MICHAEL McDONALD
Bio-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: CULLEN,
is the owner of a fine tract of land in the Braley District, situated on the Southern Pacific Railroad, about half a mile north of Lawrence, and north of the junction of the San Francisco road and Reed's lane. The farm comprises fifty-five acres, and is devoted entirely to the production of hay and grain.
The subject of this sketch dates his birth in Wicklow County, Ireland, in 1844. His parents, John and Mary (Cullen) McDonald, were both natives of that county. His boyhood was spent in hard labor on a farm, his education, as far as book learning was concerned, being almost entirely neglected. In 1860, being sixteen years of age, he turned his face toward the land of freedom, the United States. Landing at New York, he sought and obtained work on a farm in Westchester County, not far from the city of New York. There he remained for a few months, when he determined to try the South. He went to Mobile, Alabama, and there followed various occupations,—among them that of a vegetable gardener. He arrived in Mobile in 1861, and was thus a resident of that city during the War of the Rebellion. Although pressed to enter the service of the Southern Confederacy, he successfully resisted all efforts to induce him to do so. However, he was compelled to work in the trenches of the military works erected for the defense of the city.
In 1869, tired of life in the South, and desirous of bettering his financial affairs, Mr. McDonald visited California, and after some months spent in San Francisco, in following various pursuits, he came to Santa Clara County. Here he went to work as a farmer for Martin Murphy. We may judge of his faithfulness from the fact that he remained in Mr. Murphy's employ for over fourteen years. By hard work and economy Mr. McDonald had amassed some money, and was able to purchase, in 1883, from the estate of Schuyler B. Davis, the property which he now occupies.
He is
well-known throughout the community in which he lives as a hard-working,
industrious, and enterprising man. He is the more entitled to credit that
whatever success he has achieved in the accumulation of this world's goods is
due not to education, and other early advantages, but rather to good judgment
and native intelligence. Mr. McDonald was reared to farm work, and in the
management of his property, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation,
he has utilized the practical knowledge gained by a long experience in his
business.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
Pg. 414
SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight