Irish History - Loretta McDonald

Loretta Mary Huntington McDonald

1875-1902
Teacher

Buried in Rosedale Cemetery North

(Grave marker photo courtesy of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association)

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Loretta was born in Halleck, Elko County, Nevada on July 29, 1875 to Cornelius Edson Huntington and Sarah nee O’Connor. At the time of her birth, her father was a soldier in the U.S. Army’s 12th Infantry, Company H, stationed at Camp Halleck. Camp Halleck had been established to protect the California Trail and construction workers of the Central Pacific Railroad. Shortly after Loretta’s birth, he was promoted to commissary sergeant.

Sgt. Huntington was reassigned to Camp Independence in Inyo County, California in 1876. Thereafter, the family remained in California while Loretta’s father was transferred from post to post. By 1880, they were living in San Diego, and three additional children had been added to the household: Edson (born 1876 in Nevada), Daniel (born 1878 in California), and Adele (born November 1879 in California). Another son, Paul, was born in 1883.

After Huntington’s discharge from the military, he worked as a bookkeeper in San Pedro, California. This is where he died on August 24, 1893.*

Loretta and the rest of the family had moved to Phoenix, Arizona, between 1880 and 1890, where Loretta entered college to become a teacher. Newspapers describe a young lady who enjoyed her friends and traveling to Prescott during the summer with her sister Adele.

Loretta taught school for several years before marrying Samuel John McDonald, a stockman, on August 27, 1900. However, the couple had no children and Loretta was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. By 1901, her health had begun a steady decline. She died May 12, 1902, surrounded by her family, and  was buried in Rosedale Cemetery. Her husband Samuel remained in Phoenix, unmarried, until about 1909, when he left for parts unknown.

Both Loretta’s sister, Adele Walters, and brother, Paul Huntington, also succumbed to tuberculosis and appear to be buried near her in Rosedale Cemetery.

*There is a discrepancy regarding when Cornelius died. His wife Sarah applied for a widow’s pension in August 16, 1890, while in Arizona, but the death record in California clearly shows that his name was not added to the register page until 1893.

© 2020 by Patricia Gault. Last revised March 2020.

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