US Senator. He was born to John McDonald and Deborah Reeder McDonald in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. He was educated in local common public schools and then attended Dickinson Seminary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He also attended Lewisburg University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1853, he married Charlotte Emiline Crawford and the couple would have four daughters together. Following his education and marriage, he moved to Kansas in 1857 and engaged in general business. He moved to Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1860. He then served his country with the Union Army during the American Civil War by taking a big part in raising troops and for a time also supported three regiments at his own personal expense until his military service ended in 1863. Following his military service, he then relocated to Little Rock, Arkansas, and pursued banking interests and became President of the Merchants' National Bank. He also established and became president of a bank in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He then took an interest in public office and served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention from the State of Arkansas in 1868. During the Reconstruction years (was the period in American history which lasted from 1863 to 1877. It was a significant chapter in the history of American civil rights and the rebuilding of the country following the Civil War) he decided to run for a seat in the United States Senate and was elected having succeeded the outgoing United State Senator William King Sebastian. A Member of the Republican Party, he then served in the United States Senate (Class 2) in that position from June 22, 1868, to March 3, 1871. The United States Representative Benjamin Franklin Rice was elected to serve beside Senator McDonald but he served in the United States Senate (Class 3) from June 23, 1868, to March 3, 1873. Senator McDonald was an unsuccessful Candidate for reelection in 1870. After his term in the United States Senate expired on March 3, 1871, he was succeeded in office by the well-known military personality and the former Governor of Arkansas Powell Clayton. After Senator Rice's term expired two years later on March 3, 1873, he was succeeded in office by Stephen Wallace Dorsey. Following his time in the United States Senate, McDonald took an interest in railways and was commissioned by then-President of the United States Chester Alan Arthur to examine the conditions of two divisions of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1885. He continued his interests in railroad pursuits for the next fifteen years. He moved to New York City in 1900, and later relocated to Norwood, New York, where he spent his final years. He passed away from a sudden stroke on December 13, 1903, at the age of 71, at his daughter's residence in Norwood Park, New Jersey. His body was returned to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and his funeral was held with the Hyer & Flock Funeral Directors and he was buried in the Highland Cemetery. His wife Charlotte had predeceased him on August 11, 1886, at the age of 51, and she is buried beside her husband. His daughter Josephine who passed away on January 13, 1924, at the age of 60, is also buried here.