McDonald Family Diaries (Z/2384)
Collection Details:
Collection Name and Number: McDonald Family Diaries (Z/2384).
Creator/Collector: Claiborne McDonald; Effie Jane McDonald.
Date(s): 1897-1904.
Size: 0.40 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: Kristina Norman, intern, 2021.
Provenance: Gift of Claiborne McDonald, IV, of Picayune, MS, June 6, 2001; Z/U/2001.016.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Rights and Access:
Access restrictions: Box 1 is open for research; Box 2 contains restricted originals and requires curator permission to view.
Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.
Copyright Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).
Preferred citation: McDonald Family Diaries (Z/2384), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.
Biography:
Claiborne McDonald was born on October 21, 1836 in Covington County, Mississippi in the Dry Creek Community. He was one of six children of Catharine McCollum (1776-1856) and Hugh C. McDonald (1799-1871) who settled in Mississippi after relocating from North Carolina. His siblings were Peter McDonald (b.1831), Mary Jane McDonald (b. 1833), Austin McDonald (b. 1835), Duncan McDonald (b. 1841), and Catharine McDonald (b. 1843).
Claiborne attended Zion Academy in Covington County, Mississippi, before moving to North Carolina to live with his grandparents from Skye, Scotland, Catharine Buchanan (1776-1856) and Angus McDonald (1769-1861). While there, he attended school at Bennettsville Academy in Bennettsville, South Carolina, and North Carolina College in Laurinburg, Richmond County, North Carolina. After receiving his education, a twenty-one-year-old Claiborne returned to Mississippi as an educator teaching at Pleasant Grove, now Mount Olive, Mississippi. He also turned to the Methodist Protestant Church in Mount Olive and attained his preaching license on October 10, 1857. He would go on to become a circuit preacher and founder of the Methodist Church in Waynesboro, Mississippi, serving as its first pastor.
Claiborne McDonald joined the Confederate States of America as a volunteer on May 14, 1861, in Corinth, Mississippi. In the Confederate army, he attained the rank of private in the Wayne Rifles, 13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment and served as a chaplain in the 21st Mississippi Regiment. He saw active service in the following battles: Leesburg, First Mannasas, Sharpsburg, and battles near Richmond. He was wounded in his right hand while fighting near Richmond in 1863. Claiborne received his parole on April 12, 1865, at the Appomattox Courthouse. After the war, he returned to Mississippi where he continued in the teaching and preaching professions in Wayne County.
At age 32, Claiborne McDonald married Eliza Caroline Sims (1839-1872) in November 1868. The couple had one son and one daughter: John Sims McDonald (1869-1932) and Katie A. McDonald (1871-1913). After Eliza died, Claiborne remarried Rachel R. Flanagan (1851-1920) in 1873. The couple had five daughters and four sons: Ella McDonald (1874-1948), Henrietta "Etta" McDonald (1877-1920), Effie Jane McDonald (1879-1960), Claiborne McDonald, Jr. (1881-1966), Seymour Flanagan McDonald (1884-1958), Mary Christian McDonald (1886-1972), Clara Christman McDonald (1890-1968), Holcombe Hunnicutt McDonald (1892-1954), and Hugh Neal McDonald (1898-1968).
Claiborne McDonald died on April 1, 1913, at 76 years of age. He is buried in Pelahatchie Cemetery in Pelahatchie, Rankin County, Mississippi.
Effie Jane McDonald, the daughter of Claiborne McDonald, attended Whitworth Female College, a Methodist institution, in Brookhaven, Lincoln County, Mississippi. She married William Robert Pennington (1879-1934) in 1915 at age 34. The couple's marriage did not produce any children. Effie died on May 4, 1960, and is buried in the Pelahatchie Cemetery in Pelahatchie, Rankin County, Mississippi, next to her husband.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection consists of two original diaries, one by Claiborne McDonald and one by his daughter Effie Jane McDonald. Also included is a photograph of Claiborne McDonald, and other biographical information. Reference photocopies of both diaries are present for use.
Series Identification:
Series 1: Claiborne McDonald Papers, n.d.
Included in this series are photocopies provided by the donor and great-grandson of Claiborne McDonald. Two pages titled "Rev. Claiborne McDonald, 1836-1913" provide a detailed life story of Claiborne. Another page provides his war record while he served in the Confederate army. There are eight articles written by Claiborne about Covington County for the "The Long Ago" newspaper column. For reference use, there is a color printout of the flag for the Wayne Rifles, 13th Mississippi Infantry of the Confederate States of America. And lastly, there is a copy of the funeral record for Mrs. Rachel Rebecca McDonald, which lists the names of her children, siblings, parents, and other useful information.
Box 1, Folders 1-5
Series 2: Diary of Claiborne McDonald, 1903-1904.
Claiborne McDonald's diary chronicles his daily life as a circuit preacher in Yazoo County, Mississippi. Claiborne's first entry begins on March 15, 1903, with describing his travels to Phoenix, Yazoo County, Mississippi, to conduct a Sunday service. The last entry is on August 11, 1904. The inside front cover reads "C. McDonald, Satartia, Miss., March 1903, This book is to be used as a journal. I tried to get a larger book but failed for the present and rather than break the thread of my writing will use this." McDonald writes daily entries in his diary of the churches he visits, ministering to the sick and dying, and the funerals and marriages he conducts. In the December 14, 1903, entry Claiborne mentions his transfer in the Methodist circuit from the Satartia circuit to the Benton circuit, both towns in Yazoo County. Places mentioned include Anding, Benton, Ebenezer, Enola, Mechanicsburg, Midway, Phoenix, Russellville, Satartia, Valley, Yazoo City, and Zeiglerville. Churches mentioned by McDonald in the diary include Blackjack Baptist Church, Liverpool Baptist Church, Locus Grove Church, Ogden Baptist Church, Mount (Mt.) Olivet Church.
Found loose in Claiborne McDonald's diary are pages for mailing valentines and one page of uncut valentines.
Box 1, folder 6 (reference photocopy)
Box 1, folder 7 (valentines)
Box 2, folder 1 (restricted)
Series 3: Claiborne McDonald Photograph, circa 1860s.
One reproduced photo of Claiborne McDonald. Measuring 5" x 7" in black and white. The photo portrays a young Claiborne McDonald c. 1860s.
Box 1, folder 8
Series 4: Diary of Effie Jane McDonald. 1897-1898, and Poem.
Effie Jane McDonald's diary chronicles her time attending Whitworth College in Brookhaven, Lincoln County, Mississippi. The inside front cover reads: "I think this was Effie McDonald's diary at Whitworth College." Entries throughout the diary refer to family members whom Effie was related including her sisters Ella and Henrietta "Etta," her brothers Claiborne, Seymour, and Hugh, and her father, Claiborne, whom she refers to as "Papa." Featured on the diary cover is a sailboat with the title "The Leader." Written on the cover in pencil at the top is the word "Diary" in quotation marks.
Effie's entries begin on September 7, 1897, with her arrival at Whitworth College, where she and four classmates -- Lula White, Minnie Lee Jones, Nita McKie and Annie Belle Flowers -- arrive before dozens of other girls. Effie laments of her homesickness and lists her assigned roommates, Lula White and Pearl Middleton. The diary's final entry on May 10, 1898 details local boys going to fight in the Spanish-American War. The diary includes daily entries from Effie's school and extracurricular activities, the weather, and classmate and family members. A three-page list at the back of the diary features the names of dozens of classmates and acquaintances. There is also a written Whitworth College chant, a Masonic yell, and a list of participants for a debate held at Whitworth between the Harvey Johnson Society and Millsaps College on May 6, 1898. Featured on the diary cover is a sailboat with the title "The Leader." Written on the cover in pencil above "The Leader" is the word "Diary" in quotation marks.
Found loose among the diary pages is a three-page poem titled "Spring Blossoms" by an unknown author. This was removed from Effie's diary and placed in a folder to preserve it.
Box 1, folder 9 (reference photocopy)
Box 1, folder 11 (poem)
Box 2, folder 2 (restricted)
Box List:
Box 1
Folder 1: Biographical information, Claiborne McDonald, n.d. (photocopy).
Folder 2: War record, Claiborne McDonald, n.d. (photocopy).
Folder 3: Articles, "Covington County" by Claiborne McDonald, n.d. (photocopy).
Folder 4: Color printout, Flag for Wayne Rifles, n.d.
Folder 5: Funeral record, Mrs. Rachel Rebecca McDonald, n.d. (photocopy).
Folder 6: Diary, Claiborne McDonald, 1903 (reference photocopy).
Folder 7: Valentines, removed from Claiborne McDonald diary, n.d.
Folder 8: Photograph, Reverend Claiborne McDonald, n.d.
Folder 9: Diary, Effie McDonald, 1897-1898 (reference photocopy).
Folder 10: Poem, removed from Effie Jane McDonald diary, n.d.
Box 2
Folder 1: Diary, Claiborne McDonald, 1903. (restricted)
Folder 2: Diary, Effie Jane McDonald, 1897-1898. (restricted)