Bio of DOUGLAS, Walter Donald (b.1861), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol II, pg 672-676
WALTER DONALD DOUGLAS
A man of modest and retiring disposition was Walter Donald Douglas. He met with
notable success in his business career by reason of his close application, his
thoroughgoing methods, his enterprise and his sound judgment; but the attainment
of prosperity was with him never accompanied by ostentation or display. It was
only those who came within the circle of his friendship who judged him at his
true worth and recognized that he possessed that marvelous heroism which
characterized his untimely passing, for he was one of the victims of the Titanic
disaster, in con­nection with which he showed himself to be of heroic mold. That
this characteristic was not the development of the hour, however, is manifest in
the opinion of those who knew him and who have said: "It was just what one would
expect of Walter D. Douglas." Life was to him beautiful in its possibilities and
its opportunities, but death held no horror for him and he willingly sacrificed
the chance that he might have had to be saved in order that the opportunity
should be given to women who were aboard that ill-fated ship.
Born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1861, Walter D. Douglas was a son of George and
Margaret (Boyd) Douglas, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of
Belfast. Ireland. They were married, however, on this side of the Atlantic and
soon afterward removed westward to Dixon, Illinois, where the father engaged in
business as a contractor on the Northwestern Railroad for a time. Later the
family home was established in Waterloo, Iowa, and subsequently in Cedar Rapids,
where the father passed away.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, the son, after acquiring a
high school education, continued his studies in the Shattuck Military Academy at
Faribault, Minnesota, and later started out in the business world in connection
with his father, who was a member of the firm of Douglas & Stuart, the
predecessors of the American Cereals Company, engaged in the manufacture of the
celebrated Quaker Oats. After some years' experience in this connection W. D.
Douglas joined his brother, George B. Douglas, in organizing the Douglas Starch
Company at Cedar Rapids and with that business was associated until his demise.
In 1895 he removed to Minneapolis, where he took up the business of
manufacturing linseed oil under the name of the Midland Linseed Oil Company, of
which E. C. Warner was president. The oil business was sold to the American
Linseed Oil Company in 1899, at which time Mr. Douglas became a partner in the
grain firm of Piper, Johnson & Case, with which he was associated until January
1, 1912, when he retired from that firm. He continued in many business
interests, however, in association with George F. Piper and E. C. Warner. He was
a man of broad vision and undaunted enterprise and his intense energy found full
scope in his active and successful control of many business interests which
proved of large value and importance to the communities in which he operated. He
was associated with the Canadian Elevator Company, the Monarch Lumber Company
and several other corporations in the Dominion, includ­ing the Saskatchewan
Valley Land Company, which at one time owned three million acres in the province
of Saskatchewan. He was also a large stockholder and one of the directors of the
Empire Elevator Company at Fort William, Ontario, and was a member of the
executive board of that corporation and also of the Quaker Oats
Company. His name was on the directorate of the First National Bank of
Minne­apolis for years and his opinions carried great weight in financial as
well as com­mercial and manufacturing circles. He readily recognized the
possibilities of any business situation and he so directed his efforts as to
achieve the ultimate possibility of success through careful management and
intelligently directed effort. His interests were ever of a character that
contributed to public prosperity and growth as well as to individual advancement
and throughout his entire career his path was never strewn with the wreck of
other men's fortunes, for his commercial affairs were ever the expression of
constructive effort, resulting from the wise use of time, talent and
opportunity.
On the 19th of May, 1884, Mr. Douglas was united in marriage in Iowa to Miss
Lulu Camp, a daughter of Edward L. Camp, and they became parents of two
children, Edward B. and George C. The wife and mother passed away in December,
1899, and on the 6th of November, 1907, Mr. Douglas was married to Mahala
Dutton, who was one of those rescued at the time of the Titanic disaster. Mrs.
Douglas and the two sons are all residents of Minneapolis. Mr. Douglas gave his
political allegiance to the republican party in early manhood but afterward
main­tained an independent political attitude. His religious faith was manifest
by his membership in the Presbyterian church, of which he was a most generous
supporter, while in all branches of the church work he took active and helpful
part. Mr. Douglas was a man of broad philanthropy and yet his gifts were most
unostenta­tiously bestowed. He gave freely where he could be of assistance to
his fellow-men, yet never spoke of his benefactions nor even of his business
successes. He was thoroughly public-spirited and devoted to the general welfare
and his life was of great benefit to the community in which he conducted his
interests. It was not until he had passed on, however, that his friends felt at
liberty to speak in eulogistic terms of the splendid qualities which they knew
him to possess. Taking passage on the ill-fated steamship Titanic, which crashed
into an iceberg in the northern seas on the 15th of April, 1912, he aided the
crew in every possible way in manning the boats and in placing the women and
children, in so far as possible, in positions of safety. The chance to take a
place in one of these boats was given him, but he firmly declined and continued
to work until the last boat was lowered. Then he calmly awaited the inevitable.
Later his body was picked up and returned to Minneapolis, from which point the
funeral cortege went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where interment was made in May,
1912. Mr. Douglas was then but fifty years of age and in his demise was ended a
brilliant business career, while his entire record was that of general
usefulness and most creditable citizenship. On all sides the people voiced their
feeling of honor and respect for him and of admiration for the heroism that he
had displayed. Many resolutions of respect were passed, of which we quote the
following: "The directors of the First National Bank of Minneapolis are shocked
and grieved by the tragic death of one of our number. Our friend and fellow
associate, Walter D. Douglas, embarked upon the steamship 'Titanic/ sailing from
Southampton, April 10th, for the port of New York, and on the night of April 1
5th, while on its course in the North Atlantic, the ship was brought into
violent collision with an iceberg, rendering her absolutely helpless. The
lifeboats were manned, and in one of these Mr. Douglas was urged to escape, but
this he stead­fastly refused to do while women were to be saved, choosing to
face death with honor, which he bravely and heroically did by the going down of
the ship. Some mitigation of this most sad and tragic death of our friend and
associate is derived from the fact that his body has since been reclaimed from
the ocean and will find suitable sepulture among his own family.
"And now while pained and sorrowing for the loss of one beloved by us all, we
desire to honor his memory and to reverence the noble heroism of his death;
There­fore,
"Resolved, That we bear willing testimony to our appreciation of him in all the
walks of life; as a citizen ever true and faithful; in business affairs acute,
un­erring, successful and honorable, his word absolute verity; as an associate
in our board, always active, zealous, sound in judgment and helpful; as a friend
not fulsome but ever courteous, kind, generous and dependable; as a man above
reproach, of high culture, ripe in all the elements of true manhood, and in his
last great hour of trial proved the sublimity of heroism which can only be the
outgrowth of which a manhood.
"Resolved, That we extend to the bereaved family assurance of our most pro­found
sorrow and sympathy.
"Resolved, That in adopting this testimonial we express our reverence for the
memory of our friend and associate by rising.
Respectfully submitted,
J. B. Gilfillan, William A. Lancaster, Frederick B. Wells, May 4, 1912.
Committee."
To have known Walter Donald Douglas was to have known an heroic soul. It is only
in times of crisis that such qualities are called forth, but if they did not
have their root in character building through the years, with the development of
high purpose and lofty ideals, such qualities would not be forthcoming in the
hour of stress. Life must have been alluring to him, as it held for him great
opportuni­ties. He delighted in the achievement of success in business not for
the purpose of attaining wealth merely but for the purpose of utilizing his
powers to their fullest extent. Moreover, he had a circle of friends whose
companionship he greatly en­joyed, while his devotion to his family was one of
his most marked characteristics. All those things which make life happy and
pleasant he put aside, saw his wife lowered into one of the lifeboats and then
calmly awaited his fate. Well may his family and friends cherish his memory and
say of him:
"He was a man. Take him for all in all I shall not look upon his like again."