| Benjamin Douglas,
manufacturer, a grandson of Colonel William
Douglas, born in Northford, Connecticut, 3 April 1816, worked on a
farm and attended school till he was sixteen years old, when he became
apprentice to his elder brother, William. a machinist, at Middletown,
Conn. They formed a partnership in 1839, and in 1842 patented a revolving
cistern stand pump. Since that time over one hundred new patents on pumps
have been granted to the brothers in this country and Europe.
William Douglas died in 1858, and in 1859
a company, W&B Douglas, was formed of which Benjamin became president. The company
manufactures over twelve hundred styles of pumps, besides other hydraulic
apparatus. They were awarded medals at Paris in 1867 and Vienna in
1873.
Mr. Douglas was mayor of Middletown from
1850 to 1853. He was a delegate to the Republican National
Convention from Connecticut in 1856. Later, he was the Lieutenant Governor
of Connecticut for a single one year term, from 1861 to 1862, during one
of the eight years that William A. Buckingham was governor of Connecticut.
Douglas succeeded Julius Catlin as Lieutenant governor and his successor
was Roger Averill, both of whom also served when Buckingham was governor.
He died on 26th
June 1894.
See also:
Benjamin Douglas House
The Douglas Cannon
|
|
