{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name =Moses Macdonald | image_size =200px | caption = | order =Member of U.S. House of Representatives<br>from Maine's 1st district | term_start =March 4, 1851 | term_end = March 3, 1855 | predecessor = Elbridge Gerry | successor =John M. Wood | order2 = Maine State Treasurer | term_start2 =1847 | term_end2 = 1850 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | order3 = Member of the Maine State Senate | term_start3 =1847 | term_end3 = 1848 | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | order4 = Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives | term_start4 =1845 | term_end4 = 1846 | predecessor4 = | successor4 = | order5 = Member of the Maine House of Representatives | term_start5 =1841 | term_end5 = 1843 | predecessor5 = | successor5 = |birth_date = {{birth date|1815|4|8}} |birth_place = Limerick, Massachusetts (now Maine) |death_date = {{death date and age|1869|10|18|1815|4|8}} |death_place = Saco, Maine |resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery, Saco, Maine | party =Democratic | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Moses Macdonald''' (April 8, 1815&nbsp;– October 18, 1869) was an American attorney and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Maine. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, the Maine State Senate and as Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives during the 1800s.

==Early life and career== Macdonald was born in Limerick, Massachusetts (now in Maine) and was the son of major General John Macdonald and Lydia Wiley Macdonald.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carpenter|first=Charles Carroll|title=Biographical Catalogue of the Trustees, Teachers and Students of Phillips Academy: Andover, 1778-1830|year=1903|publisher=Andover Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalcata00carp/page/148 148]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalcata00carp }}</ref> He received an academic education and attended Phillips Academy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andover.edu/about/notablealumni/longlist/Pages/1800s.aspx|title=Notable Alumni|publisher=Andover Phillips Academy|accessdate=December 14, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105222945/http://www.andover.edu/About/NotableAlumni/LongList/Pages/1800s.aspx|archivedate=November 5, 2013}}</ref> He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1837 and began the practice of law in Biddeford, Maine in 1837.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://maineanencyclopedia.com/macdonald-moses/|title= MacDonald, Moses|date= January 14, 2012|publisher=Maine An Encyclopedia|accessdate= December 14, 2013}}</ref>

==Political career== He served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1841, 1842, and 1845.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herringshaw|first=Thomas William|title=Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States; Illustrated with Three Thousand Vignette Portraits|year=1914|publisher=American Publishers' Association|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98PTAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA5 }}</ref> He was the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives in 1845 and served in the Maine Senate in 1847.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carpenter|first=Charles Carroll|title=Biographical Catalogue of the Trustees, Teachers and Students of Phillips Academy: Andover, 1778-1830|year=1903|publisher=Andover Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalcata00carp/page/148 148]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalcata00carp }}</ref> He was the Maine State Treasurer from 1847 to 1850.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://maineanencyclopedia.com/limerick/ |title= Limerick|date= January 8, 2012|publisher=Maine An Encyclopedia|accessdate= December 14, 2013}}</ref>

Macdonald was elected as a Democratic candidate to the Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses, serving from March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855.<ref>{{cite book|last=Poore|first=Benjamin Perley|title=The Political Register and Congressional Directory: A Statistical Record of the Federal Officials, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, of the United States of America, 1776-1878|year=1878|publisher=Houghton, Osgood|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028697815/page/n527 512]|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028697815 }}</ref> He was chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims during the Thirty-second Congress.

After leaving Congress, he was appointed collector of customs at Portland, Maine by President James Buchanan in 1857 and served until 1861.<ref>{{cite book|last=Seave|first=Jesse Montgomery|title=MacDonald McDonald Family Records|year=1929|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEG6WEuicF8C&pg=PA44 }}</ref> He died in Saco, Maine in 1869 at the age of 54 and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Spence|first=Thomas E.|title=Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, with Listings of Many Prominent People who Were Cremated|year=1998|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|page=193|isbn=9780806348230|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eLWao2lIGTEC&pg=PA193 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links==<!-- for current and future use if material is uploaded --> {{CongBio|M000004}} *{{find a Grave|7186601}}

{{Bioguide}} {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |before=David Dunn |title= 17th Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives |years=1845-1846 |after=Ebenezer Knowlton}} {{s-bef|before=James White}} {{s-ttl|title=Treasurer of Maine|years=1847–1849}} {{s-aft|after=Samuel Cony}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state= Maine |district= 1 |before= Elbridge Gerry |after= John M. Wood |years= March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855}} {{s-end}} {{Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Moses)}} Category:1815 births Category:1869 deaths Category:Maine lawyers Category:Democratic Party Maine state senators Category:People from Limerick, Maine Category:Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives Category:State treasurers of Maine Category:Phillips Academy alumni Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Maine Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the Maine Legislature

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