====== MacIntosh, Donald ====== (13 March 1833-7 Dec. 1918), lumberman. Born in the Gore of Lochiel, near Glen Robertson, GC. Parents: the family history reports they “were said to have been” John MacIntosh and his wife Mary Cattanach. An obituary says, “In his early manhood, when much of Glengarry was a forest, Mr. MacIntosh took up lumbering as a business. For thirty-two years he was connected with different lumbering concerns on the Ottawa River and in Western Ontario. For the next sixteen years he was connected with the late James Rayside, ex-M. L. A. in the lumbering trade in different parts, including an extensive business in his native county. In 1893, he moved to Dalkeith where, for twenty years he carried on business on his own account. He retired six years ago, moving to Vankleek Hill where he has since resided.” (//Glengarry News//) The figures in this account are probably roughly correct. If exactly correct, he began work in the lumber camps at about the age of 12, but in this society child labour and an “early start” were facts of life, appalling no one. At least a part of his work in Western Ontario was in the Simcoe area. Widely versed in the techniques of the timber trade, he appears to have lent his hand to many tasks; among other activities he worked as a timber cruiser, built sawmills, and transported payroll to remote lumber camps. He is said to have spoken English, French, and Gaelic, and to have had some knowledge of Indian languages. At some period, probably just before moving to Dalkeith, Donald MacIntosh and his family lived in Alexandria. At Dalkeith, he operated a steam-driven sawmill on the Rigaud River, a half-mile north of the village. The river was used to bring logs to the mill--others being brought in by horse-drawn transport. He died at his home in Vankleek Hill. Presbyterian. Burial was at Vankleek Hill. He was remembered in 1934 as “the late Donald McIntosh, lumberman, so widely known in old Glengarry.” See also [[rayside_james|James Rayside]]. Donald MacIntosh was married on 24 Sept. 1867 to Margaret Munro (7 June 1845-11 Sept. 1931), of Dalhousie Mills, GC, the sister of the Rev. Gustavus Munro. (eight children) Donald and Margaret were the parents of Dr Gustavus (Gus) MacIntosh (12 Aug. 1878-15 Dec. 1954; date of birth 18 July 1874 also found), who was a noted athlete in the GC-area and at McGill University in the opening years of the 20th century, and who after graduating from McGill in medicine in 1905 was for many years a physician at Devils Lake, North Dakota. “He maintained a unique record at his office,--a listing of every child he had delivered within a period of 40 years, numbering 4,500.” He was inducted into the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. Another son, Alexander MacIntosh, graduated from Queen’s University in 1898 and took part in the Yukon and Alaska gold rushes and lived for many years in Alaska. He is remembered as having written poetry and to have done translations into an Inuit dialect for his students during periods of school teaching. His prospecting partner in Alaska was another Glengarrian, Duncan MacDonald. Another son of Donald and Margaret MacIntosh, George MacIntosh, was a storekeeper in the Peace River district. He disappeared while carrying a large sum of money, and is believed to have been murdered for it, though the body was never found. ---- //The Montreal Daily Star//, 12 Dec. 1918 (death notice), //Glengarry News// 13 Dec. 1918 * Donald A. MacLaurin, //McIntosh/Munro Family// (pp. 28; 1986): biog., family history * portrait, biog. sketch, //GN// 10 Aug. 2005 * obituary of his wife, //GN// 25 Sept. 1931 * letter of Duncan L. MacDonald to Donalda MacIntosh about her brother Alexander MacIntosh, //GN// 11 May 1934 (QF-1) * MacGillivray & Ross 453, 467 * Donald McIntosh returns from shanty, “being unwell,” & Dan. McIntosh, “who has been lumbering in Michigan for a number of years,” rents house in Alex’a (these refs. are not necessarily to the MacIntosh of the present biog.), //Glengarrian// 24 Jan. & 18 April 1890 * Gustavus MacIntosh: obituary //Glengarry News// 6 Jan. 1955 (from //Devils Lake Journal//) (QF-2); biog. sketch by Angus H. McDONELL, with line portrait of the young athlete by Douglas A. Fales, //GN// 1 June 1983; as schoolteacher at Munroes Mills in 1890s, Winter //GN// 11 Oct. 2000; as athlete, e.g. //GN// 28 June 1901 (Williamstown games), 18 Oct. 1901, 19 Sept. & 24 Oct. 1902, 16 Oct. 1903, and other press notices of this period [<6>]