Douglass-Clark House

The Douglass-Clark House, located in Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee, is a historic site dedicated to sharing the multifaceted history of Sumner County and its past residents. Initially built as a home for Elmore Douglass and his family around 1786, the house was jointly used as one of the county's earliest courthouses between 1788-1790. Many different kinds of cases were tried at the house and many of the area’s earliest residents visited the house for such hearings. Andrew Jackson, who later became president, tried several cases at the property in his early law career between 1789-1790. The house and property were later sold by Elmore Douglass to his brother Reuben. The Clark family was the next generation to occupy the house beginning in 1831 when Emma Douglass, daughter of Reuben Douglass, married William Clark. Slavery was also deeply intertwined with the history of the Douglass-Clark House as documentation listed enslaved persons living at the property as early as 1790. During their years in the house, the Clark family persevered after the premature death of William Clark in 1847 and witnessed the declaration of the Civil War in 1861 followed by four of their own enlisting on behalf of the Confederate cause. Of the four young Clark men that enlisted, only one returned home after the close of the war.