(March 1795-19 Feb. 1875), lumberman, figure of legends. (Big Alex Macdonell; in legend, or at least in printed history, the name is mentioned in connection with the term “Four Rivers”) (Date of death 27 Feb. 1875 also found) Born in Knoydart, Inverness-shire, Scotland. Parents: Alexander Macdonell and his wife Janet Macdonald or Macdonell. Alexander the father of the subject of the present sketch is said to have emigrated to Canada with his family in 1815 and to have settled in GC, and Alexander the subject of the present sketch is said to have emigrated the next year and joined them. Whatever his exact personal connection with GC, Alexander the subject of the present sketch is traditionally thought of as being in some sense “from” GC.

     Alexander Macdonell the subject of the present sketch was one of the legendary lumbermen of the Ottawa Valley. About the 1820s, he explored the timber resources of the Mississippi, Bonnechere, Madawaska and Indian rivers in the Arnprior-Renfrew area of Ontario: the “four rivers” particularly associated with his name. He is said to have brought the first raft of red pine down the Bonnechere in 1826. He is reported to have been encouraged to come to this part of the Ottawa Valley by Chief Archibald McNab. Alexander Macdonell was associated in lumbering in this part of the Ottawa Valley with 5 of his brothers, Colin (Coll), John, Roderick, Ranald (Ronald) and Samuel. Ranald is said to have served as foreman and manager for the lumbering enterprises of the others. These six Ottawa valley lumbermen, all of them said to be over six feet tall, were uncles of Fr Alexander Macdonell, who was the first bishop of Alexandria. The bishop’s father, James, was a farmer in GC.

     Alexander Macdonell the lumberman was married in Nov. 1830 to Janet Young (d. 26 or perhaps 24 March 1896, aged 89 or 90), sister of the Hon. John Young (1811-1878), a prominent Montreal businessman and highly active promoter of trade, canals and railways. Alexander’s brother Colin was married to John’s sister Elizabeth (d. 24 Nov. 1839, aged 25), whose name also appears as Agnes.

     Alexander Macdonell had a general store and hotel at Sand Point (near Arnprior) on the Ottawa River, with docks and quays. Sand Point was one of the depots for bringing supplies into the Ottawa Valley lumber shanties, not just those of his own family it appears, but those of various proprietors. At Sand Point, too, he built for himself a fine stone mansion, which still survives. The statement that he served as member for the Bathurst District from 1849 in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada is untrue; perhaps what is meant is that he was a member (though this remains unverified) of the province’s Legislative Council. From the 1860s at least, his hotel was known as Young’s Hotel, presumably in tribute to his wife’s family. Alexander appears in Lovell’s Canada Directory of 1857 as postmaster and lumber merchant at Sand Point, Renfrew County. Alexander Macdonell seems to have lost much of his fortune by the end of his life. Sir Richard Scott cited him and his brother Coll among lumbermen who “died poor men, yet all held, at one time, valuable [timber] limits, which, in some cases, enriched the holders in a succeeding generation.” Incidentally, his brother-in-law John Young, wealthy and influential, likewise lost his fortune in later life. Alexander Macdonell died at his home at Sand Point. He and his wife are buried in the Albert Street Cemetery, Arnprior, also known as the Inchbuie Cemetery.

     Alexander Macdonell had a land grant said to have extended to 1000 acres at Sand Point The Roman Catholic church at Sand Point was built in 1870-1871, at the insistence of and largely at the expense of the Macdonells of this family. (O’Dwyer 191, Legree 235)

Obituaries (both brief) of Alexander and his wife, Perth Courier, 5 March 1875 & 10 April 1896 * Wilson, MN, 7 * transcriptions from Albert Street Cemetery, Arnprior (prepared by The Ottawa Branch, The Ontario Genealogical Society) pp. 10-11 * William C. O’Dwyer, Highways of Destiny: a History of the Diocese of Pembroke Ottawa Valley, Canada (1964) esp. 16-17, 181-182, 191 * Joseph C. Legree, Lift up Your Hearts: a History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pembroke (1988) esp. 227, 233-235 * Harry J. Walker, “’Big Alex’ Macdonell was First Bonnechere Lumberman,” Ottawa Journal, n.d., repr. with geneal. note, Glengarry Genealogical Society Newsletter, Dec. 1977-Feb. 1978 * Fraser Obits. 261-262 (geneal. of family) * Joan Finnegan, Giants of Canada’s Ottawa Valley (1981) 60-73, “Alexander MacDonnell King of the Four Rivers” : biog. sketch, various illustr. but no portrait * Sir Richard Scott, Recollections of Bytown (1911) 18 * Lovell 1857 365 * cf McLean 167, 251 * Hon. John Young: he appears in many biog. ref. works, and has a life in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, X, 722-728