Test, Clarence Lincoln, 1873-1925

Nellie Ward Donnan, born August 10, 1879 in Austin, Texas, was the daughter of longtime Austin businessman John Knox Donnan and his wife MarthaJane (Jennie) Johnson Donnan. After her marriage to Clarence Lincoln Test in 1901, Nellie studied voice culture with Mrs. Jourdan Morris of Austin, eventually studying music and singing in New York and Paris. She wrote several musical compositions, mostly sacred music. Nellie traveled extensively but considered Austin her home. She died in 1975 at the age of 96.

John Knox Donnan, father of Nellie W. Donnan Test, was born in Petersburg, Virginia on June 20, 1848. In 1874 he came to Austin and became prominent in business and in the Masonic Order. On March 14, 1876 he married Jennie Johnson, who until her marriage attended the Austin Female College, established in 1873 at 1100 Lavaca. The two lived in Austin all their married lives in the house they built at 1102 Lavaca. In the 1970s this house, which had also been for 96 years the Austin residence of Nellie Test, was moved to Tanglewood Trail in West Austin by Attorney General John L. Hill, Jr. Restored and enlarged, the house is presently known as the Donnan-Hill house.

John Knox Donnan, Jr. (1893-1967), Nellie W. Donnan Test, Lilla Johnson Donnan Shapard (also known as Sis), Helen C. Donnan (d. December 1899), and Nannie Bell Donnan (d. April 1898) were children of John Knox and Jennie Donnan.

Clarence Lincoln Test was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1873. He moved to Austin about 1900 and engaged in the real estate, cotton and oil industries. On May 1, 1901 he married Nellie Donnan, of the prominent John Knox Donnan family. He served as assistant Austin postmaster under Jefferson Johnson and was a member of the Texas National Guard from its origin.

Test was a veteran of two American wars. At the outbreak of the Spanish American War he enlisted as a private in the 3rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, later transferring to Troop K, 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, also known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. During World War I he served overseas as adjutant of the 71st Infantry Brigade, 36th Division. In 1923 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Adjutant General's Officers Reserve Corps, U.S. Army, which rank he held at his death in 1925.

An expert rifleman, Test was a member of the Texas State Rifle Team. His many medals and citations for marksmanship are included in this collection. Test died at Walter Reed Hospital on May 5, 1925 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.