Glencairn, also known as the John Erwin House, is a historic house in

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

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. The house and grounds were recorded by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1935. The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on January 18, 1978, due to its architectural and historical significance.

History

Construction on Glencairn began in 1830 and was completed in 1837 by John Erwin. Erwin was an influential attorney, slaveholder, and a Democratic politician. He was born on September 10, 1799, in Pendleton County, Virginia and had relocated to Alabama by 1821. He married Eliza Margaret Chadwick on October 5, 1822. He was elected as Greene County'sGreensboro was located in Greene County at this time, Hale County was formed from the eastern half of Greene in 1867. representative in the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

in 1831 and was chosen as president pro tempore the next year. He went on to also serve in the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

in 1836, 1837, and 1842. He was a

Congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

candidate in 1845 and 1851, but was defeated in both instances. Erwin owned 169 slaves in 1860 and was a leader in the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

movement that led to the formation of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. He was heavily involved in the

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come to ...

and

1860 Events January * January 2 – The astronomer Urbain Le Verrier announces the discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan (hypothetical planet), Vulcan at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 &ndas ...

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s. He died at Glencairn on December 10, 1860, and was interred in Greensboro Cemetery. His son, George Erwin, inherited Glencairn and owned it until his death in 1916. It then passed to George's son, Cadwallader Erwin, until his death in 1955. The home remained in the hands of John Erwin's ancestors, being occupied after Cadwallader Erwin by his daughter, Ida Vernon Mahood and her husband Danner Lee Mahood, until the former's passing in 1987. The house then passed to daughter Katherine Rugg and husband Samuel Rugg before going to daughter Audrey McCulloh in 2015. After her death in August of that year, the house passed to her widower Mark McCulloh, who resides there now and is overseeing renovations to the interior.

Architecture

The two-story

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

structure is frame construction. Some insist the style of the architecture is actually Georgian, a rarity among antebellum homes in the South. In any case, "Glencairn" features a five-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

main facade with a two-tiered

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

over the central bay. The portico is supported by four Doric columns on each level, with Doric

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s and elaborate wooden panels ornamenting the wall surface. The doorways on both levels are recessed and are surrounded by sidelights and a transom. A plain

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

crowns the portico. The exterior corners of the house have paneled pilasters, reaching up to a plain

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

above the second floor. The roof is hipped.

Gallery

Image:Glencairn 02.jpg, The front entrance Image:Glencairn 03.jpg, Mantel in the parlor Image:Glencairn 04.jpg, Former slave quarters Image:Glencairn 05.jpg, Detail of call bell system

Notes

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Hale County, Alabama Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Houses completed in 1835 Greek Revival houses in Alabama Houses in Hale County, Alabama Slave cabins and quarters in the United States Greensboro, Alabama 1835 establishments in Alabama