Clan Donald Magazine No 10 (1984) Online
Clan Donald USA Inc. - Onward and Upward
by William Naylor McDonald III FSA Scot.Since the last issue of this magazine (1981), dues-paying memberships in Clan Donald USA have grown to more than 3,500. Memberships are considered from families or individual adults. Best estimates are that overall these memberships include more than 5,000 kindred. At the time of writing (late February 1984), we mourn with the rest of Clan Donald worldwide the death of the great Donald J. Macdonald of Castleton who, in the opinion of this writer, inspired incredible devotion to heritage among clansfolk all over the world, bringing us together. The vastness of the United States is broken up into 13 regions within Clan Donald USA, all but one with a regional commissioner supported by deputies and state commissioners. Offshore Hawaii, which is within the South Pacific region, has a commissioner. One is yet to be named for Alaska where we have several members. This state is within the North Pacific region whose commissioner is Charles T. "Chuck" McQuesten, whose great-uncle "Captain Jack" McQuesten carved a place in history as the "Father of Alaska". Ellice McDonald Jr., of Montchanin, Delaware, stepped down as High Commissioner as of 1st January 1983, ending a seven-year tenure during which the clan has gone from strength to strength, becoming the largest US extension of a Highland clan as the result of his remarkable organisational expertise which resulted, among other things, in the establishment of the 13 regions. The only region without a commissioner remains the Great Plains (North and South Dakota and Nebraska). However, we do have a Nebraska State Commissioner in Dr Douglas Parks, an Ogallala veterinarian. Ellice, who has been succeeded as High Commissioner by Douglas Murdock of San Luis Obispo, California, continues to devote intensive interest and effort to the Clan Donald Lands Trust on Skye of which he is Chairman of the Executive Committee. When he retired as High Commissioner, the American clansfolk sponsored a large stone plaque honouring him and his wife Rosa for their devotion to the heritage of Clan Donald. This has been set into a wall of the sculptured ruin of Armadale Castle at the Clan Donald Centre, Sleat, in Skye. Ellice is now Honorary High Commissioner. A repository for historical information relating to all the branches of Clan Donald in the United States has been established at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Its location is in the heart of America's Scots-Irish country. A duplicate set of all documents assembled at Winthrop will be housed at Skye's Clan Donald Centre. We are fortunate over here to have occasional visits from Clan Donald chiefs. Lord and Lady Macdonald and Clanranald were with us at the AGM in Santa Rosa, California, in September 1983, while Glengarry and Lady Glengarry were at our AGM during the Virginia Scottish Games in Alexandria, Virginia, last July, where they were also honoured guests of the Games' sponsor the Virginia Scottish Games Association. And living amongst us over here are three Clan Donald cadets James Garner-Smith Macdonald of Aird and Vallay (Sleat), New York City; Somerled Macdonald, 11th of Kingsburgh (Sleat) Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and Ian Allan MacDonell, 10th of Lochgarry (Glengarry) Sacramento, California.
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