All of us have shoeboxes for extra or old photograph prints and many of us have a lot of old negatives in the same type of file. A lot of these data arrived in envelopes with my name on the envelope and very few names on the contents. For now, I can remember many of them. This was the logic over the years since our first snapshots were printed - no need to annotate because "I'll remember who these people are because they are myself and my relatives or friends."
The fallacy of this is exemplified in one print mounted on cardboard, no date, no name. The print was mixed into the vast pile that appeared one day in my mailbox. The studio did emboss a business name on it that is hard to decipher even in the original (George R. Waldron ?). It was taken in New Glasgow, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. That is about 45 miles west of Frasers Mills/South River/St. Andrews; former locations of McDonell families during the past 186 years. As I was writing this, the lady was unknown to us. I had inserted it right here for all of you to see and try to identify. However....
The game is over. As I was scanning it, I
found an inscription in red ink "Aunt Maggie". Margaret Ann
McDonnell - Frasers Mills, 1871 - Feb 19, 1935 inscribed on her grave marker, St.
Andrews Parish Cemetery.
She cared for her father, Angus McDonell c1823 - 1915, in his last years. She may have inheritited the farm at Frasers Mills because her brothers had preceded her; Alex McDonell in 1932 and William McDonald in 1933. Her sister Annie married a McDonald and lived in Antigonish Town. Waldron's studio sittings indicate that some of the McDonells traveled - there was a railroad connection from Antigonish to New Glasgow. Name spellings are exact from grave markers. Variations were intentional - D.O.F. was of the opinion that all of them meant the same thing - "a son of Donald."
Alexander
McDonell July 2, 1864 - October 4, 1932 with wife m. July 3, 1900, Laura
May Randall 1876 - 1960 with Cathryn Virginia b. June 18 ,
1901 Butte, Montana (center) and Myron Alexander b. March 10, 1903 Craig,
Nebraska.
Studio Sitting - 1903, by Edgerton & Craig, Fremont, Nebraska. Evidence that Mr. McDonell could afford a visit to the Randall Family In-Laws. Best preserved photograph of Alexander, not cropped because the rest of the image is so interesting.
Alexander McDonell
and Laura May Randall July 3, 1900 in Butte, Montana.
Wedding day. Photo of original, Studio unknown. Location of original unknown.
Aunts and Uncles
Children of Alexander and Laura May
(Randall) McDonell - 1926
At Augusta Street residence, Spokane, WA
Left to right: Lawrence William, Bernard Randall, Cathryn Virginia, Dan Albert Leo, Maurice Fraser, Francis Duncan, George Raymond. Myron Alexander (shadow on lawn).
Cathryn Virginia McDonell
1901-1993 ca 1948, Santa Monica, California
With "Lady", one of many canine residents of 1028 Ashland Avenue
Myron Alexander McDonell
1903-1962 ca 1940, Glendale, California (?)
A rare photograph, since Myron was usually behind the camera. He was, what we would call today, an early adopter. He also took miles of 16MM film, some of which survives as a Videotape.
Maurice Fraser McDonell
1906-1982 ca 1932, Santa Monica, California (?)
College education interrupted by the death of Alexander McDonell in 1932; possibly about to join U.S. Army. A rare name in Scottish families. "Fraser" honors his fraternal grandmother.
Bernard Randall McDonell 1908 - 1990 (?) Available photographs are too small to reproduce here.
Angus Paul McDonell 1910 - 1917 No known photographs exist.
Lawrence William McDonell
1913-2000 ca 1970 (?), Newport Beach, California (?)
Born in Spokane, Washington. An Entrepreneur and a Gentleman. WWII Veteran, 17th Airborne Division, wounded at Bastogne, Belgium during the Ardennes Campaign.
George Raymond McDonell 1914
- ca
1942, Santa Monica, Calfiornia
Born in Nova Scotia, raised in Spokane, Washington, worked in the Alaska-Juneau Gold mine for several years. Active Navy service was at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, after the December 7, 1941 raid. Returned home after WWII ended, a passenger on USS Saratoga CV 3, from Hawaii to San Francisco. Trade school graduate, Metal Worker, retired to buy a Mobile Home park in Buhl, Idaho, Sold out and moved to Hemet, California.
Francis
Duncan McDonell 1915 -1995 (?) 1988 Newport Beach, California
Born in Nova Scotia, raised in Spokane, Washington, moved with the family to Santa Monica, California in 1932. Always a happy man, loved children, was kind and always found a way to say something nice about everyone he knew. A professional Optometrist. Hobby: Keeping the family in eyeglasses for decades. Live in exotic places.
Merchant Marine service during WWII.
Dan Albert Leo McDonell 1917
- 1939 ca 1932 Spokane, Washington
Born in Spokane, joined the relocation to Santa Monica in 1932.
Died of uremic poisoning, buried in Culver City, next to his sister and his mother.
We have three other photographs of him at ages 9, 11 and 20. Very little oral tradition.