[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5793]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING ATHENS' FIRST MAYOR

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JEB HENSARLING

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 6, 2006

  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honor Mr. John 
Matthews McDonald, the first known Mayor of Athens, Texas. John 
Matthews McDonald (1827-1883) was born in North Carolina but came to 
Texas in 1848 and lived first at Larissa, Cherokee County and then 
Mound Prairie, Anderson County, where his brother Murdoch earlier 
settled. Two years later, he moved to the young town of Athens and 
became a teacher and a lawyer.
  He also served as the town's first mayor. He wed Mary Ann Elizabeth 
Pinson (1842-1931) in 1858, and the couple had ten children. During the 
Civil War, McDonald fought with the Confederate Army as part of Hood's 
Texas Brigade.
  Active in public service, he held the offices of Justice of the 
Peace, County Judge and State Representative. His pioneer leadership 
proved vital to the early development of this adopted home.
  On behalf of the citizens of Athens and the Fifth District of Texas, 
it is my pleasure to honor John Matthews McDonald in the United States 
House of Representatives.

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