| <tab>Afterwards, he was for several years in business in Montreal as a warehouseman. Beginning in 1875, he was an employee of Sifton, Ward & Co. on CPR construction. He then went into business himself as a contractor, and “put through several important undertakings, including a difficult section of the Canadian Pacific, west of Jackfish Bay, on the north shore of Lake Superior, and the breakwater at Port Arthur, the latter the greatest work of its kind on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.” Settling at Port Arthur (today a part of Thunder Bay), he carried on “business as a contractor, insurance, mining and financial agent,” and was active in promoting mining development in that area, and was himself an owner of mining properties. He was mayor of the town of Port Arthur for three years, 1886-1888. In 1887 it was reported in the //Glengarrian//, 27 May 1887, of Alexandria, GC, that George M’Donell, mayor of Port Arthur, who “hails from Williamstown,” would run as Conservative candidate for MLA or MP. In the Ontario general election of 1890, he was defeated, though by a small margin, as the Conservative candidate for the constituency of Algoma West. He was elected as MP for the constituency of Algoma as a Conservative in the 1891 federal general election; and served one term, being defeated at the general election of 1896. He was elected mayor of Port Arthur again in Jan. 1900, but did not complete his term, leaving Port Arthur in July 1900 for railway contracting in the West. With this, his association with Port Arthur seems to have ended. He was living in the area of Carman, Manitoba, in 1902. It is not known when he died. His father and mother and his sister the author Blanche Lucille Macdonell are all buried in Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, in a burial plot which George Hugh bought probably in 1886, but he himself is not buried there. | <tab>Afterwards, he was for several years in business in Montreal as a warehouseman. Beginning in 1875, he was an employee of Sifton, Ward & Co. on CPR construction. He then went into business himself as a contractor, and “put through several important undertakings, including a difficult section of the Canadian Pacific, west of Jackfish Bay, on the north shore of Lake Superior, and the breakwater at Port Arthur, the latter the greatest work of its kind on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.” Settling at Port Arthur (today a part of Thunder Bay), he carried on “business as a contractor, insurance, mining and financial agent,” and was active in promoting mining development in that area, and was himself an owner of mining properties. He was mayor of the town of Port Arthur for three years, 1886-1888. In 1887 it was reported in the //Glengarrian//, 27 May 1887, of Alexandria, GC, that George M’Donell, mayor of Port Arthur, who “hails from Williamstown,” would run as Conservative candidate for MLA or MP. In the Ontario general election of 1890, he was defeated, though by a small margin, as the Conservative candidate for the constituency of Algoma West. He was elected as MP for the constituency of Algoma as a Conservative in the 1891 federal general election; and served one term, being defeated at the general election of 1896. He was elected mayor of Port Arthur again in Jan. 1900, but did not complete his term, leaving Port Arthur in July 1900 for railway contracting in the West. With this, his association with Port Arthur seems to have ended. He was living in the area of Carman, Manitoba, in 1902. It is not known when he died. His father and mother and his sister the author Blanche Lucille Macdonell are all buried in Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, in a burial plot which George Hugh bought probably in 1886, but he himself is not buried there. |
| <tab>He was married at least twice, (1) in 1876, to Eliza McCracken (d. 31 Jan. 1893), of Cornwall, and (2) on 11 April 1894, while he was MP, to Miss Margaret Tathan Procter, or Margaret Tatrum Proctor, of Westmoreland, Eng. Given how unusual it is for a former MP to disappear as he did from the historical record, with nothing known about his later days, it may be wondered whether he migrated to England with his wife. He was an Anglican. For another GC connection with the municipal government of what is now Thunder Bay, see [[mcnaughton_alexander|Alexander McNaughton]]. | <tab>He was married at least twice, (1) in 1876, to Eliza McCracken (d. 31 Jan. 1893), of Cornwall, and (2) on 11 April 1894, while he was MP, to Miss Margaret Tathan Procter, or Margaret Tatrum Proctor, of Westmoreland, Eng. Given how unusual it is for a former MP to disappear as he did from the historical record, with nothing known about his later days, it may be wondered whether he migrated to England with his wife. He was an Anglican. For another GC connection with the municipal government of what is now Thunder Bay, see [[mcnaughton_alexander2|Alexander McNaughton]]. |
