b. Mar 1827 in Richland County, Ohio. d. 23 Mar 1905 in Columbia City, Indiana.
bur. Salem Cemetery, Washington Township, Noble County, Indiana; Father: William Douglas, Mother: Margaret Edgington. m. (1) Mary Jenner; m. (2) Sarah Jane Cassell 20 July 1876 in Noble County, Ind. She was b. Oct 1847 in Ohio. and d. 11 Apr 1939 in Indiana; children 1. Lloyd Cassel Douglas (1877 - 1951). 2. Mabel Douglas (1878 - 1879). 3. Clyde E. Douglas (b. 1883 in Boone County, Kentucky - 1909, Chicago).
A. J. Douglas was called to Boone County in November 1881, and was pastor until 1883. W. C. Butt, a pastor there, says of him: "Bro. Douglas was an interesting speaker and his preaching was very acceptable because he was fresh and original as a speaker." His son, Lloyd, wrote of him, in a chapter of autobiography entitled "My Papa":
My father, Alexander Jackson Douglas, was fifty when I was born. He had lived longer than most men of his years, having been a farmer, a schoolmaster, a college student, a lawyer, a State Senator; and, when we first met, a rural preacher.
He had also sired a large family and was a grandfather to children older than I, so that by the time we of the second crop came along little kids were no novelty and certainly no treat.
My younger brother and I were taught by our mama to call our father Papa, which we did, and continued to do until the end of his days.
Mama, too, who was his junior by more than a score of years, called him Papa, except on infrequent occasions of brief of brisk annoyance when she addressed him as A. J. Mama was sincerely devoted to Papa but when she called him A. J. we all — including A. J. — took cover.
When I was a small boy all men in their fifties were elderly. It was not to any man's advantage to appear youthful. The world had always been operated by and for old men and my papa had been brought up in that tradition.
(Lloyd C. Douglas, Time to Remember, p. 1-2)
He weighed about 200 pounds; his son remarks: ". . . he had spent several years in the Indiana State Senate, an ideal place to acquire rotundity." (Ibid., p. 3-4). Alexander also held a philosophy different from the old adage, '"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Papa once remarked to me, (says Lloyd): "Well, twice, maybe: after that, let somebody else try it." I still believe Papa had something there.' (Ibid., p. 8)
References:
Lloyd C. Douglas, Time to Remember, New York: Houghton, 1951
H. Max Lentz, History of the Lutheran Churches in Boone County, Kentucky, Together with Sketches of the Pastors who have Served Them ... York, Penn.: P. Anstadt & Sons, 1902.
Wilford Charles Butt, History of Hopeful Evangelical Lutheran Church, Florence, Kentucky, 1806 - 1956. [Written for the 150th Anniversary, 10-17 June, 1956], p. 10.