William Lewis Douglas (August 22, 1845 – September 17, 1924) was an American businessman and politician from
. He served as the
42nd
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachusetts ...
from 1905 until 1906. He also founded and oversaw the growth of the W. L. Douglas Shoe Company, a highly successful
Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of ...
business that became one of the world's largest shoe manufacturers. He also opened the first nationwide chain of shoe stores devoted to selling the company's products.
Douglas received a minimal education and was apprenticed into the shoe trade. In 1876, he established his business, which grew rapidly over the next twenty years. He entered politics as a supporter of labor and an opponent of socialism, and funded his
1904 campaign for governor. In addition to labor causes, he supported
reciprocity
Reciprocity may refer to:
Law and trade
* Reciprocity (Canadian politics), free trade with the United States of America
** Reciprocal trade agreement, entered into in order to reduce (or eliminate) tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on ...
and tariff reductions in trade with
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. He refused to run for reelection, and returned to his business.
Early years
William Lewis Douglas was born on August 22, 1845 in
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...
, to William and Mary (Vaughan) Douglas. His father died when he was five. He received only intermittent schooling, and began working for his uncle in his
shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...
business at the age of seven. He eventually became an apprentice, working for his uncle until a decline in business in 1859 forced him to take textile factory work. The advent of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
revived the demand for boots, and Douglas briefly returned to the shoemaking business before enlisting in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
. He served for one year, was wounded, and received his discharge in 1865.
[Chatfield, p. 160]
After the war Douglas went west to the
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado.
The territory was organized in the w ...
.
[ There he again took up shoemaking, but also spent time working as a partner in a shoe store in ]Golden
Golden means made of, or relating to gold.
Golden may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall
*Golden Cap, Dorset
*Golden Square, Soho, London
*Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...
. In 1868 he sold his share in the store and returned to Massachusetts. There he worked for eight years as a factory supervisor in a Brockton shoe factory.[Chatfield, p. 161]
W. L. Douglas Shoe Company
In 1876 Douglas borrowed $875 in order to open his own shoe factory.[ One critical decision he made in establishing the business was that he would sell the shoes he manufactured through his own line of retail outlets, rather than shipping them to other retailers or intermediaries. His business grew rapidly: every few years the factory's output doubled, and by 1892 he was making 3,600 shoes per day.][ By the early 1900s his factory was the largest shoe manufactory in the world. The retail side of the business also grew: the first store opened in 1894, and by 1900 there were 55 stores nationwide.][Chatfield, p. 166]
Douglas was one of the first shoe manufacturers to widely advertise his products. He stamped the soles of his shoes with his own image (a use he took up after he saw P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
's advertising), making it one of the most recognized likenesses of the time. One period writer believed Douglas was likely the most widely recognized figure in the state.[Abrams, p. 105]
Douglas' workers were members of the Boot and Shoe Workers' Union
The Boot and Shoe Workers' Union was a trade union of workers in the footwear manufacturing industry in the United States and Canada. It was established in 1895 by the merger of three older unions. It was affiliated with the American Federation o ...
, which in 1899 sharply raised its dues in order to finance improved benefits and welfare funds. The rank and file were unhappy with this increase, and the dispute threatened the company's ability to label its products with the union stamp. Douglas, who had a reputation as a fair employer, worked with the union to ensure his employees paid the higher dues.
Political career
In 1884 Douglas was elected as a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to the Massachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
, serving two terms. He then served one term in the state senate in 1886, and was elected mayor of Brockton for a single term in 1890. He was regularly active in the party organization, attending most of the national conventions between 1884 and 1904.[ He was generally a supporter of improved labor practices, supporting the creation of a labor mediation board, and advocating for the weekly pay of workers.
In 1903, he became prominent in state level politics opposing the rise of the ]Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, working to instead draw Socialist sympathizers to the Democratic fold by advocating a strong labor-oriented platform. In 1904 Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Governor John L. Bates
John Lewis Bates (September 18, 1859 – June 8, 1946) was a lawyer and Republican politician from Massachusetts.
Bates worked to promote East Boston, securing legislative approval of the first tunnel under Boston Harbor, joining the neighborhoo ...
vetoed an eight-hour work day bill, galvanizing labor opposition. The Democrats united behind Douglas, highlighting his labor-positive credentials and his fiscal conservatism. He successfully mediated the end of a labor action in Fall River
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
, raising his popularity, and he also supported reciprocity
Reciprocity may refer to:
Law and trade
* Reciprocity (Canadian politics), free trade with the United States of America
** Reciprocal trade agreement, entered into in order to reduce (or eliminate) tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on ...
, in particular the reduction of tariffs with Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
that would reduce the price of hides and coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
.[Abrams, p. 106] Douglas defeated Bates by a wide margin with support from the American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
, and also drawing significant votes from Socialist circles. The success was a strictly personal victory: there were no other Democratic gains in the state.[Abrams, p. 107]
Douglas' single term in office did not particularly help the Democratic cause. He bypassed Irish Americans (a significant force in the party) in appointments, leading to accusations of anti-Catholic sentiment. He also undermined his own position by announcing early in 1905 that he would not run for reelection. According to Charles S. Hamlin, Douglas may have been forced into this position by the discovery by Republicans that he had apparently fraudulently acquired an honorable discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...
after deserting during the Civil War. The ''quid pro quo
Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...
'' for this information not being revealed was that Douglas not run again. Douglas, despite his labor support, did not have the support of Democrats in the legislature, who helped override several of his vetoes. In the 1905 election, Douglas promoted Hamlin as his successor; the election was won by Republican Curtis Guild Jr.
Curtis Guild Jr. (February 2, 1860 – April 6, 1915) was an American journalist, soldier, diplomat and politician from Massachusetts. He was the 43rd Governor of Massachusetts, serving from 1906 to 1909. Prior to his election as governor, Guil ...
Douglas returned to his business, retiring in the early 1920s. He was awarded an honorary degree from Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
while governor.[McDermott, p. 386] He also engaged in philanthropic works in Brockton, where he helped found Brockton Hospital
Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital is a 216-bed hospital located in Brockton, Massachusetts.
Brockton Hospital is equipped with the Helen Greene Cardiac Catheterization Suite. The cardiac suite is equipped to perform Intravascular Ultrasound ...
and established a charity that funded the treatment of children with eye and ear problems.[ Douglas moved from Brockton to ]Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
in 1918,[ and died in 1924 after an extended illness.] He was buried in Brockton's Melrose Cemetery. He was twice married, with three children.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, William L
Democratic Party governors of Massachusetts
1845 births
1924 deaths
Mayors of Brockton, Massachusetts
Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators
American chief executives of manufacturing companies