Hercules Louis Dousman I was born August 4, 1800, at Mackinac Island, Michigan, the eldest son of Michael and Catherine Dousman. After attending school in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he worked for a time as a mercantile clerk in New York City. In 1820 he returned to Mackinac, helping his father in business until 1826, when he moved to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, as an agent for John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. Dousman became a stockholder in the reorganized American Fur Company in 1834. As the Upper Mississippi fur trade began to decline in the late 1830s Dousman diversified his business interests. He purchased extensive timber lands in the Chippewa Valley, and from 1836 to 1848 was the principal owner of a sawmill operated by Jean Brunet at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Sometime before 1838 he established a large wholesale and retail store. In 1843 he became a partner in the Pierre Chouteau trading firm of St. Louis. From the 1840s on, he devoted a considerable amount of attention to land speculation. During the 1850s he was active in directing immigration and business to the Upper Mississippi River ports and for a time owned five river steamers and was financially interested in several steamship lines. He also interested himself at this time in railroad promotion, and was elected director of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad in 1853. Through his various business enterprises Dousman amassed a huge fortune. In 1843 he constructed a large mansion on the site of Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien; known as Villa Louis, this was considered the most luxurious home in the Wisconsin Territory. (In 1935 the Villa Louis was restored and has since been maintained as an historical site.) In 1844 Dousman married Jane Fisher Rolette, the widow of his partner in the American Fur Company, Joseph Rolette. Subsequently he was appointed a colonel of the militia by Governor Dodge, and also served Prairie du Chien as a Justice of the Peace. Colonel Dousman died at Prairie du Chien, September 12, 1868. His widow continued to reside at Villa Louis until her death in 1882.
Hercules Louis Dousman II was born at Prairie du Chien, April 3, 1848. He was educated at Racine College and the University of Wisconsin. After settling the estate of his father, the younger Dousman established himself in St. Paul, Minnesota, where on November 19, 1873, he married Nina L. Sturgis, the daughter of General Samuel D. Sturgis. In 1874 they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where they took a prominent role in social affairs. Here Hercules established a picture gallery, and over several years built up an extensive collection of fine paintings. After his mother's death in 1882, Dousman returned to Prairie du Chien to make his permanent home at Villa Louis. Before moving, he sold the greater portion of his art collection in New York. In Prairie du Chien he took up horse breeding, establishing the Artesian Stock Farm, and becoming president of the Wisconsin Association of Trotting Horse Breeders. Hercules died at Villa Louis on January 13, 1886, leaving his widow Nina and five children, Violet, Virginia, Nina, Louis, and Judith.
Nina Sturgis Dousman married again, in 1888, to Mr. R. H. MacBridge, and for some years resided principally in New York and New Jersey. During this time she continued to direct the management of the Dousman estate and property in St. Louis and Prairie du Chien. This marriage ended in divorce in 1891, and in 1893 Mrs. MacBride's name was legally changed back to Nina S. Dousman. She returned to live in Villa Louis, and continued to reside there until about 1912. Nina died in St. Louis, July 25, 1930.
Sources: Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography (1960), p. 107;
W.P.A. Wisconsin Biographical Sketches, State Historical Society of Wisconsin Archives; and The Horseman, January 18, 1886, p. 87.
