Wayne County Tennessee Chancery Court Loose Records from 1900-1909, Volume V. There it indicates that an election was held on 04 March 1848 at Thompson’s Mill in Perry County Tennessee for the purpose of electing county and district officers. D.H. McDonald received 20 votes to be elected magistrate and was also elected judge.
The family appeared first on 09 Sept 1850 on the federal agricultural census in Perry County Tennessee. Daniel owned 100 acres of improved land and 200 acres of unimproved land with a cash value of the farm of $1,500. He owned horses, cattle, mules, oxen, sheep and 150 pigs. The family appeared on the federal population census on 12 Sept 1850 , Daniel, wife Elizabeth and 3 children.
On 04 July 1860 , the family appears again on the federal agricultural census in Perry County Tennessee. Daniel owned 125 acres of improved land, 300 acres of unimproved land with a cash value of the farm of $6,000. They owned horses, cows, oxen, cattle, sheep and swine, as well as producing indian corn and wool. It is indicated on the 1860 slave schedule that Daniel owned 2 slaves, a black female age 10 and a black male age 9. On 05 July 1860 , the family is enumerated on the federal population census. Listed are Daniel, wife Elizabeth and 5 children. 5 known children born to Elizabeth , all surname MCDONALD and all born in Perry County Tennessee:
Then sometime between 06 July 1860 and 22 December 1860 , Elizabeth died. There were no state or county death records kept at this time, so it is not possible to verify the exact death date. And no tombstone has been found for her either. Her husband Daniel remarried on 23 December 1860 to MARY JANE LINEBARGER in Wayne County Tennessee. She was the daughter of Tobias and Nancy Linebarger. Ten months later their first child was born and they had 5 known children.
On 19 August 1870 , the family is listed on the federal population census in Perry County Tennessee. Listed is D.H. McDonald, wife Mary J, son William from the first marriage, daughter Mary A. from the first marriage, and then children from the second marriage: Josephine, Nancy M., (A. or W) B, and John P. Also listed in the household was Austin McDonald, an 18 year old black male. It is possible that he was one of the slaves freed during the war and continued to stay on the farm. On 19 August 1870 , the family is listed on the agricultural census. Daniel is listed as owning 80 acres of improved land, 280 acres of woodland and 40 acres of other unimproved land. It is possible that after the War Between the States that Daniel had to sell some land in order to keep the household together. He went from 125 acres of improved land in 1860 to just 80 acres of improved land. Daniel’s cash value of his farm in 1870 was $4,500, and he still owned horses, mules, cows, oxen, other cattle, sheep and swine. He also produced indian corn, tobacco, ginned cotton, irish potatoes and butter. So it does not seem that his family suffered too much from the war. 5 known children born to Mary Jane, all surname MCDONALD and all born in Perry County Tennessee:
In 1875, his second wife Mary Jane was very sick and near death. There was an article written by Mr. W.V. Barry on 14 March 1925 and printed in the newspaper Perry Countian on 20 March 1925 . I have printed it verbatim below: I have some bits of reminiscence which may be objectionable to overly sensitive people but I have never written one which was intended to cast any dishonorable reflection on a family name. For instance, the story of Henderson McDonald, who lived in upper Perry County at the edge of the bottom…. ……..Well, with all due respect to the Squire, he would not have been a winner in any beauty contest. He was old and his hair white as cotton and habitually hung straight down over his forehead. He was a man of many odditites and very much of a marrying man, as his history will show. The wife of that Esquire McDonald lived with when my daddy, the late Dr. Daniel Barry, moved to Flatwoods, Wayne County , in the summer of 1874, the Squire generally spoke of as the “Dutch woman”. In fact, it was said that her name of Lineberry had been changed from Lindebarger which is German and the people as a rule did not know how to differentiate between German and Dutch. Well, Mrs. McDonald was very sick and my father was her physician, so when Dad went over there one day to see her, and Squire McDonald had not spoken to him until he met him in a room adjoining that of the sick woman, the old fellow said, “Dock, is the Dutch woman going to make a die of it?” to which my father replied, “Squire McDonald, I am compelled to say to you that in all frankness that Mrs. McDonald is a very sick woman.” Thereupon Squire McDonald said, “that aint what I ast you but is the Dutch woman going to make a die of it?” and then my father said, “Well, if that’s the way you want to put it, the Dutch woman is not only going to make a die of it, but she is going to be devilish quick about it.” She died on Sunday and I attended the funeral Monday. During the same week, the old Squire walked into the home of old man Joe Bridges, a tenant on his place, and said to Mahalia, an old maid daughter of Mr. Bridges, “Hale, do you think you could stand the storm at my house?” and Hale, having long since abandoned all hope of standing the storm in anybody’s house as the wife of the owner, replied, “Yes, sir.” And the Squire said, “Be ready when I come.” The old fellow went to Linden, procured a marriage license, and sent word to his old friend Rev. Isaac Gilliam, who lived over the Bill Chappel’s, to come and see him Sunday. When Gilliam came over, Squire McDonald said, “Well, Isaac, let’s look around the plantation,” and when they came to the cabin home of old man Bridges, the Squire had himself married to Hale. That’s all except my father came across Esquire McDonald, who said, “Dock, I know the people are talking about me marrying in just a week after the Dutch woman died, but Dock, the Dutch woman was as dead as she will ever be.” As to what finally came of Esquire Henderson McDonald, your deponent saith not.
So his second wife, Mary Jane, died on 14 May 1875 and he married his third wife, MAHALA BRIDGES on 21 May 1875 . Mahala was the daughter of Joseph and Malinda Bridges. At the time of their marriage, he was 56 years old and she was 32 years old. It is of course possible that they had children, but we do not know of any living children. In August, 1879, a M. Bridges was listed on the Perry County Tennessee 1880 mortality schedules as having died of “disease of the uterus.”
Then on 09 September 1879 , there was a marriage indicated in Alec Bridges’ book, “Leaves Before the Wind” between David McDonald to Nancy Bridges. I believe that this marriage was not “David” but “Daniel” McDonald because: 1) I have done research on the McDonalds in this area at the time and there are no other David or Daniel McDonalds; 2) This marriage also fits Daniel’s previous tendency of marrying very quickly after a wife died. 3) I found the family in the 1880 census and Daniel’s age is exactly right. The children’s names are somewhat different then what was listed in previous censuses, but the ages are exactly right. 4) This family in the 1880 census is living right next door to 2 sons of Daniel’s, William and James. And they also live a couple farms down from Joseph Bridges, who was a tenant farmer on Daniel McDonald’s lands.
So Daniel married for a fourth time. He married NANCY ANN BRIDGES, who was the sister of his third wife, Mahala. Nancy was the daughter of Joseph and Malinda Bridges. Daniel was 60 years old and Nancy was 47 years old at the time of their marriage.
On 03 June 1880 , this family is listed on the 1880 federal census. On 03 June 1880 the family is found in the 5th district, Perry County Tennessee. These particular census images are very difficult to read. Listed in the household was “Daial H. McDonald, age 62”, “Nancy McDonald, age 48”, Mariah J, age 18 (whom I believe to be Henrietta Josephine), Mary A age 16 (whom I believe to be Nancy ), Willis B age 14 and Lidolia age 7.
Then sometime between 1880 and 1889, Nancy died. Because there is another marriage recorded between D.H. McDonald and C.L. ANDERSON on 27 July 1889 . (If we assume Daniel’s tendancy of marrying within 1 month, we could estimate that Nancy died in early July 1889.) Daniel was 70 years old at the time of this marriage. They had 2 known children: daughter L.J.McDonald born 03 July 1892 and died 08 August 1892 ; son A.M. McDonald born 10 January 1894 and died 21 Sept 1900 . The information on these children came from their tombstones in the Mt. Cemetery in Flatwoods.
2 known children born to C.L. all surname MCDONALD and all born in Perry County Tennessee
These are the last traces that I have found of Daniel Henderson McDonald. He is not listed in any cemetery. It is possible he is buried in the Mt. Olive Cemetery , along with the rest of the McDonald family and his children, but some of the tombstones are unmarked and illegible. We might find the family in the 1900 census, but I have not located this record yet. Copyright 2004
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