John Bacon McDonald, born February 8, 1859, was the son of Joseph Bibb and Henrietta Alston McDonald. After studying under Colonel John M. Brannon of Seale and Captain Jerry J. Slade of Columbus, he entered the United States Military Academy on June 14, 1876, and graduated from West Point on June 11, 1881. He served in the Geronimo Campaign in 1885, as an Indian Scout, in the Philippines, and later in Europe during World War I. In 1923 he was promoted to Brigadier General. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal by the United States, the Croix de Guerre with palm by France, the Croix de Guerre by Belgium, and the War Cross by Italy. His father, active in the Confederate cause, was a prominent member of the Seale Bar, of which a state historian wrote, "Illumined the pages of the legal profession in Alabama." McDonald died in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 1926, was buried from St. John's Episcopal Church, and was interred at Arlington.