The Life of Samuel McDonald
(1839 - 1898)

In Ontario, in the very early 20^th century, being perceived as an Irish Catholic led to having great difficulty obtaining employment. Changing McDonald to MacDonald, led to being perceived as a Scottish Protestant, thus solving the employment problem for my grandfather. He was promptly hired by the Grand Trunk Railroad and worked for the railroad as a car checker until he retired in 1945.

1881 Samuel was once again listed as a shoemaker in Stamford in the 1881 census but in that year he sold his last land in Stamford: part of Lot 43 at the NE corner of the Stamford Presbyterian Church fronting on Portage Rd. for $1000 on 31 Oct 1881.

1882 In early 1882, Samuel and wife Margaret's brother William Calvert, liquidated all their holdings in Stamford and moved the two families to Lewis St. in International Bridge (Victoria) in Bertie Twp., Ont. in 1882. Eventually, International Bridge was absorbed into the City of Fort Erie. The Lewis St. property contained the Victoria Hotel. Presumably, Samuel and William Calvert planned to support their families on the revenue from the hotel.

Samuel and Margaret had their second and last child, a daughter Mary Ann, born 14 May 1882 in Bertie Twp. Samuel was listed as an Innkeeper in International Bridge on the record of her birth. Mary Ann married Eustace Thompson and had 2 daughters (Gertrude b.1908 and Elsie b.1910).

Samuel paid off the mortgage he had on the land in Lot 43 in Stamford on 10 May 1882 to complete the earlier sale from 31 Oct 1881.

Samuel's hotel was placed into receivership Nov. 1882 just 5 mos. after the purchase. Apparently, there was insufficient cashflow from the hotel to support the McDonald and Calvert families and carry the mortgages assumed with the purchase.

1883 The Welland Tribune of 9 Feb 1883 noted that Samuel was leaving Bertie Twp. and moving to Winnipeg. No record has been found of his ever being in Winnipeg. He left his wife and two very young children to be raised by his in-laws, the Calvert family. This was the last that anyone in Canada saw of Samuel McDonald. In fact, as I later found out, he moved to Portland, Oregon.

In June 1883, William Calvert sold his town lot on Lewis St. next to the hotel and bought a farm north of International Bridge just west of the Niagara River to support the combined families consisting of his mother (Jane Calvert), two sisters (Anna Calvert and Margaret McDonald) and two young children (William and Mary Ann McDonald).

The Victoria Hotel was auctioned off in a mortgage sale on 5 Oct. 1883.