Born in Mississippi September 28, 1852, William J. McDonald, nicknamed Bill, was just becoming a teenager at the end of the Civil War. Around that time the McDonald family moved from Mississippi to Texas, settling in Rusk County. Quite the unassuming man, Bill taught handwriting after he graduated from Soule's Community College in New Orleans.
Bill's original foray into law enforcement was a part time endeavor and was only due to his need for additional income. That part time effort though, slowly grew and began to consume his life. Having started out as a part time peace keeper serving as a deputy sheriff in Wood County in the 1880s, Bill later moved to Hardeman County where he served as
- a deputy sheriff
- a special Ranger
- a U.S. Deputy Marshal
In that last position he served for the Northern District of Texas and the Southern District of Kansas. Think about that - the simple space involved is amazing.
The exact year that Bill McDonald became a Texas Ranger wasn't available through my research, but it's clearly noted that he became a Captain with the Rangers in 1891 when he took command of Company B., Frontier Battalion. For the next sixteen years Captain Bill McDonald served with the Texas Rangers.
Captain McDonald served as a bodyguard for two presidents:
President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, and
President Woodrow Wilson in 1912.
President Wilson later appointed Captain McDonald to be the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Texas. Having already served as a U.S. Deputy Marshal for that district, he was familiar with the territory and his performance reflected such.
Texas Ranger records indicate that because of his leadership skills during the Brownsville Raid of 1906 - during which he was commanding the 25th U.S. Infantry - led him to be referred to as a man who would charge hell with a bucket of water.
Texas Ranger Captain William J. McDonald died on January 15, 1918 in Wichita Falls of pneumonia. On his tombstone is the Ranger motto: No man in the wrong can stand up against a fellow that's in the right and keeps on a-comin'.
I tip my hat to another Legendary Lawman who set a standard all law enforcement professionals of the day - and ever since - can only hope to match.
Charles Bennett
Charles Bennett was born in our Nation's Capital and grew up in the Maryland suburbs. Mr. Bennett has been working in all aspects of the publishing industry since the late 1980s primarily in the fields of commercial photography and magazine production. Moving to California in 1992 to attend college resulted in B.F.A and Masters degrees. California also supplied Mr. Bennett with his wife. The two of them are avid sports persons and participate in shooting, scuba diving, surfing, running and bicycling. As a long time hobby Mr. Bennett has studied the legends of American law enforcement which led to his writing these columns.
