Dear Tessie,
I was intrigued by the messages on this board as I try to find the link between my Macdonalds (small "d") and the MacIsaacs. My great-grandfather was Angus Macdonald, born in Antigonish in 1854 to John Angus Macdonald and his wife Catherine. I had speculated that her maiden name may have been MacIsaac due to some sketchy birth records from Antigonish. Anyway, after I took the Ancestry DNA test, I ran the results through Gedmatch, and the top DNA match was with a fellow named Joe MacIsaac whose family dates back to the ships of 1801. His side of the family eventually settled in Cape Breton, while mine were in the Antigonish area.
Angus Macdonald was a sea captain, as was his son John Angus, my grandfather. Angus was married first to Rosella Coady, who died at sea off of Montevideo. His second wife was Minnie McDermott of Saint John, NB. She also died young, and Angus married Joicy Weyman of Saint John. Angus died of ataxia in 1900 in Saint John. When he died, his obit in the Casket newspaper of Antigonish noted that he was survived by his mother, Catherine of Antigonish. That's about all I know. My cousin Donald S. Macdonald (the former Liberal Party leader) is a grandson of Angus and says our Macdonalds came from Eigg. Any insight appreciated!
Best regards,
Jim Condon
Colchester, VT