David McDonald (May 8, 1803 – August 25, 1869) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Indiana The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

Education and career

Born in Millersburg,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, McDonald

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

to enter the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1830, and entered private practice in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He was a member of the

Indiana House of Representatives The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House memb ...

from 1833 to 1834, and a

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

of the 7th Judicial Circuit of Indiana from 1834 to 1837, thereafter returning to private practice until 1839. He was a Judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit of Indiana from 1839 to 1852, also serving as a Professor of law at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

from 1842 to 1852. He was again in private practice, this time in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Indiana from 1853 to 1864.

Federal judicial service

On December 12, 1864, McDonald was nominated by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Albert Smith White Albert Smith White (October 24, 1803 – September 4, 1864) was a United States senator from Indiana, a United States representative from Indiana and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana. ...

. McDonald was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on December 13, 1864, and received his commission the same day, serving thereafter until his death on August 25, 1869, in Indianapolis.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, David 1803 births 1869 deaths Indiana state court judges Members of the Indiana House of Representatives Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Indiana United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln 19th-century American judges People from Millersburg, Kentucky People from Washington, Indiana People from Indianapolis United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American politicians