Vermilion county Illinois, JOHN MILTON DOUGLASS ==================================================================== Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Joy Fisher ==================================================================== p. 238-239 JOHN MILTON DOUGLASS, a prominent and honored citizen of Vermilion County, is classed among its leading farmers and stock-raisers, he having been intimately connected with its agricultural interests for many years; and, the son of parents who were early settlers of this part of Illinois, he may indeed be regarded as a pioneer himself, as since, and even before, attaining man's estate, he has done much to develop the rich resources of this region and make it a great agricultural center. He owns a farm on section 16, Catlin Township, that is justly considered one of the best places in the county, and here he has erected a handsome commodious residence that, with its surroundings, beautiful lawns adorned with shade trees, etc., forms an attractive scene in the landscape, and in this lovely home he is quietly passing his declining years, calmly awaiting life's great change. The subject of this sketch was born in what is now Ohio County, Ind., Aug. 23, 1823, the second child in a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters, belonging to Thomas W. and Delilah (Peyne) Douglass. The former was born in the State of Maine, on the Penobscot River, and the mother was a native of the State of New York. After marriage they first settled in Dearborn County, Ind., in that part of it now called Ohio County, and thence journeyed to this State in the spring of 1830, and located in Catlin Township, Vermilion County, where the County farm now is, and where they spent their declining years, and the mother closing her eyes in death in September, 1856, and in October, 1865, the father departed this life. They were people of solid merit, who faithfully performed their allotted tasks in life, and, as pioneers of Vermilion County, their memories will ever be held in reverence along with those of other courageous, self-sacrificing spirits who came here in the early days of the settlement of the country, and toiled to make it a fitting home for those who came after them. Their son John Milton, of whom we write, was seven years old when he accompanied his parents in their migration from the home of his birth to this county, and here the remaining days of his boyhood and youth were passed, and his entire manhood has been spent within the limits of the county. He early began his career as a farmer, and has been greatly prospered in his life work, being the fortunate owner of a fertile farm of 317 1/2 acres that is not surpassed in point of cultivation and value of improvements by any other place in the township. He has erected a commodious, well-built house, a barn fifty feet square on a stone foundation, and other necessary buildings, and has set out numerous beautiful shade and fruit trees, and, taken altogether, he has one of the finest estates in the county. Mr. Douglass' farm is well adapted to stock-raising, and he makes a specialty of Short-horn cattle, and his fine herd of that breed, highly graded, is one of the best in this locality. On the 14th of November, 1844, the marriage of our subject and Miss Mahala Burroughs was solemnized in Catlin Township, one mile west of the village of Catlin. Mrs. Douglass was born in Ripley County, Ind., April 3, 1824, a daughter of Jesse and Polly (Wilson) Burroughs. Of her union with our subject nine children were born, as follows: Judith A., wife of Joseph Trisler; Winfield S., who married Lizzie Clark; Delilah, who died when she was two years old; Thomas W., who died when he was eleven months old; Clarissa, the wife of James Clipson; Mahala; Pamelia, who died in infancy; Armilda, the wife of Richard O'Conell; and Esther, who died when one week old. On the 10th of October, 1887, the pleasant wedded life of our subject was brought to a sad close by the death of her with whom he had walked, hand in hand, for more than forty-two years. This amiable wife and companion had been to him all that a true and devoted woman can be to her husband, and to her children she had been a wise and tender mother, and her presence is sorely missed in the household where she had been the home-maker so long. But our subject does not mourn as one without comfort, as his Christian faith points to a reunion beyond the grave. Mr. Douglass is a man of decided character and sound understanding, and his career has marked him as possessing those qualities that enable man to make his own way in the world without the adventitious aids of fortune and birth. He and five of his children are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and are among its most earnest workers. In politics Mr. Douglass has taken part in the public affairs of the township as School Director and Highway Commissioner. In politics he favors the Democratic party, firmly believing that its policy is the only safe one for the guidance of National affairs.