Marshall McDonald

For the French Napoleonic War General see Marshall Étienne Macdonald

Marshall McDonald
Portrait of Marshall McDonald
United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries
In office 1888–1895
President	Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	George Brown Goode
Succeeded by	John J. Brice
Chief Assistant Commissioner of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries
In office 1885–1888
Personal details
Born	(1835-10-18)October 18, 1835 Romney, Virginia (now West Virginia), U.S.
Died	September 1, 1895(1895-09-01) (aged 59) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Spouse	Mary Eliza McCormick
Relations	Angus McDonald (great-grandfather) Angus McDonald (grandfather) Angus William McDonald (father) Edward Allen Hitchcock McDonald (brother)
Children	4
Parent(s)	Angus William McDonald Leacy Anne Naylor
Alma mater	University of Virginia Virginia Military Institute
Occupation	Engineer, professor, geologist, mineralogist, pisciculturist, and fisheries scientist
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Branch/service	Confederate States Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	American Civil War

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.^[1][2]

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.