The son of John A. Douglas, Charles Standford Douglas was educated at Wayland University. In Wisconsin. In 1877, he move to Canada and settled in Fort William, Ontario, where he became the publisher of the Fort William Day Book. The following year, he relocated to Emerson, Manitoba, and founded a new newspaper, The Emerson International. In 1881, he married Annie Johnston. Douglas served as the U.S. vice-consul at Emerson,[1] was a member of the town council, and became mayor of 1888. He was elected to the Manitoba assembly in an 1883 which occurred after Frederick Burnham was unseated for bribery[2] and was reelected in 1886.[1]
In 1909, Douglas married Elizabeth Manley (née Fisher), a widow, after the death of his first wife.[3]