The HORSE DRAWN Papers #5

T h e   M E R C U R I A L   M.   D.   S H R A D E R

The name M. D. Shrader consistently appears in Alexandria's history in the late 1800s through the Great Fire of 1905, then promptly disappears.  It took some research to find out more about Mac.

Mac, as I shall call him, came from a very German, Revolutionary War family.  For reasons now lost, after a long series of Germanic names, the Shraders named their son MacKindra Douglas Shrader, a very Scottish name.  Mac went into business as M. D. Shrader and was active in the Republican party.  Mac lived on Church Street near North Liberty Street with his business on the opposite side at least an alley west between his house and work.  The picture of Buxton's 'Old Red' Tavern shows a wooden structure along Church Street... it might be Mac's.

Trains need wood or coal.  The future automobile will need petroleum.  While horses can graze, but as good stewards, we feed them in order to keep horses healthy.  Initially, it appears as if Mac ran a food and grain store.  I am not as familiar with horses as I would have liked to be, but I know there are riding horses, team horses, buggy horses, draft horses, and a pony for your daughter.  Along the way, there are also mules and donkeys.  These equines all need tended and fed.  At the same time, a Mr. Latham appears to have owned a feed and grain store as well.

Because little documentation exists, this may belie two grain stores or a succession of business.  By 1902, M. D. has an advertisement in the Johnstown Independant as a dealer in "agricultural implements, stoves, windmills, buggies, wagons, harnesses, etc." while John D. Loyd, a Welsh immigrant, handled "wool, poultry, seeds, grains, produce, etc."  But, in 1900, Mac had sold some property to the Alexandria Harness Company.

For reasons not entirely clear, by 1910 Mac and his family removed to Monroe Township.  This most likely was the result of the disposition of his parents' farm.  With this move, Mac disappears from Alexandria and St. Alban's history.  M. D. died on April 10, 1926, and is buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Johnstown.  From Mac's obituary we learn that he was elected Mayor of Johnstown for several terms, when he suffered a substantial stroke and died the following evening.

With all the mentions in Alexandria's history, Mac's role has been difficult to track.  Mac is on my radar...