William Josiah MacDonald

Who was William Josiah MacDonald?

William Josiah MacDonald was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

MacDonald was born in Potosi, Wisconsin. He attended the common schools and graduated from the high school at Fairmont, Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at Calumet, Michigan in 1895. He served as prosecuting attorney for Keweenaw County from 1898 to 1904 and prosecuting attorney for Houghton County from 1906 to 1912. In 1911, he was an unsuccessful candidate for circuit judge in the 12th District of Michigan.

In 1912, MacDonald ran as a candidate for the Progressive Party against incumbent Republican H. Olin Young to the United States House of Representatives from the Michigan's 12th congressional district. Although unofficial returns showed that MacDonald had won the seat, some votes were not included in the official count by the state board of canvassers due to a mistake in how MacDonald's name appeared on the ballot in Ontonagon County. H. Olin Young presented credentials as a Member-elect to the 63rd United States Congress and served from March 4, 1913, until his resignation, effective May 16, 1913, while a contest for the seat was pending. Subsequently, the House Committee on Elections unanimously reported a resolution to the full house awarding the 12th District seat to MacDonald, who took the oath of office August 26, 1913 and served until March 3, 1915. In 1914 and again in 1916, MacDonald lost to Republican William F. James. MacDonald and Roy O. Woodruff were the only two Michigander's elected to the U.S. House from the Progressive Party.