James Walter Douglas (4 November 1837 – 25 June 1918) was a Canadian born mining engineer and businessman who introduced a number of metallurgical innovations in copper mining and amassed a fortune through the copper mining industry of Bisbee, Arizona Territory and Sonora before and after the turn of the 20th century.
Life
James Walter Douglas Jr. was born in Quebec City, Quebec on 4 November 1837. His father James Douglas Sr., a native of Scotland, was an eminent surgeon and manager of the Beauport Lunatic Asylum. His mother, Elizabeth Ferguson, was also a native of Scotland. James Douglas graduated from Queen's College, Kingston, Upper Canada in 1858 and continued his studies at the University of Edinburgh. He studied both medicine and theology with the intent of becoming a minister but was never ordained. For several years he served as professor of chemistry at Morrin College, Quebec, and in 1864 became managing director of the Harvey Hill Copper Company in Quebec. In 1875, he moved to the United States to take charge of the copper works at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
Douglas' father's influence
Douglas' Scottish-born father, Dr. James Douglas, was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He had earned the reputation of being the fastest surgeon in town, capable of performing an amputation in less than one minute. Dr. Douglas transmitted his thirst for adventure to his son, taking him on numerous expeditions to Egypt and the Middle East in the mid-19th century. He brought back several mummies from these journeys, selling them to museums in North America. One of these, sold in Niagara Falls, was recently discovered to be the corpse of Ramses I.
Initial career – ministry
James Douglas initially chose a different career from his father, studying to become a minister in the Presbyterian Church. He studied at Queen's College, Kingston from 1856-1858, and later at the University of Edinburgh. By the end of his studies, however, Douglas had second thoughts: "When therefore I was licensed to teach, my faith in Christ was stronger but my faith in denominational Christianity was so weak that I could not sign the Confession of Faith and therefore was never ordained." He was granted a licence to preach, but never became an ordained minister. This secularism remained with Douglas all his life. He was primarily responsible for making Queen's into a non-denominational University when he served as Chancellor in 1912.
Second career – medicine
In the 1860s, Douglas helped his father at the Beauport Asylum while studying towards a career in medicine. He worked as a librarian at the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, and later became the youngest president in the history of the Society. There, he presented numerous lectures to the Society's members, the first on Egyptian hieroglyphics and mummies, and later papers on mining and geological issues.
Third career – mining
This interest in mining and geology eventually supplanted his interest in medicine and Douglas embarked on a third career. In the 1860s, his father's financial fiasco investing in the Harvey Hill copper mine, Quebec, Canada, brought to Douglas the opportunity to save the family fortune by finding a way to make the mine profitable (it never was). In 1869, Douglas' scientific experiments with the assistance of Dr. Thomas Sterry Hunt at Université Laval led him to a discovery that was to change his life. The Harvey Hill operation failed though their process worked. Together, they elaborated a patent for the "Hunt and Douglas" process of extracting copper from its ore. Although Douglas had no formal education in chemistry, he was considered competent enough to fill the Chair of Chemistry at his hometown's Morrin College affiliated with McGill University, from 1871 to 1874. His evening lectures were among the most popular in the history of the College.