----Source: 1891 History of Clark & Jackson Co., Wis., pg. 177-178.

       Mark Douglas

MARK DOUGLAS, a farmer, lumberman and mill owner of Jackson County, was born in Dumfrieshire, Scotland, September 19, 1829, the son of Thomas Douglas, who was born in the same place in 1787. In 1845 he came to this country from Scotland by way of Liverpool and New Orleans, thence to La Crosse by steamboat, and then to the home of his sons, Robert and Thomas, in Melrose, where he lived until a short time before his death, when he went and lived with his daughter, Mrs. James O'Neill, of Neillsville, Clark County. Our subject's mother, nee Jane Dalryple, was born in Scotland in 1787, where she died at an advanced age. They were the parents of eleven children, namely: John, James, William, Jane, Robert, Hugh, Thomas, Isabella, George, David and Mark. Four of these children are now living: William, Robert, Hugh and Mark.

Our subject, the eleventh child, was reared and educated in Scotland. In June, 1845, he came to Melrose which was at that time in Crawford County, Wisconsin. He went to work for his brothers, Robert and Thomas, who were the first of the family to come to this county, remaining until the spring of 1849. In that year he went to Dane County, where he worked on a farm for his brother William until 1851. Before going to that county he had taken a claim of 400 acres at Melrose, and in the spring of 1852 he went to work on this land. In 1853 - 54 he held the office of Town Treasurer of Melrose, and in 1855 was elected Chairman of the town, which position he held for twenty-six years. He was Postmaster here for nine years, and at that time the place was called Bristol, but he finally succeeded in having it called by its present name. In the fall of 1873 Mr. Douglas was elected to the Assembly, and in 1875 was elected to the State Sentate, which position he held two years. In 1878 he was nominated by the Governor to the office of Fish Commissioner of the State of Wisconsin, which position he still holds. In July, 1876, he bought the Melrose Flouring Mills, which he still owns, and is also the owner of a very fine farm of 400 acres, the greater part of which is in section 8, where he now resides. He also owns village property in this city, and 4,000 acres of land in Chippewa County, and 2,500 acres in Clark County. Politically he affiliates with the Republican Party, and is also a thirty-second degree Mason.

Mr. Douglas was married September 12, 1852, to Justina C. Merrill, who was born in Penobscot County, Maine, May 15, 1830, the daughter of Humphrey and Esther (Hammond) Merrill, both natives of Maine. In 1858 the parents came to Jackson County, Wisconsin, locating in Alma Center where the father died at about seventy-five years of age. In early life Mr. Merrill was a sailor, but in later life followed farming. Politically he was a Republican. Mrs. Merrill died in Hixton, at about eighty years of age. They were both members of the Baptist Church, and Mrs. Douglas is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas have had no children of their own, but have an adopted daughter, Maud B. Douglas, now Mrs. E. A. Gayord (Gaylord ), of Melsrose.