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Below is a family biography included in The History of Benton County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Matthew N. Donaldson, liveryman, of Siloam Springs, Ark., was born in East Tennessee, March 13, 1844, and was reared in Illinois, whither his parents had moved in 1857. He attended the common country schools, and in August 1865, united his fortunes with those of Eliza Marlowe, who was born and reared in Illinois, her birth occurring in 1849. Six children blessed their union: Missouri C. (wife of R. L. Allen), Martha L. (wife of Wilson Weaver), Alexander B. (deceased), Mary K., Minnie C. and Eliza Myrtle. After his marriage Mr. Donaldson moved to what is now known as Cherokee County, Kas., and, with the exception of two years spent in Missouri, resided here until 1880, at which time he came to Siloam Springs, and at the end of two years went into the livery business. He has an excellent stable in a good location, and well supplied with horses and carriages. He is prospering financially, and besides this property is the owner of the Mount Olive House, a boarding house, which is located just above Twin Springs. He is a Democrat, and has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since 1865, having filled all the important offices connected with the lodge. He is also a member of the K. of H. His parents, Lorenzo Dow and Margaret A. (Newman) Donaldson, were born in Tennessee in 1806 and 1811, respectively. The father was reared on a farm sixteen miles from Knoxville, and was a farmer and stock dealer the greater portion of his life. After residing in Indiana a few years he returned to Tennessee, and in 1857 located in Washington County. Ill., and in 1866 went to Cherokee County, Kas., and there died October 25, 1886. He was a cousin of Andrew Jackson’s wife, and a son of William Donaldson, who was an Irishman, and a graduate of a college in Northern Ireland. He immigrated to America before the War of 1812 and assisted in that struggle, being with Gen. Jackson at New Orleans. Our subject’s mother died on the 8th of January, 1887. She and husband were the parents of eleven children: Catherine (killed by a cyclone in Southern Illinois in 1860), William, David (deceased), Jesse D., Elizabeth (wife of George W. Mathews), Lorenzo L., Matthew N., Martha Jane (deceased), Margaret Ann (wife of James Brown), Eliza (wife of Philip Keelerman), and Sophronia N. (deceased).

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This family biography is one of 240 biographies included in The History of Benton County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Benton County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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