Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/129

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McDonald
MACDONELL
105

McDonald, Ronald, Canadian R. C. bishop, b. in Antigonish county, Nova Scotia, in 18o5. He began his classical studies in Cape George, and fin- ished his theological course in St. Francis Xavier's college, where he was ordained priest, 2 Oct., 1859. He was then appointed professor in the college, where he remained for three years. In 1862 he was sent to take charge of the Roman Catholic mission in Pictou. During his ministry he erected five churches, including a fine one at Pictou, and in 1880 he built a lay convent and extensive schools in that place. He established schools among the Micmac Indians, in which all the Indian children •of school age are at present (1888) receiving an edu- cation. His congregation, which numbered about one hundred when he was first appointed pastor, was considerably over 1,000 in 1881. Dr. McDonald was consecrated bishop of Harbor Grace in the church of Pictou, 21 Aug., 1881. The Roman Catholic church has made considerable progress in his diocese under his administration.


MACDONELL, Alexander, Canadian R. C. bishop, b. in Glen Urquhart, in the Glengarry Highlands, Scotland, in 1762; d. in Dumfries, Scotland, 14 Jan., 1840. He was sent at an early age to the Scotch college at Valladolid, Spain, where he studied for the priesthood, and, after his ordination in 1787, returned to Scotland and did missionary duty in Lochaber. At this period the rise in the price of wool and meat, owing to the development of manufactures in the Lowlands, de- cided several of the Highland chiefs to substitute large sheep-farms for small holdings on their prop- erty. In 1792 Father Macdonell, who was then laboring on the borders between Inverness and Perth, endeavored to secure employment in the Lowlands for the evicted Highlanders who were too poor to emigrate. He persuaded Glasgow manu- facturers to take 600 of them into their employ ; but the stagnation of trade, caused by the French revolution, threw them out of work. Then the missionary convened a meeting of representative Roman Catholics at Fort Augustus in 1794, and the services of the Clan Macdonell were tend- ered to the king. They offered to serve in any part of his majesty's dominions under their chief- tain, Macdonell of Glengarry. The offer was ac- cepted, the 1st Glengarry fencible regiment was organized, and Father Macdonell was appointed chaplain, although such an appointment was con- trary to law. They served with other Highland regiments in the Irish rebellion of 1798, and tra- ditions of the forbearance and humanity of these Scotch regiments still linger among the Irish peas- antry. The i-egiment was disbanded in 1803, and Father Macdonell appealed to the English govern- ment to assign its members a ti'act of land in Can- ada. The English ministry was at this time doubt- ful as to whether they could keep Canada, and offered to settle the Highlanders in Trinidad in- stead, but in 1804 a grant of 160,000 acres was made in what is now Glengarry county, Canada. Father Macdonell accompanied his clan, and after their ar- rival the whole work, not only of founding churches and schools, but of organizing the settlement, fell on his shoulders. In 1812 he raised again a regi- ment of Glengarry fencibles and hastened to the defence of St. Lawrence river. His services were duly acknowledged by the government, from which he received a pension of £400, and afterward £600 a year, and he was also formally thanked by the prince regent. Father Macdonell was made vicar apostolic of Upper Canada on 12 Jan., 1819, and received episcopal consecration in Quebec in De- cember, 1820, under the title of Bishop of Regiopo- lis in partibus. He then returned to Upper Can- ada and fixed his episcopal residence at Kingston. With the exception of Kingston, the only towns that had Roman Catholic churches were Charlottenburg and Toronto. The Roman Catholic population in his whole vicariate hardlv amounted to 30,000, of whom more than half were Indians, and to minister tothem he had only two priests. Under hisadministration, however, the num- berof RomanCatli- olics grew rapidly, and it was soon found necessary to change the vicari- ate into a regular, see. The city of Kingston was therefore erected into a titular bish- opric, 18 Jan., 1826,

by Pope Leo XII.

in favor of Dr. ]Iacdonell, to whom Cardinal Weld was assigned as coadjutor, but the latter declined to go to Canada. The rest of his episcopate was spent in founding new parishes, erecting churches and schools, and forming new missions in the depths of the solitary forests of his immense diocese. He founded the Highland society, afterward destined to have no inconsiderable influence in Canada, and in 1837 he took steps to establish a Roman Catholic seminary for Upper Canada to be called Regiopolis college. To procure funds for this purpose and to stimulate emigration among the Highlanders, he visited Europe in 1839. He spent some time in London conferring with the English ministry, and then went to Inverness, where he entered upon the work for which he had come to Scotland. He went to Ireland in October to attend a meeting of the Irish bishops, and was prostrated by sickness there, but returned to Scotland, intending to go to Lon- don for the purpose of arranging with the English ministry an emigration of Highlanders to Canada on an extensive scale. Bishop Macdonell was a man of liberal views and unbounded charity. Dur- ing his episcopate he built forty-eight churches.


MACDONELL, Allan, Canadian explorer, b. in York (now Toronto), 5 Nov., 1808 : d. 9 Sept., 1888. His father, Alexander, a native of Scotland, was for many years a member of the legislature, and legislative council of Upper Canada. The son studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1832, and in the following year entered into partnership with Sir Allan N. MacNab. A short time previous to the rebellion of 1837 he was appointed sheriff of the Gore district, and at the beginning of the revolt raised a troop of cavalry armed and equipped at his own expense. After holding the Gore shrievalty for five years he resigned, and in the winter of 1846 obtained from the government a license for exploring the shores of Lake Superior for mines. Though opposed by the Hudson bay company, he was successful, and as a result the Quebec company was formed, and mining operations were carried on successfully for several years. The government, in overlooking the claims of the Indians for compensation, in selling the lands occupied by the Quebec company, made trouble between the aborigines and the miners. Mr. Macdonell twice accompanied deputations of chiefs to urge their claims upon the