McDonald Family
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William Cole McDonald was the oldest child of Richard and Luvina and was born in Giles County on April 22, 1868. He moved to Weakley County with his family when he was a small child and spent most of his life on a farm three miles from Sharon. He married Minnie Etta Griffin in 1896, and she died on April 26, 1911, of TB leaving a family of four children. Flossy McDonald, the oldest of the children, died of TB in 1915, and when Catherine (Katy) LaVerne McDonald was only 15, she ran away to marry Thomas Medlock on August 28, 1914. Alice Lee McDonald was only 10 years old when her mother died. At age 13, she had to stop going to school and assume the burden of taking care of the house and two younger brothers. Richard Pleasant McDonald was the oldest of the two brothers and left home at an early age to
live in Memphis and later resettled in Battle Creek, Michigan. The youngest son, Homer McDonald, also died of TB when he was only 24 years old.
William Cole was active in his community and was a member of the Martin Methodist Church and the local Masons. When he retired he went to live with his brother, Sid McDonald,in Martin, Tennessee, until Sid died in 1950. William Cole then made his home with his daughter, Alice Lee McDonald Gardner, for the last years of his life. He suffered a severe stroke on Christmas day in 1953, which paralyzed his right side and was in critical condition until he died on January 5, 1954. William and Minnie are buried in Travis Cemetery, Weakley County, along with their daughter, Flossy, and son, James McDonald and his wife, Leon Bell. Homer is buried in Tansil Cemetery.
Alice Lee McDonald lived her life in the Weakley County area and spent many hours working in the fields picking cotton and digging potatoes. When she and Dewey lived in Union City, their house didn't have hot running water, so Alice would do the washing in the shed in the back yard, heating the water in large black vats. There was an unspoken rule in the house when it came to eating. The men always ate first, then the children and women. Alice was known for her cooking. There were always walnut cakes three layers high at Christmas, and her banana pudding was excellent. She suffered from arthritis and later in life, it was hard for her to get around. When she developed cancer of the bladder and had to be closer to medical help, Alice and Dewey Gardner, moved into an apartment in Union City. They are buried in Tansil Cemetery, Weakley County, near Alice's brother, Homer.
