(died 1 July 1935, aged 60), contractor. (Angus J. McDonell) He was born in the area of Dalhousie Mills, a hamlet which is in GC just west of the provincial boundary, and he is described as a “native” of GC. Parents: Archibald McDonell and his wife, whose Christian name was Margaret. “He spent his boyhood days on the farm and at an early age went to Montreal. In due course he took up contracting work and entered into partnership with Irving Dibblee.” McDonell was a successful Montreal contractor. Until he retired for health reasons about six years before his death, he was president of Dibblee Construction Co. He died suddenly at his summer home at Hudson, Que. The funeral mass was in St. Finnan’s, Alexandria, and he is buried in St. Finnan’s cemetery.
He was married in 1912 to Roselyn A. Darragh of Pittsburgh, Penn. If there were any children, it appears that none survived him. Her sister Elizabeth (Bess) Darragh was married to Rod S. McLeod of Alexandria, and the McLeods’ daughter, Mary Jane, married Eugene A. Macdonald. McDonell “was a frequent visitor to his native county.” In May 1914 he and his wife were in Alexandria to take possession of a McLaughlin-Buick car he had purchased from a local dealer. (Glengarry News 15 May 1914) Probably he was the same person as the Angus John McDonald (surname given thus) who had a farm in the area of Bridge End, GC, in 1915. (GN 30 April 1915) The Dibblee Construction Co. was well known to Glengarrians. Over the years, many of them were its employees in much-valued construction jobs. The Dibblee Construction Co. was among the companies working on the St. Lawrence Seaway project in the 1950s.
Montreal Gazette (death notice) 2 July 1935 * Glengarry News 5 July 1935 (QF)