Eliza C. McDonald was born around 1846 in North Carolina to Neill and Margaret McDonald. Her father was a farmer who owned $250 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Moore County, North Carolina. She probably got married and had four children, including David, born around 1875; and Mary, born around 1879. Her husband died in the late 1800s, and by 1900, she was living in her brother Daniels’ household. She died sometime after 1900.