Biographical Sketch of Pulaski N. Douglass, Leeton, Johnson County, Missouri >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** Pulaski N. Douglass, of Leeton, Missouri, is a son of a brave, honored pioneer family, who settled in Missouri long before it became a state. He was born in Johnson county in 1848, son of William J. and Mary (Thompson) Douglass, who were one of the first families of Johnson county, coming to the county in a very early day, when William J. Doug- lass entered 160 acres of land five miles west of Leeton. William J. Douglass was a son of James Douglass, who came to Missouri territory in the early part of the nineteenth century and settled in that section of the territory which is now Fayette county. Mary (Thompson) Douglass was the daughter of Wallace Thompson, an early settler of Missouri. The father died in 1859 and the mother remained on the farm, with their children. Her death occurred in 1900. When P. N. Douglass was a lad, educational advantages in Missouri were very few. There were no public schools as now. The "subscription school" was the only educational in- stitution in the county and it was not possible for the older boys and girls to attend school regularly in those days, for there was much work to be done in the pioneer homes. P. N. Douglass was but a child of eleven years, when his father died and as he was the oldest of the fam- ily, his mother depended much upon his assistance with the work of the farm. Pioneer life at its best is by no means a round of pleasures but add to the privations and hardships, one would naturally expect in life in a new country, the hard times incidental to war and a fairly clear conception of the conditions under which P. N. Douglass was reared to maturity can be obtained. He remembers the time when he could go south west from his home and fof fifteen miles not see a settlement. There were no roads or bridges then and travel was very difficult and danger- ous. Where there were no trails, the settlers traveled by direction. Wild game was plentiful and no one wanted for meat, although there were countless times when bread was scarce. As a boy, Mr. Douglass was obliged to watch their wheat fields in order to frighten away the wild geese, that would in a short time make quick dispatch of the grain, once they found admittance to the field. He has seen thousands of prairie chickens and hundreds of deer and has many times eaten dried venison with his corn bread. Mr. Douglass attended church in the olden days at Shiloh, where he has heard Reverend D. F. Thomas, "Uncle Johnny" Marr and "Uncle Jack" Whitsett and seen the old fashioned revival meet- ings, which were great events in the lives of the pioneers, the young and old coming from long distances to attend. Everyone went to church in those days. The mail day, which came twice a week, was another ex- citing event, when the carriers, blowing horns, on horseback, came into the little settlements. The Douglass family went to Cornelia to obtain their letters. At the age of twenty-one years, P. N. Douglass was employed as a "hired hand" by F. M. Mayes, receiving twenty dollars a month. He was in the employ of Mr. Mayes four years and during that time saved enough from his wages to purchase a fine team of mules and sufficient farming implements, with which to begin farming on his own account. He rented a small farm of forty acres of land in Johnson county and raised a splendid crop the very first year. After four years, he had saved enough to be able to purchase a little farm on his own and he bought forty acres, paying for the place five hundred dollars, which Mr. Douglass used to purchase sixty-five acres of good farm land in Jefferson township, on which place he resided until 1911, when he sold the farm and moved to Leeton, where he purchased six building lots and built a pretty, comfrotable home of six rooms, at a cost of fourteen hundred fifty dollars. He had received six thousand dollars for his farm. In 1887, P. N. Douglass and Laura L. Stuart were united in marriage. Mrs. Douglass is the daughter of Eli B. Stuart, a Kentuckian, who came to Missouri prior to the Civil War. Mr. Douglass is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Douglass has been in the service of the West Lawn Telephone Company for many years. He is quietly spending his days in Leeton, working in his excellent garden and with his large flock of fine chickens. He and Mrs. Douglass are numbered among Johnson county's most respected citizens. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================