Alfred
Douglas, Jr., was born in New York city, in 1829, and died at his country
residence, at Copake, N. Y., Tuesday, Oct. 3, 1876, at the age of forty-seven
years. He was the first son of Earl Douglas, who was of old Scottish
ancestry, of which history has recorded so many valiant deeds. The
genealogy of the Douglas family is of great historic interest, embracing as it
does the name of Richard Douglas, one of the Pilgrims, who came from Scotland to
this country in the year 1649, landing at Plymouth, Mass., and subsequently
settling in New London, Conn. The Revolutionary fame of Captain Richard Douglas,
who was a lieutenant [p. 395] in the regiment commanded by Marquis de Lafayette,
is recorded in "Marshall's Life of Washington." To all who knew him,
Alfred Douglas, Jr., was synonymous with all that was generous and good.
In person he was remarkably handsome, and one upon whom there seemed to
rest the seal of royalty both in looks and bearing. True to the
noble name from which he descended, he was always dignified and kind.
In his business and in his social life he was universally respected and
admired. His Revolutionary blood entitled him to a membership of the
Cincinnati society,--a position of which he was justly proud. Mr.
Douglas' country home embraced a large tract of land, lying one half in
Massachusetts, the other in Columbia Co., New York State, surrounded on
every side by those beautiful mountains so often made the subject of song
by our American poets, and there he spent the greater portion of his
leisure time, embellishing and beautifying. The charming spot he
selected was one of which nature had well-nigh exhausted her lavish hand,
and it was his pride and happiness to seek this new Switzerland and gaze
upon its picturesque scenery and the beautiful and artistic buildings with
which he had surrounded it. The well-known Bash-Bish Falls, so
frequently painted by eminent artists, he considered the gem of his place,
and the music of its waters had an untold charm for his refined taste.
It was listening to the roar of that cataract and under the shade of those
mountains that he threw aside the veil of this world, and passed into the
great unknown calmly and peacefully as a tired child, happy in the full
consciousness and belief of the redemption of souls by our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. His departure has made a void which cannot be
filled, and his image will never fade away so long as the incense of
memory burns upon the altars of hearts that loved him. |