James Greer McDonald
James Greer McDonald (March 22, 1824 – January 23, 1909) was a surveyor in Los Angeles County, California, an authority on horticulture and a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of that city, in the 19th century.The family moved to Texas in 1838 and lived there until 1853, when young McDonald was offered a job as a deputy surveyor-general of California, under John C. Hayes.In the same year he organized a group to cross the plains to California by the southern route, surveying the Mexico–United States border.[1] McDonald was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council on December 2, 1878, to represent the 5th Ward and was re–elected the next two years.[2] Besides his surveying work, McDonald attempted mining ventures with William Workman, but when they failed to succeed, he turned to citriculture, renting the "noted orchard" of William Wolfskill and later planting a 40-acre grove of his own, where he had his family home,[1] in today's Central-Alameda district.