It was in 1814 that Sir Walter Scott's Waverley was pub-lished and Fergus MacIvor in that novel depicts another Macdonald of Glengarry, the last genuine specimen of a Highland chieftain. As the stories of Lauzun, Armand, Tarleton, Delancey, Odell, Oakley, Dyckman, Corsa, and others are read it is helpful to recall the antecedents of the author and the environment in which he developed.

1 See also Scharf's History of Westchester County, Philadelphia, 1886. Vol. 1, pp. 573 and 574 for a less circumstantial biography by Dr. Fisher. 2 Scharf, Vol. 1, p. 728. JOHN MACLEAN MACDONALD 87

John M. Macdonald was educated as a lawyer and practised his profession for several years. He suffered a stroke of paralysis which left him a physical wreck, but with unim-paired intellect. His illness compelled him to abandon his professional career, and thereafter, during his intervals be-tween suffering, he spent the balance of his life in literary studies and was particularly devoted to all incidents in connection with Revolutionary activities in Westchester County. As for about twenty-eight years he was an infirm paralytic, requiring the services of an attendant much of the time, his fortunes became in some degree those of the other members of his family and particularly of his brothers Allan and James. Allan was prominent in Westchester County, having been Sheriff from 1826-1829, a state Senator from 1832-1835, and was Adjutant-General under Governor Marcy,1 his term of office expiring January 1, 1837. He was one of the founders of The Westchester Spy in 1830, the first newspaper published in White Plains; also active in establishing Grace (Protestant Episcopal) Church and one of its first Wardens. He was usually referred to as "The General." James became a famous Doctor and after his death in 1849, a Eulogy in his memory was delivered before the New York Medical and Surgical Society by John A.