The McDonald Family series includes ledgers, correspondence and other papers of James McDonald's ancestors. This series also includes personal and professional papers of James McDonald regarding his studies at the University of Michigan and his relationship with family members. The McDonald Family series contains two subseries: Early and Miscellaneous papers and James McDonald's papers.
The Early and Miscellaneous papers include ledgers, correspondence, and land deeds from James McDonald's grandparents and great-grandparents. Included is William McDonald's ledger documenting his work as the treasurer for Mt. Clemens from 1840 to 1848. This series also includes a family history compiled by Christine Jewell McDonald in the early 1900s.
The second subseries within the McDonald Family is the papers of James McDonald. This subseries documents McDonald's personal and professional life. McDonald's career in law is not documented in his papers aside from a few files regarding the founding and development of the St. John's Episcopal Church in Detroit and in Royal Oak. However, traces of his professional life are revealed in his personal correspondence with his children. He handled the business affairs of his children, often fueling stormy relations within the family. These letters detail the widening of Woodward Avenue in Detroit, and land holdings along Cass Avenue in Detroit and Geddes Road in Ann Arbor. McDonald's correspondence reveals his financial decline during the Depression. McDonald's daughters also attended the University of Michigan and describe life from the Sorosis House and the Newberry Residence. A small folder of material regarding McDonald's first wife, Martha Ireton McDonald, is also included.