Marshall McDonald (October 18, 1835 – September 1, 1895) was an American engineer, geologist, mineralogist, pisciculturist, and fisheries scientist. McDonald served as the commissioner of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries from 1888 until his death in 1895. He is best known for his inventions of a number of fish hatching apparatuses and a fish ladder that enabled salmon and other migrating fish species to ascend the rapids of watercourses resulting in an increased spawning ground. McDonald's administration of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries was notably free of scandal and furthered the "protection and culture" of fish species throughout the United States. Born in 1835 in Romney, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), McDonald was the son of Angus William McDonald, a military officer and lawyer, and his wife, Leacy Anne Naylor. From 1854 to 1855, McDonald studied natural history under Spencer Fullerton Baird at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He then attended the University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute, from which he graduated in 1860. McDonald served as an assistant professor of chemistry at the institute under Stonewall Jackson and continued to teach intermittently throughout the American Civil War. McDonald joined the Confederate States Army in 1861 and was commissioned as a lieutenant and engineer officer. He served as an inspector general on Stonewall Jackson's staff, then served as staff officer for Major General Martin Luther Smith and as an engineer officer for Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton. McDonald was taken as a prisoner of war by the Union Army at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863. Following the war in 1865, McDonald returned to the Virginia Military Institute where he was appointed a professor with the rank of colonel, instructing and serving as chair of the subjects of chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and metallurgy. He also established the institution's first museum. By 1875, McDonald was involved in fish farming and became the administrator of the Virginia state fish hatchery at Wytheville. He was appointed as the Fish Commissioner of Virginia and invented the fish ladder during his tenure. In 1879, Spencer Fullerton Baird hired McDonald for a position at the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. There, he served as a special agent, superintendent of the shad hatcheries, Chief of the Division of Fish Culture, and Chief Assistant Commissioner of the Fish Commission. In 1888, President Grover Cleveland appointed McDonald as the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. McDonald died in office in 1895.
Early life and education McDonald was born on October 18, 1835, to Angus William McDonald and his wife, Leacy Anne Naylor, in Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia). McDonald was the sixth child and fourth son. He was named for the Marshall family, many of whom were friends of his father. The McDonald's raised nine children—five sons and four daughters—in a log dwelling in Romney owned by Leacy Anne's father, William Naylor. The structure, currently known as the Davis History House, remains standing on its original site at the corner of Main and Bolton Streets and serves as a museum maintained by the Hampshire County Public Library. McDonald's father was a prominent community leader in Romney and served on the board of trustees of Romney Academy, an academy that McDonald likely attended, and its successor institution, the Romney Classical Institute. Following the death of McDonald's mother Leacy Anne, his father sold the Naylor family's log dwelling in 1849 and moved to Hannibal, Missouri, in the 1850s only to return to Virginia a few years later upon marrying his second wife, Cornelia Peake. McDonald, his father, and his siblings were still residing in Romney at the time of the 1850 United States census. It is not known whether McDonald and his siblings accompanied their father on his temporary move to Missouri.
Education and early academic career From 1854 to 1855, McDonald studied natural history under Spencer Fullerton Baird at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. McDonald entered the third class of the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, in 1855, where Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was one of his professors. During the 1858–1859 academic year, McDonald attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He resumed his studies at the Virginia Military Institute graduating in July 1860. McDonald served as an assistant professor in chemistry under Jackson at the Virginia Military Institute from fall 1860 until the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, and taught intermittently throughout the course of the war.
Military career in the American Civil War McDonald joined the Confederate States Army on April 27, 1861, and was commissioned as a lieutenant and engineer officer. He then served as inspector general on the staff of his former professor, Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson. McDonald later served as a staff officer for Major General Martin Luther Smith and as an engineer officer for Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton after being transferred to New Orleans.
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