Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Page 804

PATRICK McDONALD, a leading farmer of Delano Township, comfortably located on section 29, first opened his eyes on the other side of the Atlantic in County Louth, Ireland, Dec. 15, 1830. His parents, Daniel and Mary (Matthew) McDonald, were also of Irish birth and parentage, and spent their entire lives upon their native soil. The parental family consisted of eight children, four of whom are living; one remains in Ireland, and the others are in this country.

            The subject of this history was finely educated in his native land, becoming especially proficient in geometry and the higher mathematics. He left Ireland in 1851, about the time of reaching his majority, and first set foot upon American soil in the city of New York. Thence he emigrated to Boston, and remained in the East for a period of twenty years. In the meantime he engaged at book-keeping and in the grocery business.

             Mr. McDonald upon coming to this country was thrown upon his own resources, and was the first of his father's family to become the employe of anyone. His first severe experience in life, however, served to make him reliant and independent in character, and no doubt has been the secret of his later success. He made his way to Southern Kansas in the spring of 1871, and located in Delano Township upon a partially improved tract of land, where he has since labored with most excellent results. In addition to general farming he has been quite extensively engaged in stock-raising, and has now a herd of fifty-three head of graded Shorthorn cattle, besides some excellent breeds of horses.

             The farm of our subject comprises 320 acres of good bottom land lying on the Cowskin River, and which is well watered and very fertile. Here he has erected good buildings and availed himself of first-class farm machinery, and all the other approved methods employed by the successful agriculturist. Among his neighbors and the citizens of the township at large, he is considered as a man whose word is as good as his bond. His excellent wife, who in her girlhood was Miss Mary J. Hodgens, is a native of the same county in Ireland as her husband, and was born April 3, 1831. She came with her mother to the United States in 1852, and her marriage with Mr. McDonald took place in Massachusetts in the spring of 1860.

             Mrs. McDonald is the daughter of Richard and Jane (Clark) Hodgens, and traces her ancestry back to Normandy in France, from which they subsequently removed to the North of Ireland. Her father spent his entire life in his native county, and died there when middle-aged. The mother died in New York City about 1874. To Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have been born four children, namely: Rose M., who died when about nine months old; Winnifred, Patrick C. and Thomas.

             Mr. McDonald upon becoming a naturalized American citizen first voted the Republican ticket, but is now an active supporter of the Greenback party. He has served as Road Overseer in his township two years, occupied the office of Trustee for the same length of time, and has also been Assessor. He was reared in the faith of the Catholic Church, to which he loyally adheres.

[ Home ]