Ronald S. McDonald or known as just R.S.

Miriam, Keith’s sister, writes in her notes that her father Ronald was born in Chapeau, Quebec in 1866.  His parents were Archibald and Mary MacDonell.  Ronald learned about the lumber business growing up on the Upper Ottawa River and came to Minnesota where he started working for the Backus & Brooks Lumber Co. 

Grand Rapids, Minnesota was not very big in the early 1900′s and according to the public librarian, via an email to me,  there was no business school at that time.  It is more likely that R.S. got his business education in either Duluth or Minneapolis. 

Miriam goes on to say that Ronald knew how to cruise, to survey and to build logging roads.  As a superintendent he would have been very involved in setting up lumber camps and getting the lumber out.  

At the end of the notes she writes:  “He surveyed and platted International Falls.”

All of the previous comments are true.  However, the statement about the plating is still be to be proven.  In order to determine the truth of this family story I made a visit to the Koochiching County Courthouse in 2001.  A study of the plat maps for the city did not reveal any evidence that Ronald was involved.  His name was not on the maps. 

A time line of events for the history of International Falls is needed:

“Although the International Falls area was well-known to explorers, missionaries and voyagers as early as the 1600s, it was not until April 1895 the community was platted by a teacher and preacher L. A. Ogaard for the Koochiching Company and named the community Koochiching. The word “Koochiching” comes from either Ojibwe word Gojijiing or Cree Kocicīhk, both meaning “at the place of inlets,” referring to the neighboring Rainy Lake and River. The European inhabitants gave the names Rainy Lake and Rainy River to the nearby bodies of water because of the mist-like rain present at the falls where the lake flowed into the river.

On August 10, 1901, the village was incorporated and two years later its name was changed to International Falls in recognition of the river’s role as a border between the United States and Canada. It was incorporated as a city in 1909.”

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia online April 3, 2010.  

More detail is provided by the book:  History of Koochiching County, published by the Koochiching County Historical Society in 1983, pg. 35.

So did Ronald or R.S., take part in plating a city?  It is not clear that he did but there is a possibility that he was greatly involved in many affairs of the city of International Falls as we shall see in future posts.

Keith’s Parents: Ronald and Grace’s Marriage!

Ronald and Grace McDonald

Finding my father’s parents marriage was one of my first genealogical challenges.  My Aunt Miriam, their daughter didn’t know the exact date of the marriage.  Miriam had sent me a bunch of her notes on our family and she wrote in these notes that her parents got married sometime before the death of Grace’s father. That was all she knew about her parent’s marriage.     

Ronald Marries Grace - Miriam's Notes

I practically tore up the State of Minnesota searching for records to no avail. I wrote to the St. Paul Episcopal church in Brainerd where her parents had a record of their marriage but nothing was found.  I checked with the Cass County and Crow Wing County Courthouse for a marriage record and was turned down.  I studied newspapers for Pine River where her parents lived, and other cities like Brainerd and Walker to see if an announcement had been made.  Nothing was turning up.  Sometimes the information you are seeking turns up in an unusual place.  I have been to the Minnesota Historical Society in St Paul, Minnesota on three separate occasions.  On this trip I was looking for records on Grace’s father George A. Barclay and pulled the Coroner’s Inquest file about his murder.  George was killed on October 28, 1898.  When someone is killed suspiciously a coroner’s inquest is held.  Fortunately for me, Minnesota was conducting these inquests on a regular basis by 1898.  In the transcripts contained in this Coroner’s Inquest file I found that my grandmother Grace had testified and in her testimony she told of her marriage. Grace gave testimony twice at the inquest.  The second testimony is the better one. 

Mrs. Grace Barclay recalled says: 

I was married the 8^th of September in Hudson, Wis., I was at home immediately prior to the marriage.  Came back Oct. 1.  I stayed in Minneapolis from the 4^th to the 14^th of October. From there I went to Grand Rapids, Minn.  I stayed there a while and went out to a camp for a week, but kept rooms at the hotel all the time.  My husband is superintendent for Backus in the Willow River country.  We were near Cloquet when we heard of the murder of my Father.  Mr. McDonald told me.  I left Mr. McDonald at Cloquet.  He went to the woods and I came home.  I said he would drive across country and will be here tonight,….   

Grace and Ronald's Marriage Record

My grandmother was 16 years old when she married my grandfather Ronald. Grandfather Ronald was 32 years old at the time. I pondered this 16 year difference in their age when I saw the birth records at the Koochiching County Courthouse in International Falls, Minnesota of their children, my Dad and his siblings. I remember saying out loud and incredulously:   “Grandpa what were you thinking?” 

Grace and Ronald did marry on September 8, 1898 in Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin.  Hudson is just across the state line between Minnesota and Wisconsin and not that far from Minneapolis/St. Paul.  The distance is 29 miles by our freeway standards.   If you look close at the marriage record you can see there is no identifying county marks on this record.  I do have the Wisconsin Vital records application and the envelope this Marriage record was returned to me in.  You will have to take my word that the marriage was performed in Wisconsin. 

In reviewing this marriage record we find the following information:  Ronald S. McDonald is the husband, his father is Archibald, his mother is Mary.  Ronald’s occupation is lumberman and his residence is given as Duluth. He was born in Canada.  Grace’s name is written “Gray A. Barclay.” Her parents are George A. Barclay and Amarilla Spracklen.  She was born in Pine River, MN.  They married on Sept. 8, 1898 in Hudson, St. Croix Co.  (I wrote in the state).  They are white. The ceremony was Presbyterian.  The witnesses were Mike Dorgan and Grace & Charles Burnley.  The witnesses were from Hudson, St. Croix Co.  The marriage was registered September 26, 1898 and the parties were sworn. 

What do I think about this information?  Well there are a few pieces of information that are very interesting.   The first is that Ronald’s place of residence is Duluth.  I have suspected that he did live there.  The other piece of information is the marriage ceremony was Presbyterian.  Ronald was Catholic.  Grace her religion was unknown.  He basically married outside his faith.  The witnesses are also intriguing because their names are unfamiliar to me.  Their residence is given as Hudson?  So are these people friends of Grace and Ronald? Ronald was a lumberman and high up in Backus’ business, so he could have had many contacts and his occupation took him to many locations.

The lesson learned: if you can’t find a marriage within the state you think it happened in, then check the surrounding states.