McDONALD, WILLIAM E.

MCDONALD, YOUNG, COFFIN

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 1/12/2004 at 20:02:58

Biography reproduced from page 87 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

William E. McDonald is junior partner of the firm of Pettibone & McDonald, dealers in agricultural implements and machinery, and is now classed with the representative and successful men of Kossuth county, his energy bringing him a measure of success that is most gratifying. He was born October 3, 1873, in Portland township, this county, his parents being Joseph D. and Nancy I. (Young) McDonald, in whose family were five sons and one daughter. The father was a farmer of Illinois but at the time of the Civil war put aside all business considerations and enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois Regiment, with which he served for over three years, or until he was mustered out. His regiment constituted a part of Sherman’s army on the march to the sea and took part in various other campaigns. After the war Mr. McDonald returned to Illinois and then removed to Kossuth county, securing a homestead claim on section 8, Portland township. Not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made upon the place but with characteristic energy he began its development and as the years went by converted the wild prairie land into productive fields. He died in 1891 and is still survived by his wife, who is now residing in Santa Barbara, California.

William E. McDonald was educated in the schools of Kossuth county and in the Iowa Business College of Des Moines. His father removed to Burt, this county, and after his death William E. McDonald took up the hardware and lumber business at that place, continuing in that line of trade there for six years. On the expiration of that period he sold out and was appointed by S. P. Christenson to the office of deputy sheriff of the county. He served in that capacity for four years, or from 1897 until 1901, when he was elected sheriff and served for five years, holding the position from 1901 to 1906. He then became bookkeeper for the Algona Milling & Grain Company, with which he continued through 1907 and 1908, at the end of which time he formed a partnership for the sale of agricultural implements and machinery under the firm name of Pettibone & McDonald. He is still a member of the firm and the business has now assumed large and profitable proportions. What he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate powers which are his. He has made wise use of his time and talents and the years, busily spent, have brought him a measure of success which places him with the substantial residents of this part of the state.

In July, 1897, Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Adell C. Coffin, a daughter of C. S. Coffin, of Burt, one of the old settlers of Kossuth county, in which Mrs. McDonald was born. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: Sherwood D., born in February, 1903; and William Dale, in June, 1905.

The social element in Mr. McDonald’s nature finds expression in his membership in the Odd Fellows lodge of Algona, in Prudence Lodge, No. 174, A. F. & A. M., Prudence Chapter, No. 70, R. A. M., and Ernest Council, No. 17, R. & S. M. He is loyal to the teachings of the fraternity, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft, which is based upon mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. There have been no unusual or exciting chapters in his life record. He has worked on persistently day after day and year after year, knowing that perseverance and diligence are the basis of success.