OKGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any
format for profit or presentation by any other organization or
persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must
obtain the written consent of OKGenWeb State Coordinator.

Presentation here does not extend any permissions to the public. This
material can not be included in any compilation, publication,
collection, or other reproduction for profit without permission. Files
may be printed or copied for personal use only.
=====================================================================

GEORGE A. MCDONALD
Vol. 5, p. 1854

Every progressive city now has its chamber of commerce, or an
organization of similar purposes though perhaps under a different
name. The chamber of commerce at Shawnee is a particularly virile and
efficient body, and is made up of practically all the high class and
responsible business men and professional men of the city. In that
one organization are represented the best resources and the best
ideas and ideals of the city. It is as secretary of the Shawnee
Chamber of Commerce, an office he has held for the past five years,
that George A. McDonald has performed his most important service in
that city. Mr. McDonald is himself a business man and has had a
considerable breadth and depth of experience, though he is still
young. He has lived in Oklahoma ten years, and for a time was
connected with railroading in this state.

The McDonald stock of which he is a representative came from
Scotland to Virginia before the Revolutionary war. His great-
grandfather, William McDonald, was a Virginia planter. The
grandfather, James McDonald, was born in Virginia and spent his life
as a farmer and planter in that state. Mr. George A. McDonald of
Shawnee was born in Springfield, Ohio, October 21, 1875.

His father, Samuel McDonald, was born at Romney, in Hampshire
County, West Virginia, or Old Virginia as it was then, in 1842. His
birthplace was afterwards the scene of one of the important battles
in the Civil war. Samuel McDonald was reared in West Virginia, went
in young manhood to Springfield, Ohio, where he married, and he lived
in that locality the rest of his days, passing away in 1895. By
occupation he was a farmer, was a democrat in politics, and took a
very active part in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in
which he served as a steward, trustee and deacon. During the War
Between the States his only participation in military affairs was as
a member of the Home Guard in West Virginia.

Samuel McDonald married Emily COLLIER. She was born in Springfield,
Ohio, and is now living in Yellow Springs in that state. To their
marriage were born the following children: James R., a tinsmith
living at Purcell, Oklahoma; Edith O., wife of D.F. HUPMAN, a farmer
at Springfield, Ohio; Harry E., who is in the real estate business
but has no settled location or permanent residence; Thomas F., a
farmer at Urbana, Ohio; George A.; Lewis Clark, a carpenter and
builder at Middletown, Kentucky.

The country schools of Clark County, Ohio, gave George A. McDonald
his first advantages, and he also had the benefit of some college
training, having finished the sophomore year in Antioch College in
1897. His early years had been spent on his father's farm, and he
enjoyed much of the wholesome and rugged discipline of country life.
He taught school in Jefferson County, Kentucky, as principal of rural
schools two years, but soon found school teaching unsatisfactory.
After taking a course in telegraphy he was employed as telegraph
operator on the L & N Railroad at Louisville, and remained in the
service of that railroad company until January 1, 1906.

That was the date when he became identified with Shawnee. For the
First two years he was a clerk with the Rock Island Railroad offices
in Shawnee. Going into business for himself, Mr. McDonald was one of
the successful grocery merchants of the city until 1911. In that year
he was elected secretary of the chamber of commerce, and has since
given practically all his time and attention to the duties of this
office. He is also secretary of the Retail Merchants Association,
secretary of the Provident Association, secretary of
the Pottawatomie County Fair Association, and a stockholder in the
Fidelity Building and Loan Association. His offices are in the
Convention Hall Building.

In politics he is a democrat. Like his father, he takes much
interest in the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Shawnee and is a
steward. He is affiliated with Shawnee Lodge No. 107, Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons, and with Shawnee Chapter No. 32, Royal Arch
Masons.

In 1903, at Middletown, Kentucky, he married Miss Lucy E. MITCHELL,
daughter of Robert S. Mitchell. They have one son, Samuel Vance, who
was born November 5, 1905, and is now a student in the public schools
of Shawnee.

SOURCE: Thoburn, Joseph B., A Standard History of Oklahoma, An
Authentic Narrative of its Development, 5 v. (Chicago, New York: The
American Historical Society, 1916).

Typed for OKGenWeb by Earline Sparks Barger, January 2001.