Stanley George McDonald
Born August 11, 1894, to William McDonald and Sarah Dixon on their pioneer home in the Indian Lands near Dominionville, Stanley George McDonald was immediately noted for his tendency towards precision and accuracy. At the age of 12, Stanley and his brother Alex became deeply interested in the mechanics of a new type of threshing machine, and with exact measurements drafted a mini thresher pattern such as would be expected from an expert. In the carriage shed of his father’s farm, this toy thresher was wrought with such exactitude that a dozen or so oats could be fed gently into the cylinder and the oats would be separated and the straw drop out the end just like a real threshing machine in operation. This was the beginning of an interesting and productive life story for Stanley G. McDonald.
Like the many Glengarry farm boys unable to continue their education, Stanley left home to seek employment. Diverging from the tradition of trekking to the mining boom in Northern Ontario, his ambition was instead to develop his knowledge of motors as more automobiles were introduced in the years preceding World War One. His reputation as a budding mechanical genius at Ottawa’s Ketchum Garage didn’t take long to become known. Thomas Ahearn, a capital financial tycoon and sportsman, was the distinguished owner of a Packard twin six, and setting inter-city travel time records was a sport challenge. In Tom Ahearn’s opinion to compete in this new phase of sport the driver of his car had to be Stanley McDonald. He was right.
Stanley and the Ahearn car won several championship races against time that included the Ottawa-Montreal via Point Fortune ferry and the Prescott Wharf to the Capital. Their crowning and most prestigious victory that drew acclaim from both Canada and U.S. sport writers was Stanley’s record-lowering run from New York City to Ottawa. The distance was 460 miles and with two passengers Stanley whipped the twin six along in the remarkable time of 13 hours and 20 minutes.
Now a pedigree sportsman classed as a champion driver, Stanley McDonald left the dusty roads for the rifle ranges for relaxation and diversion from mechanical work. In 1931 he was among the founders of the Ottawa Pistol and Revolver Club. From 1934-36 he won top honours in the service revolver shoots, his 1936 gold medal also carrying a new record score. In the rifle shooting class Stanley won three golds for perfect scores of 300 in each match. Thus it is little wonder that he copped a trap shooting medal at a Maxville sportsman meet and his share of turkeys in the Glengarry gravel pit ranges.
A fire was the ironic twist that brought Stan and Alex working under the same roof again. After the Plaunt Sports Store fire, the Johnson Outboard Motor Company removed their motors from the fire debris to Alex McDonald’s Albert Street garage where salvage work got underway and Stanley was the mechanic. The work took four months, by which time the “bug” of outboard motors had struck Stanley who bid farewell to car motors. In 1945, “Stan’s Outboard Motors” opened on Scott Street in Ottawa, where it experienced immense popularity. The tuning and testing of hydro motors led Stan to regatta racing, where he copied a page from his auto driving record to once again surmount the championships. He became champion driver in three class C categories (service runabout, service hydro, and hydro). Claiming top billing in a Lakeland, Florida regatta, he set a world record in Class C service runabout for five miles at 41.814mph, which still stands.
After having climbed these lofty international heights, Stanley continued spending his time making McDonald motors in his Peter Street home shop, which continue to win awards. Never resting on his laurels, in his 80th year he enrolled in night classes at St. Lawrence College to absorb more knowledge in the operation of shop machines. He continued living in his Peter Street home in Maxville, until his death in 1993, at the age of 99.
