Donald McKenzie
From the History of Chautauqua County 1875
DONALD McKENZIE was among the most prominent citizens of Chautauqua County, New York. He became a citizen, not by the "accident of birth," but of his own choice, renouncing all other allegiance, he made this, Our Country, his; and on its altars swore fidelity to its constitution and laws, and ever kept that oath inviolate.
He was born in Scotland, June 16, 1783, and his ancestry was among the noblest in the kingdom. We have before us his lineage traced back through lairds, sirs, baronets, and earls, for many generations. The tombstone of a remote ancestor is yet standing, bearing an inscription in Gaelic or Irish characters, which, translated into English, is " Here lies Murdock McKenzie, son of the Baron of Kentail, who died on the twelfth of January, MCCCLXXXI, (1381.)
In March, 1801, before he had attained his majority, Donald McKenzie left his Scottish home and went to Canada, where he had relatives living, and was there engaged for eight years in the fur trade with the North-west Fur Company. In 1809, he became one of John Jacob Astor's partners in the fur trade he was then establishing at the mouth of the Columbia river, on the Pacific.
Mr. McKenzie, Wilson P. Hunt and party took the overland route from St. Louis to that point, where Mr. McKenzie remained until after the war with England in 1812, and the treacherous surrender of the post by McDougall. By his influence everything possible was saved to the Company and converted into money. Having obtained, through his Canadian relatives, a pass through the then hostile territory of Canada, he conveyed his treasures safely through the long and savage wilderness, and by way of Canada to New York, and delivered them in person to Mr. Astor. After this he exerted himself to secure for the United States the exclusive trade of Oregon and the territories bordering on the Pacific; but after a long negotiation, through Mr. Astor, with Madison, Gallatin, etc., it was abandoned.
In March, 1821, he joined the Hudson's Bay Company, and was appointed one of the council and chief factor, and had his headquarters at Fort Garry, in the Red river settlement Here, on the 18th of August, 1825, he married Adelgonda Humbert Droz, whose father, Alphonso Humbert Droz, had lately arrived in the settlement with his family, from the canton Berne in Switzerland, specially commended to the friendly offices of Count Selkirk, the principal personage of the settlement. Soon after his marriage, Mr. McKenzie was appointed governor of the Hudson's Bay Company by the British crown, and retained that position until he left Fort Garry in 1832. In 1833, he came to Mayville, New York, where he lived until his death, on the 20th of January, 1851. His widow and a large family of children survive him.
Though revered and honored by all whose esteem was desirable, yet envy, like death, "loves a shining mark;" and out of the transactions at the mouth of the Columbia, he was assailed by a few who charged him with infidelity to Mr. Astor's interest. But Mr. Astor's letters to him show that he retained Mr. Astor's undiminished confidence. Sir Alexander Ross, in his published works, and also in his private letters to the widow of Mr. McKenzie, nobly and effectually vindicates his good name, fidelity, and honor. Mr. McKenzie's intellect was of a high order, his perception clear, his conclusions just; and he was seldom mistaken in his judgment of men or things. His life was a continued romance, full of startling adventures, bold deeds, deadly perils, and narrow escapes, the narration of which would fill volumes, and greatly exceed our allotted sphere.
Mr. McKenzie had 6 sons and 7 daughters, all living, except a daughter, who died in childhood.
