On February 8, 1926, Paris, Texas lawyer and banker William Johnson McDonald passed away at the age of 81. Orphaned as a young man, McDonald was attending McKenzie College in Clarksville, Texas, when he left to join the Confederate Army. Returning after the war, he graduated and read for the bar. He opened his own law office in Clarksville in 1881, and having established a successful practice, entered the field of banking, eventually organizing three banks in small Texas towns.
After establishing a banking office in Paris, McDonald lived there for the remainder of his life. He was a noted philanthropist and civic leader. He lived modestly, and though he was not religious, was generous to the needy. Perhaps moved by his own plight as a youth, he assisted the education of many young men who were struggling to afford college.
Upon his death, McDonald bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to the University of Texas to establish an observatory. Although McDonald died unmarried and without children, this surprise gift led to litigation by others contesting his will. However, ultimately, the University prevailed and received over $800,000. The McDonald Observatory is a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin and one of the world’s leading centers for astronomical research, teaching, and public education and outreach. Observatory facilities are located atop Mount Locke and Mount Fowlkes in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, which offer some of the darkest night skies in the continental United States.
When the bequest was received, UT had no astronomy department. It entered into an agreement with the University of Chicago to share faculty to staff the observatory. Astronomer Otto Struve was the first director of McDonald Observatory. He served from November 1932 to August 1947, and was concurrently director of The University of Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory.
More information:
McDonald Observatory – Home Page