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John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publ. Co., New York, 1914
"John MacDonald, member of a family of Scotch origin, was born in the north of Ireland, and is found in the colonies in 1773, when he settled on Robinson's Run, in Washington County. Of him it is said that he became the possessor of valuable property, wide in extent, cultivated by a large number of slaves, his first home being near the Virginia line. He married Martha Noble, a native of Maryland, daughter of the founder of Noblestown, Pennsylvania. John MacDonald cleared the meadow on which an Indian trading post was erected, much of his original tract of land still remaining in possession of his descendants. He was a Federalist in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian church at Candor. Children of John and Martha (Noble) MacDonald: James, Andrew, William, twin of Andrew (of whom further), Alexander, Edward, John, Margaret, married a Mr. Glenn; Martha, married a Mr. Allison; Elizabeth, married a Mr. Mitchell, and Mary, married William Nesbit.
(II) William, son of John and Martha (Noble) MacDonald, was born on Robinson's Run, Washington county, Pennsylvania, died in that state. In 1800, the year in which they attained their majority, he and his twin brother Andrew settled on a tract of land extending along the Ohio river for four miles, a site part of which is now occupied by Woodlawn [Beaver Co.]. He married and had several children; among whom was Captain John, who married Rachel Oliver, and had David Alexander, of whom further.
(IV) David Alexander, son of captain John and Rachel (Oliver) MacDonald, was born in Economy township, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1842. He was reared in the township of his birth, in boyhood attending the public schools and when a young man entered upon river work with Captain William H. Brown. From a penniless beginning, by his untiring industry and ever-evident willingness to work, he prospered in this line of endeavor, and at the outbreak of the Civil War owned seven boats plying the water of the Ohio. A large share of his well earned prosperity was taken from him during the war of the rebellion, when he was occasioned a fifty-thousand dollar loss by the seizure of his boats for government uses, and he himself was impressed into service for a term of six months. He immediately began to repair his wasted fortune and continued as the captain of several boats on the Ohio until his retirement about 1900. During all of this time, with the exception of a few years passed in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, his home was in Beaver, Pennsylvania, where his death occurred October 12, 1910. He was a Republican in politics, and although he was interested in the welfare of the place in which his residence happened to be, the nature of his calling prohibited the acceptance of public trust or responsibility. His church was the Presbyterian, of which he was for many years an elder, and he held membership in Rochester Lodge No. 229. Free and Accepted Masons. He was twice married, his second wife, whom he married June 176, 1869, being Mary Frances, born in Sewickley, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, daughter of Dr. William and Sarah St. Clair (Wilson) Woods, her father a son of William (1) Woods. William (1) Woods married a Miss Moore, and had Frances, John, Joseph, Samuel and William, of whom further. Dr. William (2) Woods came to Woodlawn, Pennsylvania, in 1878, and was associated with Captain David Alexander MacDonald and other prominent citizens in the incorporation of an educational institution in that place. He was twice married, first of Mary Semple, whose family line is connected with that of the Bissell family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the old and honorable families of the state. children of first marriage of Dr. Woods: William Semple, John Semple, and Samuel W. Semple. Children of the second marriage: Robert Wilson, Mary Frances (of previous mention), married Captain David Alexander MacDonald, Charles Gelty, and Thomas Patterson. Children of first marriage of Captain David Alexander MacDonald: William, Ida, David, and Ellen. Children of captain David Alexander and Mary Frances (Woods) MacDonald: Charles Woods, a resident of Rochester, Pennsylvania; Sarah St. Clair, deceased; Mary Frances, deceased; Florence June, married George Hoffman; Julia St. Clair, lives at home.
Lord John MacDonald, of Scotland, is a relative of this branch of the MacDonalds. Certain it is, that though never honored with title form monarch or potentate, there was as true nobility in the life of Captain David A. MacDonald as was ever possessed by man, whether conferred as a mark of respect, inherited form ancestors, or acquired through upright life, and in the paths where he was wont to walk there are many who would rejoice once more to hear the sound of his footfall and the greeting of his cheery voice.
[Vol II, pg. 1044 ff.]