History of Wexford County, MI. Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 88 - 89

DONALD E. McINTYRE

In point of continuous residence the subject of this sketch is one of the oldest members of the Cadillac bar and that he has achieved marked success in his profession is attested by the fact of his having been identified with many of the most important cases in the circuit since his removal to Wexford county, over thirty years ago. As the name indicates, the McIntyre family is of Scotch origin, the subject's grandfather. Donald McIntyre, Sr., having been born and reared in Scotland, in various parts of which country the name is still familiar. Many years ago this ancestor came to the United States and settled in New York, where he married and raised a. family among his children being a son by the name of Donald, who became one of the leading lawyers and jurists of Fulton county. Donald McIntyre, Jr., practiced law for a number of years in the city of Johnstown, also served as judge of his county, and achieved honorable distinction in his profession both as a jurist and practitioner. Some time in the early thirties he came to Michigan as representative of the Metropolitan Bank of New York for the purpose of investigating the currency of this state, and later located in Washtenaw county, where he engaged in the banking business. He organized the Mechanics Bank at Ann Arbor and became one of its largest stockholders and for over fifty years conducted the institution, during which time he acquired worthy prestige as an able financier, not only locally but in business circles throughout the state. He was a careful and judicious business man of progressive ideas, exerted potent influence in the general growth and development of Washtenaw county, and after the organization of the Republican party was elected upon that ticket to the general assembly, in which body he distinguished himself as a capable and popular legislator. In early life he was an old-line Whig, but when that historic party had accomplished its mission and ceased to exist he took an active and earnest part in the organization of its successor and ever afterwards remained a staunch and uncompromising Republican, becoming a party leader in the county of Washtenaw. For two terms le was a member of the board of regents of the Michigan University, and for a number of years served as treasurer of the board, in both of which capacities he was instrumental in promoting the usefulness of the university and giving it the commanding prestige it today enjoys among the leading educational institutions of the United States. Donald McIntyre, Jr., was one of the notable men of his day and generation in the county of Washtenaw, and as already stated, his labor and influence were not circumscribed within local bounds, but bore in no small degree upon the history of the state at large. He lived a long and useful life, did his work faithfully and well and died at Ann Arbor in 1892, at the ripe old age of eighty-six years. The maiden name of Mrs. Donald McIntyre was Jane Eaker. She was a native of New York and died in the prime of life, leaving four children, namely: Anna, Mattie A., Jennie M. and Donald E. Donald E. McIntyre, to a brief epitome of whose life and achievements the residue of this article is devoted, was born in Washtenaw county, Michigan, on the 14th day of June, 1852. His early life was spent in Ann Arbor, where he attended the public schools until completing the prescribed course, after which he entered the State University with the object in view of preparing himself for the legal profession. In due time he was graduated from the literary department ofthat institution, the thorough mental discipline thus received serving as a substantial basis for the severe professional training to which he was afterwardssubjected while fitting himself for his life work as a lawyer. Mr. McIntyre prosecuted his legal studies under especially favorable auspices, among his preceptors being Judge H. J. Beaks, who was long recognized as the leading member of the Michigan bar and whose name and fame achieved almost national repute. In the university he also enjoyed the instruction of some of the ablest legal minds of the day and after his graduation, in 1871, he was well fortified to grapple with the difficulties which mark the beginning of nearly every young lawyer's career. Receiving his degree, Mr. McIntyre opened an office in Big Rapids, where he practiced one year with varied success, and at the expiration of that time selected what he supposed to be and what has since proved to be a more favorable field in the village of Clam Lake, at that time a small and to all appearances unimportant lumber town, but to the ambitious attorney an embryo city of certain growth and great possibilities. In fact the place in the early seventies could hardly be dignified by the term village, being merely a lumber camp with a few indifferent buildings on the principal street, but already, predictions were rife as to its future development and it was not long until the prophecies began to be fulfilled. With the growth and continual prosperity of the town came business of a legal character, in consequence of which the lawyer's services were much sought after and Mr. McIntyre in due time had no lack of well-paying clients. From that time to the present his professional career presents a series of successes, as he has kept in close touch with legal matters in this part of the state, his name appearing in connection with many of the most important cases at the Cadillac bar since this town became the seat of justice for the county of Wexford. By close application to business and commendable studiousness he gradually surmounted the obstacles in the path of professional men in new countries and won for himself an honorable reputation as a safe, reliable counsellor and successful practitioner, his principal object being to excel in his chosen calling and prove worthy of the confidence his clients reposed in his ability and judgment. His position as one of the ablest and best known lawyers of the Cadillac bar has been honorably earned, in addition to which his reputation has extended to other parts of the state, he being frequently retained as counsel in important litigations in the courts of neighboring cities and counties. Mr. McIntyre has manifested a lively interest in the material prosperity of Cadillac, all enterprises with this object in view meeting with his hearty approval, active cooperation and, if necessary, his financial encouragement. Since 1871 his career has been so closely interwoven with the development of the town that the history of the one is pretty much the history of both and he stands today, as he has stood in the past, one of the strong, resourceful men in a community which has steadily forged to the front as an important commercial and industrial center, and which through such agencies as his has also become noted for the high standard of its social and moral life. Politically Mr. McIntyre wields an influence for the Republican party, but he can hardly be called a politician in the sense the term is usually understood, having no aspirations for office and no desire whatever for public distinction. Like all intelligent citizens, however, he is well informed relative to the leading questions of the day and is by no means averse to expressing his opinions, consequently the people experience no difficulty in ascertaining his attitude towards measures and issues upon which men and parties differ. At the present time he attends strictly to his duties as a lawyer and in addition thereto does a large and lucrative insurance business, representing a number of the largest companies in the United States. In all public and private charities his name and individual efforts have been ever prominent, possessing as he does large sympathies and an abounding faith in humanity which leads him to do many good deeds for his fellow men. In all the attributes of honorable manhood-honesty, uprightness of character and unimpeachable integrity-he stands a commendable example of intelligent American citizenship and as such his influence makes for the general welfare of the community in which the greater part of his life work has been spent. The domestic life of Mr. McIntyre dates from 1885, in which year he was united in the bond of wedlock with Miss Sophia Mitchell, of New York, the accomplished daughter of the late George A. Mitchell, who for a number of years was one of the leading business men and representative citizens of Wexford county.