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				GEORGE DOUGLASS.
			MRS. LOTTIE (SHERMAN) DOUGLASS. (1st wife)
			MRS. ___________ (LINSDAY) DOUGLASS. (2nd wife)

GEORGE DOUGLASS, Supervisor of Ferris Township, Montcalm County, has a fine 
farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 22.  He was the youngest of 
a large family of ten children and was born in Rush, Monroe County, N. Y., 
October 26, 1844.  For his parentage and ancestry the reader may consult the 
sketch of his brother Micajah Douglass.  When five years of age the child 
removed with his parents to Richmond, N. Y., and was brought up on the banks 
of Honeoye Lake, gaining his schooling in the district schools.
	In the spring of 1856 the family yielded to the prevailing fever for
emigration and came to Michigan traveling by boat to Detroit and thence by 
team to Kent County.  Here he labored for the interests of the family on the 
farm until the spring of 1861.  He was among the first to answer to the call 
of President Lincoln, and volunteered as a private in the Third Michigan 
Regiment.  But the father felt that the youth was too young to leave home 
and go into the army and refused consent to his enlistment.
	But the boy's determination was fixed and before summer waned he 
gained the consent of his parents and again he enlisted in August, this time 
in Company B, Eighth Michigan Infantry.  He was mustered in at Detroit and 
was soon sent into active service.  He was one of the soldiers in the 
expedition to Port Royal and was at the capture of Ft. Pulaski and the battle
 of James Island.  After this his regiment was transferred to the Army of 
the Potomac, where it continued through the Polk campaign.  He saw fight in 
the second battle of Bull Run, and in those of Charlotte, South Mountain, 
Anteitam and Fredericksburg.  They were ordered to the rear of Vicksburg and 
were active at Jackson, at Cumberland Gap and at Knoxville, and veteranized 
in the field at Blaines Cross Roads.  On December 28, 1863, they were 
remanded to the Army of the Potomac, and saw active service in the battle of 
the Wilderness which took place May 6, 1864.  Here he was wounded in the 
left foot, and was sent to the hospital at Washington.
	A long weary time of waiting and convalesance tried the patience of 
the young soldier.  It was eight months before he could travel and he was 
then transferred to the Twenty-Fourth Regiment, Veteran Relief Corps, which 
was stationed at Washington until the close of the war.  He received an 
honorable discharge July 20, 1865, having served bravely throughout almost 
the entire term of the Civil War.
	Feeling that his early manhood had been spent in labors for his 
country which had not fitted him for the ordinary avocations of life, our 
subject now set about for what was before him.  He attended Eastman's 
Business College for awhile and then returned home and began farming, 
buying a farm in Lowell, Kent County, which he operated until 1870, when he 
came to Ferris Township, this county, and two years later bought his present 
place, half of which he has placed under cultivation, building fences and 
all the necessary buildings for general farming and stock-raising.
	Mr. Douglass was twice married.  The first time in 1870 to Miss 
Lottie Sherman, a native of New York.  She became the mother of two 
children--Carrie M., a popular and efficient teacher, and Laura J., the wife 
of William Lucas, who resides in Douglas Township, this county.  The second 
Mrs. Douglas, to whom he was united October 5, 1884, is the daughter of Arad 
E. Linsday.  She was born in Ionia County, Mich.  Her father was a mechanic 
and in Hamilton, Ind., was for some time engaged in the manufacture of 
wagons.  Later he came to Michigan and located in Bloomer Township, this 
county, where he engaged in farming.  In April, 1861, he enlisted in the 
Third Michigan Regiment in which he served until he was transferred to the 
One Hundred and Second Regiment of the Veteran Corps with the rank of 
Captain.  He was killed at Pocotaligo on the expedition from Port Royal, by 
a shell.
	The mother of our subject's wife bore the maiden name of Harriet 
Herrick.  She was born in Ohio where her father, Harlow, a native of New 
York, was an early settler.  He later came to Ionia where he made his home 
and for some time traveled as a insurance agent and also followed milling 
until a good old age.  His wife has attained the age of eighty-seven years, 
and he has completed the full number of ninety years.  They reside with 
their daughter on a beautiful farm in Ionia County.
	The wife of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch was born
near Ionia, Ionia County, August 24, 1861.  They are the parents of two 
children--Treva and Elzie.  Mr. Douglass is the Supervisor of Ferris 
Township, and was for two years Township Treasurer and for one year 
Commissioner of Highways.  His interest in educational matters has placed 
him upon the School Board.  He is also Master of the Ferris Grange and a 
member of the Col. Ely Post, G. A. R. at Elm Hall.  He is an active and 
prominent Republican, always interested in matters of public interest and 
solicitious for the upbuilding of society and the prosperity of his town.



This biography is taken from "PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM OF IONIA AND 
MONTCALM COUNTIES, MICHIGAN."  Chapman Brothers.  Chicago, Illinois.  1891. 
Pages 194-195.  (Montcalm County.)