(died 17 May 1863, aged 72), pioneer, soldier. (Col. James McDonald of the Glen; Col. title and place designation of Glen commonly found with name) Born presumably in GC. Parents: Angus Ban McDonald (see Angus Ban Macdonell tenant of Muniall) and his wife Nelly McDonell, who emigrated to GC in 1786.

     James McDonald was the brother of two celebrated fur traders, Big Finnan of the Buffalo Mcdonald and John Mcdonald le Borgne. James McDonald lived and farmed at the Glen, near Williamstown. Long afterwards, John A. Chisholm of Cornwall, looking back on the history of this family, described him as “a prosperous farmer.” James was also involved in the lumber trade. Two letters from his brother John printed (presumably for the first time) in Glengarry Life give some glimpses of James’s lumbering activities, and show that John at some stage put children of his in the care of James, then removed them by 1825 on some (unspecified) discontent. James was much involved in the prolonged work of the settlement of the estate of his brother John, who died intestate in 1828. The litigation involved the two brothers Finnan and James in conflicts at law and presumably (though it doesn’t necessarily follow) personal disputes.

     James served in the GC militia at the time of the 1837 Rebellion as a captain. An obituary of 1900 remembered that “During the troublesome time of 1837-38 he [the deceased] served under Capt. Jas. McDonald, of the Glen,…” (Glengarry News 28 Sept. 1900) The implication of the obituary is that this personal connection of service was one of the especial distinctions of the deceased’s life. The subject of the present entry was, presumably, the same man as the Capt. James McDonald (sp. also McDonell), a militia captain and resident of the Williamstown area, who, according to the testimony at the official enquiry into the intervention of the Glengarrians in the Terrebonne election of 1841 (see Dr Michael McCulloch and Neil McIntosh), accompanied the Glengarrians on their expedition and was, along with a Donald McNicol, one of the paymasters who distributed the money to them. James McDonald’s promotion to the rank of colonel in the militia seems to have been in 1860. Roman Catholic. He is buried at St. Mary’s cemetery, Williamstown.

     He was married to Margaret McLellan, who died 4 March 1882. On her death, a writer in the Cornwall Freeholder stated, “whenever the history of Glengarry comes to be written she and her husband will occupy no inconsiderable space therein, for their lively and active participation in everything that affected the County made their names household words, and endeared them to all who knew or heard of them.” The writer mentions also the “splendid hospitality of Col. Macdonald.”

     Evidently, as this extract indicates, James McDonald played an important role as a community leader. However, he appears to have been one of those people whose personality and energy leave a large imprint on their contemporaries, while posterity can never grasp as fully as those contemporaries the full range of reasons why they were important.

     He was the father-in-law of George Macdonell of Athol.

Fraser, Gravestones, I, 28 & 29, 83 * death of his wife, CF 17 March 1882, Cornwall Reporter 18 March 1882 * John Mcdonald le Borgne to his brother James, 19 June 1819, 27 Aug. 1825, Glengarry Life 1986 * T. C. Elliott Collection, as per notes to the entry for his brother Finnan this dictionary * History of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Williamstown, Ontario: 1847-1997 (1997) 117 * Boss 37, (242?) * see Reports of Cases in notes to entry for his brother John * obituary of his granddaughter Miss Isabella Macdonald, called “Bella Angus Jim,” Glengarry News 30 April 1920