John Douglas House
(ca. 1867)
The vernacular Greek Revival styled Douglas House was the Steele Creek home of beloved Presbyterian minister and historian John Douglas.
7601 Christie Lane, Charlotte, NC, 28217
The John Douglas House was the home of Reverend John Douglas (1809-1879) and his wife Frances G. Douglas (1800-1884). A native of Chester, South Carolina, Reverend Douglas simultaneously served as the minister of both Steele Creek Presbyterian Church and Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church from 1867 until his death on October 8, 1879. Following his studies at South Carolina College and the Theological Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, he was ordained on April 30, 1836, by the Bethel Presbytery. Douglas served initially as the minister of a Chester congregation for some twelve years. In the late 1840s, he transferred to the Charleston Presbytery, where he headed the James Island Presbyterian Church until his move to Charlotte.
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An extensively learned man, Douglas possessed a library of approximately 1,300 volumes that he bequeathed to his alma mater at the Theological Seminary upon his death. During the Civil War he served as a missionary among Confederate troops stationed along the coast from Charleston to Savannah. Douglas preached his first sermon at Steele Creek Presbyterian Church on November 19, 1865, more than a year and a half before his official installation as its pastor. Upon his arrival in Mecklenburg County, the Steele Creek and Pleasant Hill congregations were plagued with factionalism and internal bickering. Local tradition holds that Douglas was mindful of those problems, prompting his decision to purchase land and erect his home directly behind Steele Creek Presbyterian Church to signify his dedication to his congregants. Douglas authored the first history of Steele Creek Presbyterian (published in 1872) and served as a Trustee of Davidson College. He also served as the moderator of the Synod of North Carolina when it met at Second Presbyterian Church in Charlotte in 1877. Douglas conducted two services each Sunday – the first at Steele Creek and the second at Pleasant Hill, some eight miles away by horseback. One writer described Douglas’ ministry as “well nigh attained unto perfection.” Upon his passing, the Charlotte Democrat described Douglas as “much beloved by his Church people and by all who knew him.”
John and Frances Douglas had no children of their own. They did take in an orphaned child named Susannah Baker who lived with them in the Douglas House as a servant. She died shortly after Reverend Douglas’ death. Following Mrs. Douglas’ death in 1884, the property was inherited by James P. Walker and Fannie Walker, children of John Douglas' nephew, William A. Walker. As the Walkers both lived in Chester, South Carolina, they rented the property to tenants, finally selling the Douglas House in 1921. The house passed through several hands in the ensuing years. Its final occupants were James Marshall Stallings and his wife Nancy Brigmon Stallings.
In addition to being one of Mecklenburg County’s finer surviving examples of a vernacular Greek Revival style farmhouse, the house is also one of the few surviving elements of the mid-nineteenth century built environment of the county’s southern section.