Donald Fraser (ca. 1753–1820), schoolmaster and author, immigrated to the United States about 1774, probably from Scotland. He supported himself by teaching and occasionally preaching in New England and Virginia, including three years as an educator in Manchester, New Hampshire, before moving to New York City in the 1780s. After teaching there for some twenty years, Fraser became a bookseller and proprietor of a circulating library. He authored numerous educational, literary, historical, and political works during his long career, but struggled financially (The New-York Directory, and Register, for 1789 [New York, 1789], 84; William Duncan, The New-York Directory, and Register, for the year 1791 [New York, 1791], 45; New York American Citizen, 3 Dec. 1803; Fraser to TJ, 9 July 1805 [DLC], [ca. 10 Mar. 1812], 24 Sept. 1813, 14 Sept. 1814, 4 Oct. 1820; Sowerby, description begins E. Millicent Sowerby, comp., Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 1952–59, 5 vols. description ends no. 426, 1396; Longworth’s New York Directory description begins Longworth’s American Almanac, New-York Register, and City Directory. New York, 1796–1842 (title varies; cited by year of publication) description ends [1811], 104; Fraser to James Monroe, 2 May 1812 [DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1809–17]; New York Columbian, 2 Nov. 1816; New-York Daily Advertiser, 18 Dec. 1820).