He played a key role in organizing the city's sewage system and building its first hospital, and served as the vice president of the First National Bank of Bellingham.

As an industrial businessman, Donovan founded, developed, or directed a number of companies, including railroads, lumber mills, and coal mines.

September 8, 1883, Donovan's 25th birthday, was also a notable date for the Northern Pacific Railroad: the main line from east and west were connected near Gold Creek, Montana.

Among the guests were President Ulysses S. Grant, William M. Evarts, several Crow Indian chiefs, prominent engineers and railway officials, businessmen, American soldiers, cattlemen, and newspaper reporters.

[5][17] In 1888, Donovan quit the Northern Pacific Railway, accepting an offer to occupy the position of chief engineer in several enterprises located around Bellingham Bay, Washington.

He became a member of the Bellingham Bay Improvement Company, established in 1890, which was aimed at the development of several industries in town, including coal mining, railroad building, lumbering, and others.

Under Donovan's supervision as chairman of the sewerage committee, the sanitary expert of Chicago, Benezette Williams, was invited to plan the city's sewer system.

[19][20] In 1890, Donovan worked as chief engineer at the Fairhaven & Southern Railroad, which started plotting the line from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Portland, Oregon, and to Spokane, Washington.

When the construction of 80 miles (130 km) of track was completed, the road was bought by the Great Northern Railway, and Donovan quit.

Donovan worked there as an engineer during the time of its expansion from Fairhaven to Whatcom and to Wickersham, where it connected with the Northern Pacific Railway.

[21] In 1898, as general superintendent and chief engineer of the Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railroad, Donovan expanded the line to Spokane.

[22][23][4] In 1891, Donovan started working as an engineer for land appraisers and participated in the establishment of the Blue Canyon Coal Mining Company.

They owned logging camps and timber lands in Skagit and Whatcom counties, complete rolling stock, including six locomotives, and operated 30 miles (48 km) of railroad.

The employees were provided with health care based on small assessments from their salaries, which assured doctors' examinations and treatment in all cases.

He was interested in the development of the city's health care system, and became a member of the building committee for St. Joseph's Hospital on Elk Street, where he later worked as director.

[2] Due to his influence, Fairhaven and Whatcom merged, and he was a member of the commission empowered to draft the charter for the new city of Bellingham.

Prior to this event, he had presented his point of view concerning Ku Klux Klan beliefs in a Seattle Daily Times article.

He supported a European compensation system for employees, establishing small salary assessments in order to provide his workers with medical care.

[33] He also held membership in other associations and clubs: On April 29, 1888, in Somerville, Massachusetts, Donovan married Clara Isabel Nichols, a piano teacher from Melrose.

Helen Elizabeth, born on December 28, 1889, was a graduate of Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts and of Smith College, and a music student in Berlin, Germany.

John[27][8][3] or Jack[21] Nichols, born on November 19, 1891, followed his father's footsteps, earning a degree in civil engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and working at the Northern Pacific Railroad Company for a year.

Phillip, born on October 16, 1893, completed a course at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in mechanical engineering, and worked as his father's secretary and purchasing agent.