Samuel T. Douglas

One of the pedestrians hurrying across the panorama of the Campus Martius in 1906 could have been Samuel T. Douglas, 56, an attorney with the law firm of Bowen, Douglas, Whiting & Murfin (as it was then known). The law firm's address was 80-85 Moffatt Building from 1902 to 1910.

According to a news story on his death in 1932, "Mr. Douglas was distinguished as a corporation lawyer rather than as a trial lawyer. By reason of his early training he always had a particular interest in legal cases involving scientific subjects. He was also the first attorney in Detroit to represent medical associations, a concern that also had its origin in his family history."

The law firm was founded in 1857 by Douglas' uncle, Judge Samuel T. Douglas, his namesake. Judge Douglas was revered among Michigan lawyers. The Detroit News called him "The father of the Detroit Bar." (The Detroit News, May 11, 1890)

Douglas' partner, Herbert Bowen, joined the firm in 1871. Bowen was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, and came to Detroit in 1866. He remained with the firm for fifty years until his death in 1921. During his life Bowen was a great friend of the Detroit Public Library and today there exists the Bowen Branch of that institution, named in his honor, at Vernor and West Grand Avenue.

The law firm remained in existence until just recently, when it was disbanded. It was last known as Moll, Desenberg & Bayer. Its offices were on the 13th floor of 600 Renaissance Center in Detroit. Charles M. Bayer was senior partner of the firm. Mr. Bayer, a recent President of the Detroit Athletic Club, is now Counsel to the Detroit firm of Clark Hill. Bayer sails his boat, Old Bear, out of the Bayview Yacht Club. Bayer and his crew saved the crew of the Tomahawk during a violent storm in the Port Huron to Mackinac race.

More on Samuel T. Douglas from a newspaper article at the time of his death: "Samuel Townsend Douglas was born in Ann Arbor, Aug. 2, 1853, the son of Dr. Silas H. and Helen (Welles) Douglas. Dr. Douglas had come from the University of Vermont to the University of Michigan in 1842 to be assistant to Dr. Douglass Houghton, whose knowledge of chemistry, mineralogy and geology was of vast importance in the opening of the Michigan copper country. For his own part Dr. Douglas soon became one of the most valued members of the university faculty. Through his efforts a chemical laboratory, the first in the United States built for the purpose, was opened in 1857. Dr. Douglas was a pioneer in teaching chemistry by helping the students to perform their own experiments.

"After completing his education in the Ann Arbor public schools, Samuel T. Douglas entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1873. He took post-graduate work in chemistry and also received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy.

"His attention having been turned toward the law, he began to study in the Detroit offices of Douglas and Bowen. The senior member of the firm was Judge Samuel T. Douglas, one of Detroit's first circuit judges, and the man for whom the younger Douglas was named. After his admission to the bar, Mr. Douglas became junior partner in the firm of Douglas, Bowen and Douglas. Judge Douglas retired from active practice in 1884, when the firm became Bowen, Douglas and Whiting.

"1n 1891 Mr. Douglas was married to Miss Marion Dwight. Mrs. Douglas died some years ago, but their children, D. Dwight Douglas, vice president of the Detroit Bankers Co., and Mrs. Douglas Campbell of Rathbone Place, survive. Mr. Douglas is also survived by two sisters, Miss Louise Douglas and Miss Alice Douglas, of Ann Arbor.

"Mr. Douglas was one of the organizers of the Detroit Club, of which he was the first president. He was founder and the only president of the Grosse Pointe Club, which society is known by its familiar title of the "Little Club." In Detroit he was also a member of the Yondotega Club and the Detroit Country Club. He was fond of trout fishing, a diversion which led him to assist in the organization of the Huron Mountain Club, where he owned a cabin.

"For many years he was vice-president of the Washtenaw Gas Co., and also aided in establishing similar companies in Mr. Clemens, Ypsilanti, Saline and other communities around Detroit. He was one of the original directors of the Detroit Trust Co., and office which he held at the time of his death.

"Mr. Douglas was also one of the founders of the Central Savings Bank, now part of the First Wayne National Bank.

"He was a member of the Episcopalian Church and the Chi Psi fraternity.

"Always interested in historical matters, Mr. Douglas was at one time president of the local branch of the Society of Colonial Wars. His great-grandfather was Daniel Douglas, captain of a regiment of Connecticut Volunteers in the Revolutionary War. The pioneer of his family in the New World was Robert Douglas, born in Scotland in 1639, who married Mary Hempstead, the first child born in New London, Conn.