MCDONALD, JOHN (1848-1917)

MCDONALD, JOHN, building contractor and undertaker; b. Ferry Road, 4 Dec 1845, s/o John McDonald, a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and Divina Stothart; m. Rosina Wolfe, a native of the United States; d. 29 Jun 1917.

John McDonald was a leading building contractor in Chatham and the owner of the sash and door factory built by George Cassady in the early 1880s. He also had an undertaking business.

Among the better known of McDonald's structures in Chatham were his own large home on King Street, which was constructed in stages over many years; the Pierce Block, which incorporated the former Gleaner office (1877), the 130-foot spire of St Luke's Methodist Church (1886), the Curling Club (1891), the Fire Hall and Town Office building (1897), the Grammar School (1901), the Clifford P. Hickey home on St John Street (1906), and the Hotel Touraine (1908). The hotel was owned by Peter Archer at the start, and later by a stock company, Hotel Touraine Ltd, but more than $19,000 in construction and furnishing costs remained unpaid. McDonald recouped the loss in 1914, when tenders were called and the hotel sold to his adopted son, Herbert B. McDonald, for $19,500, which was only about half its appraised value.

McDonald had the contract for the County Jail in Newcastle in 1888. In 1901-02 he built the original Lounsbury Block on the site formerly occupied by the Waverley Hotel. In 1903 the Orange Society of Newcastle gave him the contract to construct a large brick and stone hall on Pleasant Street. This opened on 14 March 1904 as the Orange Hall but was later called the Opera House. He was the contractor for the addition to Harkins Academy in 1909, adding six classrooms and an auditorium to the front of the building. In 1912 he was the general contractor for the beautiful new County Courthouse, the architect for which was Leslie R. Fairn of Aylesford, N.S. The carpentry was under the supervision of Henry Ingram of Newcastle, as it had been for the Harkins annex, and the construction inspector was Thomas Power. The designated completion date was 1 January 1913, but this was overshot by almost a year, and the building did not open officially until 20 January 1914.

McDonald was a trustee of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. in 1898. In 1902 he was a director of the Miramichi Exhibition Association. In 1912-13 he was a director of the Miramichi Steam Navigation Co. He was survived in 1917 by his wife, Rosina Wolfe, and his adopted son.