Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 789
JULIUS S. MCDONALD

The year 1873 marked the beginning of the connection of the MCDONALD family with the history of Harrison county, Iowa. Julius S. MCDONALD came here with his parents in that year when he was nineteen years of age and has since made this county his home. As a general farmer and stock raiser he ranks well with the most enterprising farmers of Taylor township, and in every respect if well worthy of the high esteem in which he is held by those who know him.

Julius S. MCDONALD, the son of D. P. and Mary A. (SHARP) MCDONALD, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, March 15, 1854. His parents were both born in Ohio and were married in that state. They came to Iowa in 1856 and located in Appanoose county, where they made their home until 1873. In that year the family came to Harrison county, bought land in Taylor township and there the parents spent the rest of their lives. D. P. MCDONALD was a member of an Iowa regiment during the civil War. He was taken prisoner at Diamond Grove, Kansas, by the Confederates, and was confined in a prison in Tyler, Texas, for eleven months before he was exchanged. When he was taken to prison he weighed two hundred pounds, and when he was released he weighed only ninety pounds. Six children were born to D. P. MCDONALD and wife, five sons and one daughter, Julius S. being the fourth child.

The education of Julius S. MCDONALD was received in Appanoose county, Iowa. He came with his parents to Harrison county and at once began working out by the day. Three years later he began renting land and for five years lived on rented farms in Harrison county. He then bought his present farm in section 11 of Taylor township. He first bought ninety-five acres and later added forty-five acres more, still later purchasing an additional forty, making a total of one hundred and eighty acres in one tract. The farm was poorly improved when he bought it, but he has built a new house, good barn, granaries and other outbuildings, so that he now has a well-improved farm in every way. He makes a specialty of Duroc-Jersey hogs and Red-Polled cattle and has been very successful in handling his live stock. He is a stockholder in the Magnolia Creamery Company and in the C. Hofer Lumber Company, of Council Bluffs.

Mr. MCDONALD was married on November 16, 1879, to Caroline GARNER, who was born in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and is a daughter of Henry and Anna (MAHONEY) Garner, natives of Maryland and North Carolina, respectively. To this union three children have been born, Pearl, Ruby and Naomi. Pearl, who was born on May 8, 1881, married James Phillips, and lives on her father's farm. She has four children, Virgil, Arlen, Vida and Gladys. Ruby, who was born on January 12, 1884, married W. R. Adams, of Logan, and has one daughter, Levina. Naomi, who was born on June 24, 1886, married J. E. Reedy, and makes her home in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Naomi and her husband have three children, Donald, Mildred and Francis.

Mr. MCDONALD is a Republican and has always taken an active part in the political life of his community. He has been trustee of Taylor township and held minor offices in such a way as to win the approval of his fellow citizens. He is a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, and has been a minister in that denomination for nearly twenty years. He is a man interested in the general welfare of his community and never fails to give his hearty support to all measures of general benefit to the community.

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