John L. MacDonald

John L. MacDonald

John Lewis MacDonald (born February 22, 1838 in Glasgow , Great Britain , †  July 13, 1903 in Kansas City , Missouri ) was an American politician . Between 1887 and 1889 he represented the state of Minnesota in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Born in Scotland, John MacDonald came to Nova Scotia in Canada with his parents in his youth . In 1847 the family moved on to Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . After another move in 1855, they ended up in Scott County , Minnesota. After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1859, he began to work in his new profession in Belle Plaine . In 1860 and 1861, MacDonald was a probate judge in Scott County. During the civil war he was employed in a recruiting office where soldiers were recruited for the Union army. He was also a district attorney in Scott County in 1863 and 1864; from 1865 to 1866 he served as a school councilor in this district.

Politically, MacDonald was a member of the Democratic Party . From 1869 to 1870 he was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives . He then belonged to the State Senate in 1871 and again between 1873 and 1876 . In 1872 he ran unsuccessfully for the office of Attorney General of Minnesota. In 1876 he became mayor of Shakopee . Between 1876 and 1886 he was a judge in the eighth judicial district of his state.

In the congressional election of 1886, MacDonald was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the third constituency of Minnesota , where he succeeded Horace B. Strait on March 4, 1887 . Since he was defeated by the Republican Darwin Hall in the elections of 1888 , he was only able to complete one term in Congress until March 3, 1889 . After his tenure in the House of Representatives ended, MacDonald practiced law in Saint Paul . In 1898 he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he also worked as a lawyer. There he died on July 13, 1903, of the effects of injuries sustained in a tram accident.

Web links

• John L. MacDonald in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John L. MacDonald in the database of Find a Grave (English)