Walter and Mahala Douglas

Hi Jan:
We haven't talked in way too long. The bad news is I'm working out of town all the time now and have no virtually e-mail access except weekends. The good news is "out of town" is up your way, so we'll have to get together for dinner soon. I'll trade you some photo's I took of Mahala's beautiful old house in the Arroyo Seco for some of the Lake Minnetonka mansion.
Regards,
Mike
 
Sounds good, Mike. My office is in Oakland, now, near Lake Merritt. We could go to Jack London Square. I'll check with my sister. By the way, I used to live in South Pasadena, and I'm very familiar with the Arroyo Seco. It's a really neat place. The road along there is the one I always used to take to the Rose Bowl. Have you been one of the open houses at the historic Green Hotel on Green Street and Fair Oaks Avenue? My wife and I had our reception there. It's also a neat place. The Raymond Hill restaurant (if its still there) is on the site of the old Raymond Hotel, off Fair Oaks (which is part of Route 66). Finally, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is located in the beautiful former Arroyo Hotel on Grand Avenue, near where the Tournament of Roses Parade goes every year. There's the Norton Simon Art Museum, and much more.
 
Mike, Kyrila,

My sister did locate photographs about the Douglas home, on Lake Minnetonka. It was a 27-room mansion, built in 1908-1910 on the site of the former Hotel St. Louis, and called "Walden" (the Douglas family must have been fond of Henry Thoreau!). It was filled with artwork, antiques and whatever, from all over the world. In 1927, President Coolidge considered staying there for the summer. My sister doesn't think it still exists, but a picture I have shows a what looks like a 1980 Mercedes Benz in front of the house--so it was at least around in 1980.

When Malaha and her maid went into the lifeboat, Walter told them "I'll see you in Cedar Rapids." Indeed, his body was recovered, and buried there.

Malaha smoked, used rouge, sometimes wore an Indian sari as a hostess gown.

Walter was a director of the First National Bank of Minneapolis.

Apparently, there was a book published by a Cedar Rapids author, which is believed to have been based on Malaha. It's titled: "The Tattooed Countess."

Email me your addresses and I'll send you this stuff.
 
I've always been a little confused about how long the Douglases had been married for. Mr Douglas's bio here on ET refers to Mahala as his "new" wife, and I BELIEVE I've seen it said elsewhere that they'd only been married a year.

So was Mahala not Bruce Douglas's mother, even though her obit says she was? Had Walter been married before?

If anyone knows the answer, I'd appreciate them passing it along.
Thanks,
Brian Ahern
 
'Bruce' was presumably one of the two stepsons, Edward Bruce Douglas - maybe, like J Bruce Ismay, he preferred the use of his middle name. But was there a mysterious third son, who, according to family records, was born and died in December 1901? Too late for Lulu and too early for Mahala. Or has somebody (probably me!) got the date wrong?
 
Thanks for replying, Bob and Phil. I guess the second son died before Mahala, since only'Bruce' and a 'grandson' named Walter are listed in her obituary.

So is there much known about Mahala's life before her marriage? Was she from Cedar Rapids? Any sort of career? Was her family important? It'd be a nice story if she was leading an ordinary life and suddenly struck gold at 47 when she married Walter.

I know I'm responding to your polite answers by simply firing more questions at you, but these are two people I've always been curious about and have never got around to asking about.
Thanks again,
Brian
 
Brian, here's a link to some fine portraits of other members of the Douglas clan, though none of Walter or his immediate family. Includes the family crypt in Cedar Rapids and a brief mention of the (possible) third son.

http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/prarieboy/family/winter2000/iowadouglases.htm

Here's an excellent portrait of Walter (centre) as a boy with his two brothers:

http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/prarieboy/lineage/georges_sons.jpg

And the entry on Walter in 'History of Minneapolis - Gateway to the Northwest':

http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/prarieboy/lineage/walter_minn.jpg
 

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