The Douglas clan were of the Highlands. The Douglas family are descendents of a younger brother of Lord Douglas of Scotland*. They had their own plaid which is blue, black, green and white, with possibly some yellow threads. It is dark in color.

As was the custom, the chief inheritance fell to the eldest son, Lord Douglas. To make a fortune for himself the younger brother crossed the ocean to America. He landed on the coast of Maine. The rugged and rocky coast reminded him of his native land and he decided to make his home there. He settled on the bank of the Penobscot River in what afterward became Penobscot County.

Mr. Douglas had three sons who, as far as we know all settled in Maine. W.L. Douglas, the shoe manufacturer is a descendent of one of these sons. About forty years ago he and other descendents endeavored to obtain the quarter Million Dollars in Scotland which belongs to the Douglas heirs. They finally decided that the expense was too great to make it worth while.

About the year 1793 Jeremiah Douglas was born. He was a grand nephew of Lord Douglas. He had two brothers and possibly more. He was born in Penobscot County. He and his wife - Margaret Smart - established their home there in the town of Howland. Here their seven children were born - Emily, Sophia, Charlotte, Jeremiah, Josiah, David and John. The youngest son John (my father) was born in 1828. There was about two years difference in the ages of the various children, making Josiah born about 1824.

The sons of an older brother of Jeremiah's, Frank and Cushman, had journeyed westward, and after a few years Jeremiah received a letter telling him of the fertile land in Illinois and Wisconsin and urging him to join them there. Having the spirit of the true pioneer and growing tired of tilling the stony soil of Maine, he sold his home there and prepared to join his relatives in the West. This was in 1838. The entire family accompanied their parents, traveling in pioneer style. The clothing, bedding, cooking utensils and supplies were conveyed in covered wagons in which the women rode, while the men took turns in walking to lighten the loads. The journey occupied several months. Roads in many places were only trails and streams must be forded. At night the family camped in the forest unless they were fortunate enough to find a settler's home where the women could sleep inside. At the villages they bought supplies. Game was plentiful so there was always an abundance of food. Whether in a village or in the forest camp was never broken on the Sabbath Day. Jeremiah Douglas and his family were strict Baptists and they lived their religion.

By late autumn the family had reached the western part of Indiana and chose a spot near Danville in which to spend the winter. Some kind of a home must be built quickly before winter set in, so they cut logs and put up what was known as a "half-faced camp." Three sides were built of logs, with a sloping roof of split logs. The fourth side was covered with a curtain of skins at night but during the day this was drawn aside so the camp was warmed by the fire that was always burning in front. The cooking was done by this fire. The food through the winter consisted of wild meat, corn bread and potatoes, with now and then a little white bread served only on special occasions. They also had dried fruit, honey and molasses. I have heard my father say that nothing ever tasted as good to him as the white bread for they grew so tired of corn.

When spring came the family journeyed on into Illinois, somewhere north of Bloomington. Here they found a small farm with a log house that the owner wanted to rent. They stayed there long enough to raise one crop. As soon as the harvest was over, the covered wagons were again loaded and the family journeyed on to Wisconsin. They settled on a piece of land near Madison which became their home. This was in Dane County.

During the summer spent in Illinois the oldest daughter, Emily was married to a young minister by the name of Young. I do not know much about her family except that she had two boys.

I have heard my father tell about the log schoolhouse in which he attended school. The seats were long benches without backs. The room was warmed by a huge fireplace into which the boys piled big logs. Sometimes they had to help cut the logs for wood. The master ruled with a stout hickory stick as was the custom of that time.

A circuit riding minister preached in a rude log church once each month and the weather was never too severe for the entire family to attend the long service.

The other two girls soon married. Sophia married Goodridge Cummings and moved with him to Iowa. Charlotte married her cousin Harrison Douglas. They lived somewhere in southern Wisconsin. Jerry married and established his home near Stoughton. Josiah married Nancy Damon and settled near his father's farm.

Of Charlotte's children I know very little. Jerry had one girl named Arabell. She married Horace Tusler of Stoughton. Josiah's children were Willard, Jerry, Marilla, Maggie, Ora, Carrie, Nelia, Mason, Edward, Flora and John. (I think I have missed one).  They were a fine family and an unusually good looking family.

After all his children were married excepting David and John, Grandfather (Jeremiah) moved to Adams County, Wisconsin, where he spent the rest of his life. His farm lay along the bank of the Wisconsin River. David died a few years after moving to Adams County. John married Isabel Oakes after the death of his mother. Their children were Jeremiah (Jed) Edward, Maybelle (me), and Libbie.

When Grandfather moved to Adams County he took with him his team of horses. For some time this was the only horse team in that community. Their nearest general store was at Portage, thirty miles distance. Whenever he or his son drove to Portage they shopped for the whole community, even buying cloth for wedding dresses and wedding bonnets.

Grandfather was a great hunter and trapper. Often in the fall of the year he and his son John took their canoe and went up the Fox River near Green Bay to hunt and trap. Their only shelter and their beds were made of Hemlock boughs. They knew well the habits of the fur-bearing animals and were very clever in trapping them. The sale of these furs helped much in the expenses of living in a new country.

Jeremiah and his good wife Margaret are both buried in a little cemetery near Volga City, Iowa, both having passed away while visiting their daughter Sophia, though their deaths occurred several years apart.

The Douglas men were rather tall. They had high foreheads and sharp piercing eyes. They were stern men of dignity, possessing strong personalities and having a strong sense of right and wrong. They were true to their religion and the children they gave to the world have been respected citizens of the communities in which they have lived.

                                                                            Maybelle Effie (Douglas) Hart, 1936

*The family ties to a brother of Lord Douglas are unverified.