11. | James Postell Douglas (10.Alexander2, 1.Alexander1) was born on 7 Jan 1836 in Lancaster Co., SC; died on 27 Nov 1901; was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Tyler, TX. Notes:
James Postell Douglas, Confederate artillery officer, the oldest son of Alexander and Margaret Tirzah (Cowsar) Douglas, was born near Lancaster, South Carolina, on January 7, 1836. He moved with his family to Talladega, Alabama, in 1838 and to Texas in 1847. In January 1848 the Douglas and Cowsar families settled at Tyler, where Douglas attended such public schools as were available. Generally, however, he was self-educated; he learned Latin with the aid of a neighbour in Talladega. Among his earliest jobs was delivery of the mail from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Nacogdoches, Texas. When his father died in 1854, the seventeen-year-old became head of the Douglas household, served as principal of the Tyler Male Academy by day, and read law at night. Although licensed to practice law, he purchased a half interest in and edited the Tyler Reporter, now the Tyler Courier Times, in 1859.
With the outbreak of the Civil War Douglas was commissioned by Col. Elkanah Greer to raise a fifty-man company in Smith County to man half a field artillery battery to be attached to Greer's Third Texas Cavalry. The other company was raised in Dallas County by John J. Good. Douglas was commissioned first lieutenant and named second in command of the battery on June 13, 1861. He was promoted to captain and commander in July 1862. The battery, first commanded by Captain Good, was variously known as the First Texas Battery, the Dallas Light Artillery, the Good-Douglas Battery, and Douglas's Battery , and became the only unit of Texas artillery to serve east of the Mississippi River. It is said to have been the first Confederate unit to volunteer "for the duration of the war." After receiving its baptism of fire with Benjamin McCulloch's Army of the West at the battle of Elkhorn Tavern in March 1862, the battery was transferred to Mississippi, where it saw action at the battle of Corinth. Thereafter it took part in all of the major battles of the Army of Tennessee: Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, the battles for Atlanta, and John Bell Hood's disastrous Tennessee campaign of 1864. Covering Hood's retreat from Nashville, the battery lost its guns when they bogged in the mud and were overrun by Union cavalry. Douglas barely escaped capture by riding away on the horse behind his younger brother. On February 16, 1864, the Confederate Congress offered a formal vote of thanks to the battery. Douglas's battery was paroled at Mobile, Alabama, on May 12, 1865, and Douglas returned to Tyler.
He resumed his work with the Tyler Reporter and in 1870 was elected to the Senate of the Twelfth Texas Legislature, where he was noted for his anti-Reconstruction attitude and activities. He was the organizer and first president of the Texas branch of the Cotton Belt Railroad, the so-called Tyler Tap, which was later sold to Jay Gould. Douglas was also instrumental in the establishment of the Texas and St. Louis and the Kansas and Gulf Short Line railroads. He owned a chain of canning factories, the first in Tyler, to market produce from his farms. As a planter, he was greatly interested in agricultural experimentation and owned a large peach orchard, said to be the first in East Texas.
Douglas was married twice, first on March 24, 1864, to Sallie Susan White, who died on August 22, 1872, and subsequently to Alice Earle Smith, on July 7, 1874. Four children were born to the first marriage and six to the second. Douglas died on November 27, 1901, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery at Tyler. His wife, Alice, died on June 28, 1955, and is buried beside him.
James married Sallie Susan White on 16 Mar 1863. Sallie was born in 1844 in Griffin, GA; died on 22 Aug 1872; was buried in Elkins Cemetery, Near Old Omen, TX. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 17. Beckham L. Douglas was born on 31 Jan 1865 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; and died.
- 18. Blumer Gustus Douglas was born on 13 Jul 1867 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 4 Sep 1884 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX.
- 19. Winona Estelle Douglas was born in 1869 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; and died.
- 20. Mary Ellen Douglas was born on 3 Aug 1872 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; was christened in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 4 Jun 1952.
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James married Alice Earle Smith on 7 Jul 1874 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX. Alice was born on 3 Jun 1852 in "Whitehouse" Plantation, Near Corinth, Mississippi; died on 28 Jun 1955 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 21. Florence Douglas was born on 12 May 1875 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died in 1876; was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Tyler, TX.
- 22. Earl Cowsar Douglas was born on 11 Mar 1877 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 31 Aug 1959 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX.
- 23. James Postell Douglas was born on 27 Dec 1878 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 17 Oct 1880 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX.
- 24. Lucia Rutherford Douglas was born on 16 Dec 1880 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 18 Aug 1964; was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
- 25. Marc Fleishel Douglas was born on 11 Oct 1885 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 7 Jan 1890 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX.
- 26. Alice Earle Douglas was born on 16 Nov 1888 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX; died on 7 Apr 1979 in Tyler, Smith Co., TX.
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