[p. 974] a highly esteemed citizen and prosperous farmer of Neshannock Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, was born on his present farm April 26, 1835, and is a son of Ebenezer and Mary (Huston) Donaldson.
Ebenezer Donaldson, the father was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout the entire time of his life. After his marriage he moved to Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and settled on a farm of 106 acres in Neshannock Township, where he lived until shortly before his death, in 1875, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He was a man of energy and ability, cleared nearly all of his home farm, and acquired several other farms in the county. He was frequently called upon to serve in local offices of trust, although he never took an active part in political affairs. He was originally a Whig, and later a Republican, and among other offices, filled those of overseer of the poor and supervisor. He married Mary Huston, who also was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and she died in 1854, at the age of sixty years. The following are the issue of their union: Margaret, deceased wife of Samuel Salisbury; Elizabeth, widow of Eliphas Wilson, of New Castle; Nancy, wife of William Huston, of Springfield, Ill.; James, deceased; John W.; William, of Wheeling, W. Va.; Alexander, of Mercer. Pa.; and Sarah, wife of Henry H. Dinsmore, of Junction City, Kan. In religious attachment they were Presbyterians.
John W. Donaldson was reared on his present farm and educated in the common schools of Neshannock Township. He remained on the home place until the Civil War was in progress, then enlisted, August 10, 1862, in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He participated in numerous skirmishes and engagements, and in the battle of Fredericksburg was severely wounded. He was honorably discharged in May, 1863, and returned to the home farm, of which he assumed charge, as his father was in advanced years. He has followed general farming and stock raising, his land, nearly all of which is under a high state of cultivation, being devoted to corn, oats, wheat and hay. It is his aim to feed most of the crops he raises, and his farm is well stocked with sheep, cattle and horses. Underlying his farm, about thirty-eight feet below the surface, is a four-foot vein of coal which has never been worked. To the original farm of 106 acres as owned by his father, he has added until he now has 131 acres, and he takes rank among the substantial and influential men of the locality.
Mr. Donaldson was united in marriage with Maria Bell, daughter of R. L. Van Orsdel, of near Bedford, and they are parents of the following offspring: Mary Amelia, wife of William Pinkerton, of Nashua; Charles E., of Council Bluffs, Ia.; Margaret Louella, of Clarence, Ia., married Rev. J. S. Cotton; Harry A., of New Castle; Ralph E., of New Castle; and John Francis, of Neshannock, and William A., who are twins. Mr. Donaldson is a member of New Castle Post No. 100, G. A. R. Religiously he and his wife are members of the Neshannock Presbyterian Church, of Wilmington, of which he is an elder.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 12 Feb 2002