Edward A. McDonald was born around 1843 in Pennsylvania to William and Harriet McDonald. His father was a farmer who owned $1,000 of real estate by 1850. His father died sometime in the 1850s. McDonald grew up and attended school in Londonderry, Pennsylvania, until the 1850s, when the family moved to Inland, Iowa.
He enlisted in the Union army on September 27, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company D of the 11th Iowa Infantry on October 3. He was promoted to corporal on May 7, 1862. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh, the Vicksburg campaign, and the Atlanta campaign. He died near Adairsville, Georgia, on October 19, 1864.