Walter Donald Douglas
Walter Donald Douglas (April 21, 1861 - April 15, 1912) was an
American business executive who travelled first class aboard the
Titanic with his wife, Mahala, and maid, Berthe Leroy, in cabin
C-86.
Douglas was born in Waterloo, Iowa to George Douglas
and Margaret Boyd Douglas. His parents had both immigrated to the
United States; George Douglas was Scottish and Margaret Boyd was
Irish, making Walter a Scots-Irish American. George Douglas was
one of the co-founders of the Quaker Oats Company.
After
attending high school, Douglas attended the Shattuck Military
Academy in Faribault, Minnesota. He married Lulu Camp on May 19,
1884, with whom he had two sons,
Edward Bruce and George Camp. Lulu
died in December, 1899, and eight years later, on November 6, 1907,
Douglas was married to Mahala Dutton.
Douglas and his brother
George founded the Douglas Starchworks, at the time the largest
starch factory west of the Mississippi. The Starchworks later became
Penick and Ford and subsequently, Penford Food Ingredients, a
division of Penford Corporation. He also had interests in the
linseed oil business in Minneapolis, manufacturing under the name of
the Midland Linseed Oil Company, which was sold in 1899 to the
American Linseed Oil Company, eventually evolving into the Archer
Daniels Midland Company. In 1899, after selling his linseed
business, Douglas became a partner with Piper, Johnson & Case, a
grain firm, where he remained until he retired in 1912.
Douglas was associated with several businesses, including the
Canadian Elevator Company, the Monarch Lumber Company and the
Saskatchewan Valley Land Company, among others. He was also a
stockholder, executive board member, and one of the directors of the
Empire Elevator Company, and was a member of the executive board of
the Quaker Oats Company. He was also among the directors of the
First National Bank of Minneapolis..
Douglas, who had retired
on 1 January 1912, was known as a "Captain of Industry," having
amassed of fortune of over $4 million. He and his wife spent three
months in Europe looking for furnishings for their new home near
Lake Minnetonka before booking return passage to the United States
aboard the RMS Titanic. Douglas died in the sinking, and his body
was recovered by the CS Mackay-Bennett and brought back to Cedar
Rapids to be buried in the Douglas family mausoleum at Oak Hill
Cemetery. His wife survived the sinking along with their maid (A Miss Berthe Leroy
travelled on the same ticket). Mahala Douglas was the very first survivor to board the RMS
Carpathia in the early morning hours of 15 April. Upon her death in
1945 she was buried beside him.
A provision in Douglas' will
required that George C. Douglas, his younger son from his first
marriage, earn $2,500 in two consecutive years, in order to receive
his share of the estate, but this provision was waived by the
trustees of the will because the son had served in the British Army
for five years during World War I, being wounded twice and being
cited for bravery by Field Marshal Lord French.
Walter Donald Douglas, Lulu (Camp) Douglas, and Mahala (Dutton)
Douglas are interred in The Douglas Family Crypt at the
Oak Hill Cemetery, which was erected in 1885 in memory of George
Douglas (1816 - 1884).
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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