US Presidents, and their Douglas connections.

[William Douglas]

The Douglas brothers were merchants who went to America and made their fortunes.  But it appears that they were also good at building relationships where it mattered.

Taking Sir William Douglas of Castle Douglas as a starting point, his uncle 'Parson Douglas', the Rev William Douglas, was tutor to Thomas Jefferson.

Parson Douglas' daughter, Margaret married into the Meriwether family, where, in a previous generation, Elizabeth Meriwether's niece, Mildred, married a brother of George Washington, Samuel Washington (who died bankrupt).

Sir William's brother, George, had a daughter, Betsy Mary, who married James Monroe, the nephew and adopted son of James Monroe.

So it is just not what you know that matters; who you know is probably more important.

 

[Russell Lynn Drysdale]

 June 17 , 1769 , petition of Joseph Harper and others : Francis Jerdone, Jr., John Jerdone, George Pottie, William Douglas, John McCoy, Walter Goldsmith, James Taylor, John Richardson, William Jerdone, George Washington, Thomas Bishop, John Alton, Joseph Loaf, Henry Taylor, Edward Williams, Samuel Jackson, William Shilling, Thomas Davis, Michael Tracy, Archibald Cary, Thomas Mann Randolph, Robert Goode, [?] Ward, James Copland, Matthew Branch, Thomas Randolph, [?] Fleming, Henry Bell, Seth Ward, Jr., George Wythe, Warner [?], Jr., William Nelson, Jr., Lewis Burwell, Jr., Edmond [?], John Bolling, Thomas Fleming, William Ellis, Benjamin Watkins, & William Fleming to Governor Norborne, Baron de Botetourt, asking for leave to take up & survey forty thousand acres of land on the east side of the Ohio River lately recognized by the Six Nations of Indians. The petition is unsigned.

Comment:  I wonder if William Douglas got his share of the land?  WHSD

[Russell Lynn Drysdale]

George Washington was listed along with a member of the Douglas[s] family ,and others on a large land deal before the Revolution . I will have to locate this information to elaborate further .