Douglass, David Bates, 1790-1849

David Bates Douglass was born in Pompton, New Jersey, on March 21, 1790, the youngest son of Deacon Nathaniel Douglass and Sarah Bates of Newark. Raised in an iron-mining district, he developed an interest in the natural sciences and technology from very early in life, encouraged, perhaps, by his mother who provided his early education. As a teenager, Douglass developed into an avid and capable student under the tutelage of Rev. Samuel Whelpley, and was advanced enough to enter Yale as a sophomore with the class of 1813, where he hoped to prepare himself for a career in civil engineering. He soon became restless and frustrated, however, with Yale's hidebound curriculum and its limited course offerings in the natural sciences. Fortunately, the military afforded opportunities that the university did not. With the War of 1812 providing suitable training and employment for large numbers of engineers, Douglass secured a commission as second lieutenant of engineers, and reported for duty at West Point in October, 1813.

Douglass' distinguished service in the Niagara Campaign of 1814, at the Battle of Lundy's Lane, and at the siege of Fort Erie earned him a promotion to first lieutenant and a brevet captaincy in September, 1814. Douglass' personal courage while in command of an artillery battery at Fort Erie was singled out for commendation, and credited with helping to ensure victory for the American forces during the British assault in August 1814. After demobilization, the army was reluctant to lose such a promising young officer to civilian life, and as a result, on January 1, 1815, Douglass was offered the opportunity to become assistant professor of natural philosophy at the Military Academy, the only school at the time to offer formal training in engineering and therefore an outstanding opportunity for an aspiring young scientist. Throughout his career, Douglass aggressively sought out every chance to improve his professional standing, pursuing his interests both in the government service and as a private consultant, accepting seemingly any project that offered intellectual challenge, professional betterment, or financial reward. During his first few years at West Point, he organized the survey of defenses along the southern coast of New England (1815) and at the eastern end of Long Island Sound (1817), and he accompanied the commission to determine the Canadian boundary from Niagara to Detroit in 1819 as an astronomical surveyor. In December, 1815, he married Ann Eliza Ellicott (1792-1873), daughter of Andrew Ellicott, one of America's leading surveyors and long-time Professor of Mathematics at West Point.

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