For a number of years he practiced his profession in North Carolina; he also served several years as a surgeon in the British army. "In the year 1787, he married in Dutchess County, in this State, and continued to reside there for several years, and finally, in the year 1795, settled at White Plains, where he practiced his profession down to the time of his death, which occurred on the 21st day of December, 1813, being at the time of his decease, sixty-eight years of age. The place of his sepulchre is designated by a tombstone in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church in that village. "From a genealogical manuscript in the handwriting of his brother, it appears that he was a descendant of Robert de 86 THE McDONALD PAPERS

Bruce; one of his ancestors having married a daughter of that monarch. Personally very popular, his practice was large and his professional reputation so high that he was often called long distances for consultations." 1 In the History of White Plains,2 Josiah S. Mitchell says: "In 1799 Dr. Archibald McDonald moved into the town, having purchased the property on the corner of Broadway and Spring St." This reference is interesting, for while the date is probably wrong, it indicates the location of the White Plains home where John M. Macdonald grew to manhood. Dr. Archibald Macdonald had six (6) sons. John, the eldest, born Dec. 27, 1790; Alexander, born 1791 and died at Batavia, in the Island of Java, Aug. 15, 1823; Allan born Nov. 21, 1794, and died Jan. 8, 1862; Archibald born March 10, 1799, died Sept. 8, 1823; Donald born March 10, 1799, died Nov. 25, 1851; James born July 18, 1803, and died May 5, 1849. The latter was the only one of the sons who married and left issue.