Born James Donald Beatty, 1931
South Bend, Indiana
Jacques de du-glass began his life as the child of an unwed mother. Adopted by the douglass family, he was raised on their farm near warsaw, indiana.
JD, as he was commonly known, had little formal schooling but considered himself an expert in the genealogy of his adopted family. Having discovered their french lineage, he had his name changed in mid life to Jacques De Du-Glass.
JD was also interested in the history of the homes, churches, and farms of rural indiana and painstakingly recorded them in his artwork. And while many of the structures he drew apparently did exist, jd was not content with their “real” history… he created an “alternate” history… placing them in the imaginary town of lynxbourgh, indiana. On the back of a map he drew of lynxbourgh, jd wrote about the founding of his fantasy town…. Even going so far as to create an ancestor {who is also known as JD}. He writes “… Jacob du Glass, a man who was already well established in the family… was sent for and in 1847, J.D. As all knew him by named the town on the river linksburgh, he also name the county La-Trudaine.”
Family friends recall that, early in life, JD actually built a miniature scale imaginary town in his backyard.
Throughout his life, Du-Glass had trouble holding down jobs… he was briefly married, but apparently struggled with an inner conflict over his sexual identity. Later in life, JD became reclusive and immersed himself in his art. In an ironic end to a troubled life, when jd died in 2001, his body was laid to rest in the wrong burial plot.
