John Dougall was born on July 8, 1808, in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

He was a merchant, journalist, and publisher. He immigrated to Canada in 1826 and, using his ties with Scottish merchants, established with his father James a commission business for the distribution of textiles in Quebec. In Montreal, he opened a book and stationery shop. In the 1840s, Dougall was a director of the Montreal Provident and Savings Bank. His marriage to Elizabeth Redpath, eldest daughter of John Redpath, gave him a commercial partnership with the Redpath family and an important entrée into the English-speaking upper class of Montreal. In 1835, he became an editor of the Canada Temperance Advocate, the organ of the Montreal Temperance Society of which he had been a founding member in 1832. In 1846, he founded the weekly Montreal Witness, becoming a daily in 1860, dedicated to the temperance cause and the betterment of conditions of the masses. In 1870, he left the Montreal Witness in the charge of his son John Redpath Dougall (1841-1934) and he moved to New York City. Here he established the short-lived Daily Witness (failed in 1877) and the New York Weekly Witness which achieved considerable circulation and continued after Dougall’s death.

In 1840, he married Elizabeth Redpath (1819-1883) and they had six daughters and three sons. He died on August 19, 1886, in Flushing, Queens County, New York.