Douglas & Stuart - cereal milling company

John and Robert Stuart

Scotsman John Stuart immigrated to Canada and settled in Embro, Ontario in 1850.  He purchased the products of others and exported oatmeal and other farm products to Great Britain until the mid-1860's.  At that time he invested in his own mill.

Stuart purchased an old sawmill, converted it into a grain mill and began grinding oats, which he continued to export across the ocean.  His mill, located in Ingersoll, Oxford County, Ontario, was named the North Star Mill.  He also briefly pursued other endeavors which included a split-pea mill in Ingersoll and a flour mill in Chicago.  These two ventures were in a partnership with James King.  The original mill in Ingersoll continued operation under the guidance of his brother and later, his son-in-law, until it ceased operations in 1895.

His son, Robert Stuart, joined him in business and by 1873, at the age of twenty-one, he had convinced his father to pursue the extensive opportunities available to millers in the United States.

Their journey south of the border took them to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they built their new mill on the banks of the Cedar River.

In Cedar Rapids, they took on a partner, Henry Higley.  The partnership did not last long and Higley sold his interest to George B. Douglas Sr. in 1874.

George B. Douglas and his sons

George B. Douglas Sr. immigrated from Scotland to Rochester, New York in 1848.  He entered the construction business, where for the next twenty-five years he built canals, bridges and railroads across the western United States.

George Douglas entered into partnership in 1874 with John and Robert Stuart in their North Star Oatmeal Mills operation in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Robert Stuart met and married a niece of Mrs. Douglas.  They eventually had five children: John, Mary, Margaret, Robert Douglas and Alexander.

George B. Douglas had three sons, George B. Douglas, Jr., William W. Douglas and Walter D. Douglas, who joined him in the family oatmeal business.

George B. Douglas Sr. passed away in 1884.  His sons carried on in the original oatmeal business with Stuart, while also developing other family ventures of their own.

STUART AND DOUGLAS

In 1879, the partners purchased and converted a former planing mill in Chicago, Illinois into an oatmeal mill.  This new plant, located on the corner of Sixteenth and Dearborn Streets, was known as the Imperial Mill.  They also changed their company name from Stuart & Douglas to Douglas and Stuart.

Douglas and Stuart joined with twenty other oatmeal millers who were located east of the Rocky Mountains and formed the Oatmeal Millers' Association in 1886. The formation of this organization was an effort by these millers to control the production and price of oatmeal.  Due to many factors, they were unsuccessful in achieving their goal.

In 1887, Douglas and Stuart, along with eleven other members of the Oatmeal Millers' Association, joined in the charter of the Consolidated Oatmeal Company. The new company's objective was still the same: to gain control of the oatmeal field.

While the Consolidated Oatmeal Company was successful in its early years, eventually the competition from the increasing number of rival mills and neglect by other members to respect the price agreements resulted in another reorganization and merger.
 
In 1891, Douglas and Stuart (under the name Cereal Milling Company) joined six other millers to form the American Cereal Company.  During the next decade, this new company began to create a national awareness of their company's brands, with Quaker Oats as star.

Eager to adopt newer and more advanced methods of selling, advertising and manufacturing their products, the members of the American Cereal Company reorganized again and in 1901 began doing business under the name Quaker Oats Company.

In 1895, the brothers formed Douglas & Company which had previously been the Iowa Mill & Elevator Company.  The company first manufactured linseed oil and later they opened the Douglas Starch Works.  They began processing of cornstarch in 1903.

Walter perished on the Titanic in 1912.