ALEXANDER DOUGLAS AND FAMILY, Smith County, TX ***************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm Submitted by James H. Douglas- JimRedWing@aol.com 5 February 2001 ***************************************************************** ALEXANDER DOUGLAS AND FAMILY. "Some Biographies of Old Settlers." Historical, Personal and Reminiscent. Volume I By Sid S. Johnson, 1900: Sid S. Johnson, Publisher, Tyler, Texas Chapter XXVI - Pages 140-142. Alexander Douglas was one of the early settlers in Tyler. He, with his family, arrived in Tyler in January, 1848, the town then being less than two years old. He was a man of energy. He engaged in the purchase and sale of land and town lots and built and operated the first livery stable in Tyler, engaging in hotel keeping and carrying the United States mail and operating stage lines. His actual life terminated in less than five years after his settlement in Tyler. He left four sons and two daughters - James, Robert, John and Eli - all grew to manhood. James, John and Eli became early volunteers for the Confederate army, making a splendid record for soldierly qualities. Of the two daughters, Mary, the elder, married Col. E. T. Broughton - being the mother of seven children. Her two daughters married and have young and promising families. The sons are Prentice Broughton, of Rusk, Texas; John Broughton, lawyer of Terrell, and James and Edward of Tyler. Pinkney, the youngest boy, died before manhood. Col. Broughton died at Sherman, to which place he removed at the close of the war and engaged in the practice of law. James and John Douglas were prominent factors in the building of Tyler after the war. John engaged in merchandise and real estate dealing and acquired a nice fortune as estimated in Texas. He died in Tyler several years ago from injuries received while engaged with the fire company in fighting a fire. James P. was the oldest son of Alexander Douglas by his marriage with Margaret Cowsar. He commanded the celebrated battery known as Douglas' Texas battery in the army of Tennessee during the civil war. He was twice elected to the Texas State Senate and was the originator of the Cotton Belt system of railroads. He was the first President of this enterprise and remained its chief brain-power until it had many miles of competent road and was firmly established as one of the great roads of the state. James P. Douglas never acquired large property, although he handled and controlled millions of other people's money. In all his career as a soldier and a citizen he never allowed selfishness to influence his action and this accounts for his influence with his fellowmen. The Douglas family sprang from the old Scotch family of that name. Alexander Douglas, the grandfather of James Douglas, came to America in 1775. He was a soldier in Washington's army and after the Revolutionary war settled in the Waxward district in South Carolina. He raised a large family whose descendents are dispersed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, California and Texas. Margaret Cowsar, the mother of the Tyler family, was of an old South Carolinian family. Her mother was a Nelson and they were descended from the Hood's. The name Cowsar, was originally pronounced Casant - and more remotely in France it was Cousant. This branch of the family were from the French Huguenots, who left France after the revocation of the Edict of Natz, which drove the French Presbyterians to Scotland and Ireland, who afterwards removed to Pennsylvania and later on, to the upper part of South Carolina and to North Carolina. The Douglas family is noted for their good citizenship, and ranks among the best people in Smith county. Honest, intelligent and leaders in business, society and the church. The family is noted for liberal views - but staunch defenders of what they conceive to be right.