The youngest of six children of Dr. Humphrey Peake and Annie Linton Lane. She married Angus William McDonald in 1847. They had nine children. She kept a detailed diary during the Civil War, which was published in 1875.

McDonald's story of the Civil War records a personal and distinctly female perspective of the conflict and times.


"My young sons Harry and Allan had begged me to let them go to the top of the hill early in the morning to see what was going on. I had given permission, thinking of no danger other than occurred every day; but now, how I repented having let them go, and sat all that fearful afternoon in terror for fear my boys had come to harm. I remained during all those miserable hours with my baby on my lap and the four little ones clustered around, listening to the dreadful storms of battle.... Oh the anguish of those hours! My little boys! How could I have suffered them to go away from me so thoughtlessly when nearly every moment brought danger?"

—Cornelia Peake McDonald, 1862