(April 1826-6 March 1910), hardware merchant, mayor. (Frank McDougal) Born perhaps at Lancaster, but more certainly in Lancaster Township, GC. Parents: Alexander McDougal (who “served with distinction, on the loyal side,” in the War of 1812 and the 1837 Rebellion–Morgan) and his wife Margaret Macdonald. Francis McDougal attended public school and grammar school in GC. About 1844 he went to Bytown (later called Ottawa). McDougal became a successful hardware merchant in Ottawa, with interests also in land development. For many years he was a member of the Ottawa City Council. He was elected mayor of Ottawa for 1885 and returned as mayor by acclamation for 1886. As mayor, he promoted the introduction of electric street lighting and the improvement of the street railways and of street paving, and saw some of the earliest stages of the federal government’s involvement in the improvement of the capital. He on a number of occasions refused nominations to become an MP. Politically, he was a Reformer (Liberal). In the aftermath of the 1885 North-West Rebellion, he was active in securing proper burial for volunteers killed in service. Active in many public activities, he was director of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway. He was one of the two Glengarrians who were mayors of Ottawa, the other being Edward McGillivray. Also, Francis McDougal’s immediate successor as mayor of Ottawa, McLeod Stewart, was the son of Glengarrian William Stewart.

     Francis McDougal died at his home in Ottawa. Roman Catholic. He was married in 1858 to Amelia McGillis (d. 1901) of Alexandria. (three children) Their son Donald Joseph McDougal (b. Ottawa 29 Oct. 1872), an Ottawa lawyer, represented Ottawa-area constituencies in the Ontario Legislature 1905-1911.

Life by John Taylor, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, XIII, 628 * Glengarry News 11 March 1910, Cornwall Freeholder 11 March 1910 (from Ottawa Journal), Cornwall Standard 11 March 1910 * Cochrane, IV, 468 (with portrait) * Ross, Lancaster, 268-269 * portrait in John H. Taylor, Ottawa: an Illustrated History (1986) * Donald Joseph McDougal: Morgan (1912) 761, 1210