John McDonell (also spelled Macdonell; November 30, 1768 – April 17, 1850) was a soldier, judge, and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. He was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1768, the son of John MacDonell of Scothouse, and came to the Mohawk Valley of the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...

in 1773 with his family and other members of the MacDonell clan. By 1778, the family had settled north of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

near the current location of

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario's easternmost city ...

. He joined the North West Company and travelled west to the

Qu'Appelle River The Qu'Appelle River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba that flows east from Lake Diefenbaker in south-western Saskatchewan to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba, just south of Lake of the Prairies, near t ...

valley. He became head of the Upper Red River department and, then, the Athabasca department. Because of his piety, he was given the nickname Le Prêtre by his men. In 1812, while returning to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, he heard that war had broken out with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and joined a group of fur traders planning to join an attack on the garrison on Mackinac Island. He became a captain in the Corps of Canadian Voyageurs but was taken prisoner at Saint-Régis. In 1813, he settled in Hawkesbury Township in

near

Pointe-Fortune Pointe-Fortune () is a village municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Ottawa River (Rivière des Outaouais) in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality, northwest of Montreal. The population at the 2021 Census was 582. H ...

, where he began farming. Contrary to the usual practice of the time, he had brought his Métis wife, Magdeleine Poitras, back with him from the west. He opened a general store and also operated a forwarding business for moving goods along the Ottawa River. In 1816, he became a judge of the

Ottawa District The Ottawa District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It was created in 1816 by splitting the counties of Prescott and Russell from the Eastern District. The district town was L'Orignal. In 1838 Gloucester towns ...

court and was elected to the

7th Parliament of Upper Canada The 7th Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 4 February 1817. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in July 1816. All sessions were held at York, Upper Canada at the home of Chief Justice of the Court William Henry Draper. This parliame ...

representing Prescott. He was also a colonel in the local militia. He died at Pointe-Fortune in 1850 and was buried at St. Andrews East, Quebec, on the other side of the Ottawa River.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonell, John John McDonell 1768 births 1850 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Upper Canada judges Canadian people of Scottish descent