Rev John Douglas
John Douglas (1809-1879) , was minister of Steele Creek
Presbyterian Church and Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church from
July 6, 1867 until his death on October 8. 1879.
The son
of John and Elizabeth Douglas, he was a
native of Chester, South Carolina. Douglas was a graduate of South Carolina
College and the Theological Seminary in Columbia, SC. Ordained
on April 30, 1836, by the Bethel Presbytery he served initially
as minister of a congregation in Chester for approximately
twelve years. In the late 1840's, he transferred to the
Charleston Presbytery, where he headed the James Island
Presbyterian Church. John Douglas preached his first sermon at
Steele Creek Presbyterian Church on November 19, 1865, more than
a year and a half before he was officially installed as pastor.
Every Sunday Douglas conducted two services, the first at Steele
Creek and the second at Pleasant Hill some eight miles away by
horseback.
The evidence suggests that John Douglas was a
refined and erudite individual. He and his wife, Frances G.
Douglas (1800-1984), travelled extensively in Europe before the
Civil War.
He possessed a library of approximately 1300
volumes, which he bequeathed to the Theological Seminary in
Columbia, South Carolina. He was the author of the first history of Steele
Creek Presbyterian Church, published in 1872.
Douglas
was a Trustee of Davidson College and, even more significantly,
served as the moderator of the Synod of North Carolina when it
met in Second Presbyterian Church in Charlotte in 1877.
During the Civil War he had been a missionary among Confederate
troops who had been stationed along the coast from Charleston to
Savannah. When he came to Mecklenburg County, the congregations
at Steele Creek and Pleasant Hill were plagued with factionalism
and internal bickering. Undoubtedly, he was successful in
bringing the people back together. Local tradition holds that John
Douglas was mindful of the local strife when he decided, ca.
1867, to purchase land and erect his home, now known as
John Douglas House, immediately behind
Steele Creek Presbyterian church in Christie Lane in the Steele Creek Community or southwestern portion of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. One writer contends that his
ministry "well nigh attained unto perfection." The Charlotte
Observer described Douglas as a "greatly beloved pastor. " The
Charlotte Democrat echoed these sentiments, stating that he was
"much beloved by his Church people and by all who knew him."
John Douglas had no children. Susannah Baker, an orphan whom
Rev. and Mrs. Douglas had taken in as a child, lived in the
house as a servant. She died shortly after the death of John
Douglas.
Mrs. Douglas expired on April 2, 1884, and was
buried beside her husband in the cemetery at Steele Creek
Presbyterian Church.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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