Post-political Career
McDougall left office on January 8, 1852, after completing the single two-year term left vacant by previous Governor Burnett. At the time, California governors served two-year terms, a limit that would not change until the governorship of Leland Stanford in the early 1860s. Just four days after leaving the state's highest office, McDougall was involved in a pistol duel with A.C. Russell, editor of The San Francisco Picayune. Russell's hand was injured in the duel. After attempting to start yet another duel with another individual who had insulted the ex-governor, McDougall was arrested by the San Francisco Police. As governor, McDougall had opposed state legislation that would have outlawed dueling, remarking duelers were not fit to live and would eventually kill each other off.
Never taken as a serious political candidate again, McDougall fell out of public view after 1852. The former governor increasingly turned to alcohol as he sank into deep depression. According to some accounts, McDougall attempted suicide on several occasions.
McDougall died in San Francisco on March 30, 1866, at the age of 48. Along with J. Neely Johnson, McDougall is one of the youngest governors to die after leaving office. He was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco, sharing a plot with his brother David McDougal. When this cemetery was removed from San Francisco, his remains were moved to the Laurel Hill Mound of the Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma, California.
Read more about this topic: John McDougall (California Politician)
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