Wednesday, March 4, 2020

#14 - Murdock McDonald


 Murdock McDonald
Birth:    5 May 1833  Place uncertain
Death  29 Nov 1914  Prescott, Yavapai, AZ

Entered Pioneers Home March 7, 1911 at age 78
Lived there 8 years and 8 months


There are conflicting records regarding where Murdock McDonald was born.  According to the 1900 census, he was born in England and was working as a saloon proprietor in Prescott.  However, the 1910 census reports that he was born in Canada.  His death record states he was born in Ireland.  The explanation given in his obituary seems the most plausible for the misunderstanding.  It states "He was born on Prince Edward Island, a British possession in the Atlantic, and was of Scotch-Irish parentage"  (1).

Where things have been muddled in a few cases, however, is there is a DIFFERENT Murdock McDonald, also born on Prince Edward Island, only that one was born in December of 1863.  The much younger Murdock McDonald  married Charlotte Emma Silliker and had eight or nine children, whereas the Murdock McDonald who came to Arizona appears to have remained single.  Unfortunately, some family trees appear to have confused the two Murdocks despite there being thirty years difference in their ages and death certificates for each one in completely different parts of the county.

What can be confirmed about the man who lived his final years in the Pioneer Home is that in addition to mining and operating a saloon, there is also documentation showing he was appointed postmaster for Bueno, Yavapai County, Arizona in 1884 and again in 1885.  (2) . Bueno was the name of the encampment near the "Bully Bueno" gold mine in the Turkey Creek area (3).

McDonald's obituary summed up his life by saying he was "universally popular, and his many kind acts toward the unfortunate and his splendid citizenship, will be a tribute to his memory" (1).





1. Newspapers.com.  Weekly Journal-Miner (Prescott, Arizona).  02 Dec 1914.  "Up the trail and Over the Divide".  https://www.newspapers.com/image/42320150/?terms=Murdock%20McDonald&match=1

2. Ancestry.com. U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

3. Cottrill, Jan. (10/6/2009).American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project. WebMaster Neal DuShane.  "Bueno, AZ & Bully Bueno Mine"
http://www.apcrp.org/BUENO_BULLY_BUENO_MINE/BUENO_MAST.htm

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