Charles Remond Douglass was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on October 21, 1844.  As a child, Charles learned the publishing business from his father, and helped produce his father’s newspapers.  In 1863, Charles became the first African American in the state of New York to enlist in the Army to fight in the Civil War.  He served in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, and was promoted to first sergeant of Company I, 5th Massachusetts cavalry.  After the Civil War, Charles served in a dizzying aray of government postions, first as confidential clerk to Commissioner General O.O. Howard of the Freedmen’s Bureau, then as clerk in the education division of the bureau.  He later was appointed to a clerkship in the U.S. Treasury Department, and in 1875, Charles was appointed by President Grant as United States Consul to Santo Domingo.  In 1882, Charles was appointed an examiner in the Pension Bureau, and he also worked in the West India commission business in the late 19th century.  Charles Remond Douglass married twice, and had seven children.  In 1866 Charles married Mary Elizabeth Murphy, and after her death, he married Laura Antoinette Haley in 1880.

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