FACTS GIVEN ME BY AUNT MARGARET MACDONALD, JUNE 9, 1912

William Macdonald, my great-grandfather, was born in 1781 in Glasgow, Scotland and died in the fall of 1845 at his home on the east of 6th Avenue, between Federal and Grand Street, Troy, NY. He was the son of William and ----- Macdonald. He married Jane Elizabeth Spier, who was born on the Shetland Isles in 1774. Her father, Walter Spier, was a sea captain. He had one son (besides the daughter Jane) who was lost at sea and whose death was always a source of great regret to his parents and sister.

Jane was born about February 1774 and was said to be seven years older than her husband, William Macdonald. She was brought up a strict Presbyterian, but eventually, with her husband, became a Methodist. This conversion was brought about by some revival meetings, which they, in company with our grandfather William Macdonald, attended. Jane Macdonald was very religious and a zealous reader of the Bible always. She was a little woman (it was said that she could walk under her husband's arm), had gray eyes, was possessed of considerable energy and had an unusually fine constitution. After her husband's death (in 1845) she divided her time, spending part of it with our grandfather, her son William, and part with her daughter, Margaret Macdonald Glass, living then on First Street in the lower part of the city. She died on August 7, 1862, aged eighty-nine and a half years and after an illness of three days. Her death was due to old age and possibly shock from the great fire in 1862, six months before. She was living with her son William at the time and, because the house was burned to the ground, my father, John A. Macdonald took her in a carriage to the home of her daughter where it was thought she would be more comfortable. She is buried in the lot of her son-in-law, James Glass, in New Mount Ida Cemetery, Pinewood Avenue, Troy, NY.

William Macdonald, husband of Jane Elizabeth Spier was a large man, five feet eleven inches tall, had dark eyes, and in the memory of his grandchildren, iron-gray hair. They always called him “Gaffey.” He is said to have looked like a clergyman. He was a strict disciplinarian, had a very strong personality, and was quick tempered.

William was superintendent of the Caird Iron Works in Greenock and, because of a quarrel with the Scotch firm, came to America with his wife and probably daughter Jane in 1829. He died of stomach trouble, probably inflammatory in character, after an illness of seven weeks, practically starving to death. My grandfather always thought that the advanced science of later years could have cured him. He is buried in the Old Mount Cemetery, Pawling Avenue, Troy, in the same lot with his grandson, James, son of Margaret Shelley and William Macdonald.
“Aunt Mary” always remembered him as placing his hands on the children's heads and saying, “Puir wee things.” William Macdonald, our great-grandfather, had a brother John, “Gentleman John,” he was called, who remained in Scotland, never married, and died supposedly well to do.

William and Jane Elizabeth Spier Macdonald had four children, William, Margaret, Jane and Walter. Walter died in Greenock, Scotland, at the age of twenty-four as a result of straining himself in lifting. William, our grandfather, was born on Saturday, December 14, 1799, and was taken the next day to the “Kirk” to be baptized. He went to his trade as a pattern maker, at 10 years. He often told that he took care of his father's sheep at seven years. His father was very strict and insisted that he should work at his trade seven years. In contrast to his father, he was of mild disposition, firm but naturally gentle. He was exceedingly fond of reading and quoted Shakespeare and Burns freely. He was fair-haired, had brown eyes, and was five feet ten inches in height. In 1820 he married Margaret McCullough, daughter of “Jack” McCullough, and had by her six children. The three younger children, Rachel, Margaret and John, died at an early age and were buried in Greenock. Margaret McCullough Macdonald died about 1831 after a long illness, and in 1834 my grandfather, William Macdonald, with his three children, William, Janet and Jane, and his sister Margaret Macdonald McKenzie (wife of “Jack” McKenzie) and her son “Jack,” came to America on a sailing vessel. They were nine weeks at sea. His parents had come to Troy about five years previously and he joined them here.

His daughter Janet, born in 1821, eventually married Thomas B. Cook, a Scotsman, in 1847, and had, by him, two daughters, Isabel, who married Rev. Jessup, a Presbyterian minister, and Margaret, who married Thomas U. Davidson. Their son Thomas Cook died at an early age.

William, eldest of William and Margaret McCullough Macdonald, went south soon after his father's second marriage to Margaret Shelley, and it was supposed that he died of fever there, as he was never heard from. Jane, daughter of William and Margaret, at age 15, in 1838, married Samuel Ballagh. His brother Robert Ballagh married Ellen, sister of Margaret Shelley Macdonald. The mother of Samuel and Robert Ballagh, “Granny Ballagh,” was much beloved by all who knew her.

Jane and Samuel Ballagh had six children: William, Samuel, Emily, Walter, Jane, and another one that died. William is possibly alive in the West. Samuel married in Schenectady, had a daughter and died there. Name of his wife is unknown. Emily married a Galbraith, lived and died in suburban Chicago. Walter was adopted when seven months old by the Thomas Cooks and gave them a world of trouble. Jane Macdonald Ballagh died in Crescent, NY in April 1861. Margaret Shelley Macdonald wanted to adopt Emily, daughter of Jane and Samuel Ballagh, but was prevented by Janet Macdonald Cook, a “blue” Scottish Presbyterian, because Margaret S. Macdonald was a Catholic.

Jane Macdonald, daughter of William and Jane Elizabeth Speer Macdonald, married James or William Robinson and had a large family. She died in New York of cholera at the time of an epidemic and after having taken care of a neighbor. Her own children did not know where she was buried.

Margaret Macdonald McKenzie, sister of our grandfather, eventually married James Glass, a Scot, and had six children: William, Elizabeth, Robert, James, Walter and Margaret. William died when a young man of typhoid fever. Elizabeth married James Hislop in 1860. “Aunt Mary” Macdonald “stood up” with her at the ceremony in the Park Presbyterian Church at six in the morning.

James Hislop, husband of Elizabeth Glass, shot himself April 30, 1882. Hazel Cooper is his grand daughter. He was very happy in his home life and successful in business for years and no reason could be assigned for his act. He was greatly beloved in the southern part of the city where they lived many years.

James and Elizabeth Glass Hislop had three children: Thomas, James and Anna Thomson, wife of William C. Cooper. Hazel Cooper is the only child of Anne Hislop and William Cooper.

Robert Glass, son of Margaret Macdonald Glass and James Glass, married Mary Gardener, an attractive French girl. They had six children. Robert Glass is still living in the southern part of the city where he has been a very successful druggist for many years.

Margaret, daughter of Margaret Macdonald Glass and James Glass, married Lyman Wood. She died October 1886, leaving one son, Howard.

William Macdonald, our grandfather, died of old age (arteriosclerosis) May 28, 1875 at his home 68 Federal Street. He never remembered having a doctor until his final illness. He is buried in the family lot at Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, NY.

Margaret Shelley, our grandmother, was his second wife. Margaret Shelley Macdonald was the daughter of John and Mary Silk Shelley and was born on “Michaelmas” about September 20, 1815 in Waterford, Lismore County, Ireland. She was about five feet six and a half inches in height, broad-shouldered, had a very erect carriage, dark brown hair, blue eyes, fair skin, regular features, “magnificent” teeth. She had short feet and hands. She had a very positive nature, was a strong personality. She was evidently her father's favorite child. She was inclined to be severe but was a good mother and wife. On account of her Catholicism, William Macdonald's parents were strongly opposed to her marriage to their son, but in time they overcame this feeling. She was the exact height she would say, of her own mother, Mary Silk Shelley.

William Macdonald and Margaret Shelley were married January 19, 1835. They had met through her brother, William Shelley, who advised her to marry William Macdonald, saying that he was a good man and would always make her a good husband.

John and Mary Silk Shelley were farmers and gardeners in Waterford, Ireland, and had eleven children. Our grandmother Margaret was the ninth child. Mary Silk was considered more well to do than her husband, John Shelley, who was, however, a very good man. Her parents arranged the marriage entirely. John Shelley and our father John A. Macdonald were said by our grandmother to resemble each other very strongly in many respects. Our father was named for his grandfather Shelley and was his mother's favorite child. He had the same physique as his grandfather, the same erect, military carriage.

John and Mary Silk Shelley were very religious Catholic people. The children were not allowed even to polish their shoes on Sunday. Their children were: Michael, Bedelia, William, John, Mary, Margaret, Ann, Ellen and three more who died in early life.

Michael married and went to Australia to live. Bedelia also. She was very beautiful until she had smallpox. William, head-gardener for the Duke of Devonshire in Waterford, Ireland, came to America in not very good health. It was thought that a sea voyage would be of benefit to him and his sister, our grandmother, Margaret Shelley, was sent as companion to him. They never saw their parents again. William Shelley was a large, fine-looking man. Our grandfather, William Macdonald, said he was the finest specimen of young manhood that he ever saw enter a shop. He had a very reserved manner as did also his sister, Margaret.

They came to America in the summer of 1832, after having spent six weeks at sea in a sailing vessel. Margaret was then about 17 years old. They landed in Quebec and encountered a terrible plague of cholera there. They boarded at first with a French family and it was thought one night that William Shelley had contracted the plague, but his sister, our grandmother, worked over him all night. She said that if the people downstairs knew how ill he was, they would have insisted upon the “Black Cart,” an ambulance, taking him off. The people died at such a rate that they were buried in trenches and their bodies were covered with chloride of lime. Margaret and William Shelley parted each morning, not knowing whether they would ever see one another again, the plague was so widespread and malignant. She remembered going to a hospital one day to visit a young girl who had come over on the same vessel and with whom her brother had fallen love.

James Cummings, husband of Mary Shelley (sister of Margaret Shelley), came over on the same vessel, but was so alarmed at conditions in Quebec that he returned on the next outgoing vessel. James was not accompanied by his wife, because she was expecting.

Margaret and William Shelley came to Troy eventually and lived on the southwest corner of 5th Avenue and Federal Street “Smith's Row.” Their son William married a widow, Mary Flinn, who had two children, William and Margaret. Daughter Margaret married a man named Long, had two bright children, Jeremiah and Mary Long, who lived together many years on Pinewoods avenue. They were “globetrotters,” more or less, and wrote interesting letters to local papers about their journeys. Their property was inherited by the Days.

William and Margaret Flinn Shelley had one son and four daughters: Mary, Eliza, John, Katherine, and Bedelia. Mary married, at fifteen, Michael Day and they had six children: George, Edward, William, Clara, Teresa, and Emma. Clara died young. The others, all unmarried, live together in the old “Long” homestead on Pinewoods Avenue. William Shelley, brother of Margaret Shelley Macdonald, died on Jacob Street, just west of 6th Avenue, in the old homestead at the age of 52. His death was very sudden (syncope). He is buried in the Old Mount Ida Cemetery, Pawling Avenue, Troy, NY.

William and Margaret Shelley Macdonald were married on January 19, 1835 in the Parish of Old St. Peter's Church (Hutton & 5th Ave) in the evening. The wedding party was held afterwards at the home of the Godsons (old Mrs. Godson's brother), corner 5th Avenue and Federal. William and Margaret Shelley went to Albany, N.Y. to live with Jane Macdonald Robinson, William Macdonald's sister.

Ten months after the marriage (November 19, 1835) Elizabeth, the first child, was born. There were eight children resulting from this marriage: Elizabeth, Mary, Walter Spier, John Augustus, James, Margaret Ann, Teresa Frances and William James.

Elizabeth was weakly (they always thought) through the mistake of a druggist having given wrong medicine, and through many of the children's diseases. She had curvature of the spine and was inclined to be weak mentally. She died April 22, 1862 at 34 Federal Street, and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, troy.

Mary (Aunt Mary) second child of William and Margaret Shelley Macdonald, was born November 3, 1837 in a little wooden house on the north east side of 5th avenue and Federal Street. The house sat back in the yard. Aunt Mary was five feet four and a half inches, had a quantity of light brown hair, blue eyes, very regular features, and beautiful teeth and was considered a very beautiful girl and woman. She attended private schools and afterwards went to the Troy Female Seminary for four years. On account of temporary ill health, she stayed at home one year, lost interest, and did not want to graduate with a lower class.

It was when Mary (Aunt Mary) was ten months old that her mother, Margaret Shelley Macdonald, was advised by the doctor on account of a slight stomach trouble to go to the country and at this time began the friendship with the Flynn Family, on Mechanicville Road, which continues to this day. She had many opportunities, but never married. Her life was spent in her home. She lived at 34 (afterwards 68 then 606) Federal Street from 1847 to June 27, 1900 when we moved to the East Side, first on Locust Avenue, then Terrace Place, and afterward Belle Avenue, the “Mosher” home. Here she died August 17, 1904 and is buried in the family lot in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy.

Walter Spier Macdonald was born July 18, 1839. He went west when a young man, married Elizabeth Porter, had six children, and died February 9, 1886, is buried in Chicago.

John Augustus Macdonald, our father, was born January 8, 1841 in a house that stood at the northwest corner of 5th Avenue and Grand (Grand Division Street) Street. He married Victoria Alexandrina McMillan June 17, 1869, in St. Paul's Church and had four children: Margaret, Elizabeth, Henry Gordon and Katherine Adelaide. Victoria died December 26, 1878 at 27 1st Street, Troy.

His second marriage, to Helen Griffith Swan, a widow, took place at Christ Episcopal Church, below Jacob (on west side) about 4'oclock in the afternoon, October 27, 1880. They had one daughter, Bessie Griffith, born January 18, 1882 and died December 24, 1882; and a son William Griffith, now living in La Jolla, California. He married Olive Pitchford Waters, of San Francisco, and they had three sons: William Griffith, Donald and Henry Gordon.

John A. Macdonald, our father, died April 20, 1912 in the Gleason apartments, Broadway between 4th and 5th Avenue, and is buried in the family lot at Oakwood Cemetery, Troy. (Helen passed away 12/13/1921 in San Francisco, CA. She is buried in Swan Lot, Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, NY)

Margaret, (Aunt Margaret) daughter of William and Margaret Shelley Macdonald, was born January 27, 1847 on Federal Street. She attended the high school and graduated July 12, 1864. She entered school No.9 March 15, 1869, and is teaching there. (died 06/10/29, buried Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, NY)

James, who came after John and before Margaret Ann, was born November 1, 1843. He died at three of measles, and is buried in Old Mount Ida in the same lot with his grandfather, William Macdonald. Teresa Frances was born August 17, 1849. She attend high school and graduated June 1869, taught school in the 7th Ward and married Frank Kisselburgh February 6, 1883. She lived in Albany after her marriage and died there May 1, 1885. She is buried in the family lot at Oakwood Cemetery.

William James was born November 17, 1850 also on Federal Street. On September 15, 1881 he married Nellie Twombly Hawley, a widow, in Christ Episcopal Church. They had no children. He died November 19, 1883 in Middletown, N.Y.

Our grandmother, Margaret Shelley Macdonald, died November 20, 1878, at 68 Federal Street after a few days illness with pneumonia. She is buried in the family lot at Oakwood Cemetery.

John Shelley, son of John and Mary Silk Shelley, came to America, went to California, settled there, married and died there. He left no children. If he left any means, his sister, Ellen's family, probably inherited it.

Mary Shelley Cummings, daughter of John and Mary Silk Shelley, came to this country a widow, leaving her two children in Waterford, Ireland with their grandparents who brought them up. She later married a man named Lindsay, had two sons, settled in Providence, Rhode Island, is buried there. She died in November 1878, the same week as our grandmother, Margaret Shelley Macdonald, her sister. Her husband died before she did. After the death of John and Mary Silk Shelley in Ireland, James and Margaret Cummings, children of Mary Shelley Cummings, came to America.

James married twice and had children by both wives. He lived and died on Green Island and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, Troy. Margaret Cummings married (when about forty) a man named John Donohue, and told Aunt Mary Macdonald that she regretted it with all her heart. He was not her equal, so considered. They had two children, James and Mary. James Donohue died of typhoid when a young man and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery. Mary was born April 30, 1878, and her mother died September 28, 1878 in William Shelley's (her uncle) home on Jacob Street. John Donohue, husband of Margaret Cummings, married again and his daughter, so far as we know, is living with her step mother on 6th Avenue, Troy, near Jacob Street.

Ellen, youngest child of John and Mary Silk Shelley, married very young, at 17, Robert Ballagh, brother of Samuel Ballagh who married Jane, daughter of our grandfather William Macdonald and his first wife Margaret McCullough. They live in Waterford where their twelve children were born in Stillwater and Watervliet. Robert Ballagh was a pattern maker. Their twelve children were: Elizabeth, Thomas, Washington, Eddy, William, Mary, Ambrosina, Josephine, Ellen, and four who died young. Robert and Ellen Ballagh eventually went to California and settled in San Luis Obispo. Ellen died at the age of 68. Her husband died later. Elizabeth married a man named Smith, and is living in Los Angeles. She has two or three children. Cousin Jim Hagen looked them up on his various trips to the West. Elizabeth's son William was in the insurance business, and is said to have been a fine-looking man. Her daughter is divorced, married twice.

Thomas married in Whitehall. He has no children. William, a fine looking lad, died very suddenly in San Francisco about 1910. Mary is married. Also Ambrosina. Three children of John and Mary Silk Shelley must have died as infants, as there were eleven children in all.

Ann Shelley, daughter of John and Mary Silk Shelley, was born in Waterford, Ireland about 1817. She and her sister Ellen came to America together and lived with their sister, our grandmother, Margaret Shelley Macdonald and her husband William. About 1841, she married a widower, Patrick Hagen, who saw her going to St. Peter's Church and declared he would have her for his wife. He married her about six weeks after his wife died. The eloped, were married in Albany, then came back and announced it. They went to Philadelphia where they lived for a time. He was considered a very handsome man. He was in the shoe business in Philadelphia, left there in 1847. He died suddenly, leaving three children, James William (Cousin Jim) born in1842, Ellen born June 1844 and Kate in 1846 and Francis, a son, after his father's death in 1848. After her husband's death, Ann Shelley returned to Troy to live with her children. Her husband, Patrick Hagen, by his first marriage, had a daughter who married, lived and died in the South. Ann Shelley Hagen lived on Federal Street with her family. She died September 18, 1870 of a complication of diseases and is buried in St. Peter's with her four children. Her daughter Ellen, died of a rare disease, effusion of blood, when 17 years old May 21, 1862. Kate Hagen came to live with our grandmother, her aunt, contracted tuberculosis, and died December 14, 1870 at her Aunt's home. Frank Hagen never married. He died July 15, 1880 in Buffalo. James William Hagen went to New York when a young man, eventually became interested in the jewelry business. They had three daughters, Anna Lillian, Katherine Yates, and Nellie VanEvra. He was granted a divorce from his wife, their mother, and afterwards married Emma McKibbon of New York. They had no children.

Ann Hagen married a man names Harley. They were divorced, had no children. Katherine married William Scanlan of New York. They have on son James W. Hagen. VenEvra married Wright, and have one daughter named Katherine. Anne Hagen married a second time a man named Parker, a prosperous businessman of New York. Cousin Jim Hagen died August 17, 1918 in New York City, is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, Troy.

Signed: Katherine Adelaide Macdonald

Dictated November 20, 1937