William Mochrie Douglass

1835 - 1916  (80 years)

• Name	William Mochrie Douglass
  Birth	8 Dec 1835	Glasgow, Scotland
  Gender	Male
  Death	Jul 1916	Smithfield, Cache County, Utah, USA
  Person ID	I78569	First tree
  Last Modified	1 Dec 2015

  
  

  Mother	Margaret Mochree,   b. 1835   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F71770	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  My great grandfather was William Mochrie Douglass. He was born on the eighth of December 1835 in Glasgow Scotland. His mother died when he was eight years old. he joined the church when he was fifteen eyars old in Scotland. his father did not join the church. William Douglass came across the ocean with some friends when he was eighteen years old. The voyage across the ocean was very rough. Disease broke out among the people and a great many of them died and were buried at sea. He landed in New York in 1852. He went to Nauvoo, Illinois and crossed the plains with a group of saints. He was a strong determined boy and he walked most of the way. When he got to Salt Lake City he worked for two years, then he established a mercantile business. His father had been a merchant in Scotland. William Douglass was sent to Smithfield with a group of Saints to help colonize towns. He was married to Cynthiann Merrill on the ninth of November in 1862 in Smithfield. Their first child was born in a wheat bin before his log cabin was built. He built a store in Smithfield and he and his family lived in the back rooms. When had had two children in 1868 he was set apart by Brigham Young as a Seventy to go on a mission to his homeland in Scotland. When he arrived in Scotland he learned that his father had been dead for two years. He tried to convert his stepmother and his two sisters to the gospel and bring them back to America with him. His stepmother was old and didn't want to leave her homeland. There were so many more women converts than men, as Brigham Young wanted these missionaries to bring back another wife. William Douglass brought back a woman but did not marry her until 1872. When he returned home from his mission in 1870 he enlarged his store and became quite wealthy. He operated a freight line to the mines in Montana. They had several teams of mules on each wagon. This trip took about one month. He was paid for his supplies in gold dust. They also kept a small scale in the store for weighing gold dust. They were some times paid in produce for supplies. William Douglass was a lover of good music. He purchased the first piano that was shipped into Smithfield. There was a large room above the store and every Saturday night eight men would carry the piano up the stairs and they would have a public dance. William Douglass had eleven children by his first wife and ten children by his second wife. He sent a son on a mission to New Zeland in 1893. Soon after this boy returned home from his mission he passed away. When William Douglass became older he became a great checker player. He played checkers in the barber shop before a large crowd. He died in Smithfield in 1916 on July 29th, at the age of eighty-one. Written by William (Billy) Douglas Miles in May, 1960.