DOUGLAS, Walter Donald 1861-1912

DOUGLAS, CAMP, BOYD, DUTTON

Posted By: K.L. Kittleson
Date: 11/17/2013 at 00:57:42

#1:

Walter Donald Douglas was born on April 21, 1861, at Waterloo, Iowa, and died on April 15, 1912, at age 50, when the RMS Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg.

His father was George Douglas and his mother was Margaret Boyd Douglas. His father was Scottish and his mother was Irish -- having both immigrated to the United States. George Douglas was one of the co-founders of the Quaker Oats company.

Mr. Douglas was a business executive, and was associate with several businesses

After attending high school, Douglas attended the Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota. On May 19, 1884, he married Lulu Camp, with whom he had two sons, Edward Bruce and George Camp. Lulu died in December, 1899, and eight years later, on November 6, 1907, Walter Douglas married Mahala Dutton. Mahala was on board the RMS Titanic, and was the very first survivor to be taken aboard the RMS Carpathia.

Walter and his brother George founded the Douglas Starchworks, at the time the largest starch factory west of the Mississippi. 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.

Walter was also 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.
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#2:

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR
WALTER DOUGLAS SUNDAY

A telegram was received by George B. Douglas yesterday from his nephew, George Camp Douglas, stating that the body of his father, Walter D. Douglas, who was on the Titanic when it sank, had been fully identified, and that the remains were in a good state of preservation. Messrs. Douglas, Camp and Dutton are expected to leave Halifax early this morning, and will arrive at Minneapolis with the remains Saturday morning.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at the Douglas home at Deephaven, near Minneapolis. On Sunday morning the body, accompanied by relatives and friends from Minneapolis, will be brought to Cedar Rapids over the Rock Island on a special train, arriving here late Sunday afternoon.

The remains will be taken direct to Oak Hill cemetery, where the burial services will be held and the body placed in the Douglas family vault.

Rev. Dr. E. R. Burkhalter, who has been the family pastor in Cedar Rapids for nearly forty years, will make a special trip from New York, where he is spending his vacation, to conduct the burial services. It is the desire of the family and also of Dr. Burkhalter that he shall speak the last words for Mr. Douglas. The services both at the home in Minneapolis and at Oak Hill cemetery here will naturally be of an impressive character, not only because of the respect that is held by everyone for the late Mr. Douglas, but also for the tragic manner in which he went to his death.

Source: Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, Wednesday, May 1, 1912, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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A photo of Walter D. Douglas.

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