When Edward Oakes Douglas was born in December 1858, in Springville, Adams, Wisconsin, United States, his father, John Smart Douglas, was 30 and his mother, Isabel Amanda Oakes, was 19. He married Hattie Angelia Morris on 23 April 1883, in Adams, Wisconsin, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 2 daughters. He died on 29 January 1936, in Springville, Adams, Wisconsin, United States, at the age of 77, and was buried in Olin Cemetery, Adams, Wisconsin, United States.