Doubleday was international vice president of the Theosophical Society (1880-1888), and was interim president January 17 to February 1879. He was born June 26, 1819, at Ballston Spa, New York. Doubleday graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1842, achieved the rank of Major General in the army, and served at Gettysburg during the Civil War. He met Henry S. Olcott when he was president of a United States military tribunal at which Olcott was the prosecutor and joined the Theosophical Society on June 30, 1878.

Doubleday was a dedicated worker for the Theosophical Society and a supporter of the founders. He has been called the "father" of modern baseball, although evidence to support that claim is lacking. The legend of his inventing the game was created by a Cooperstown native who claimed to remember the event.