Murdoch McDonald, born in North Carolina on February 15, 1810, to Scottish immigrant parents, went to Georgia about 1832, where he met Dr. George Lester. In 1839 he came to Texas with Lester and his family and settled in the Mound Prairie area of Anderson County, where McDonald farmed while Lester opened a medical practice. In 1843 McDonald married Lester's daughter Sarah, and they had nine children, six of whom lived to adulthood. In 1871 he donated 300 acres to the International Railroad Company on the condition that a town and station be established and that he receive three town lots. By 1872 the railroad had reached the new town, and McDonald built a hotel there on one of his lots; it became a social center for the area. Regarded as the founder of Neches, he remained a community leader until his death on November 1, 1889. He and his wife were buried in Mound Prairie Cemetery, and many of their descendants remained in the county, including his son John and grandson Walter H. McDonald, who operated retail businesses in Neches for many years.