19th Century Kittiewan Plantation
Kittiewan In Transition and Decline
The nineteenth century at Kittiewan was a time of , expansion at first, then stasis and then a downhill slide.
In 1801, Carter B. Harrison sold to his nephew Collier Harrison, son of his brother Robert, 900 acres of land containing four tracts; these tracts were identified as Millford or Kittiewan, Browns, Backhursts, and Lloyds. The fact the first tract is listed as "Millford or Kittiewan" suggests a historic transition of the name usage of Kittiewan at the same time the Minge property to the west was consolidating and may have begun to use the name of North Bend. In fact, the deed from Carter to Collier Harrison stated the Minge tract Kittiewan was west of Millford or Kittiewan, using the same name in the same document to describe the two separate tracts. The Backhurst and Lloyd tracts were to the east of the plantation house and Browns was to the north.
Collier Harrison died in 1809 and left Kittiewan to his second wife, Beersheba, during her lifetime, and directed it then should pass to their son Robert Carter Harrison when he reached his majority. Until Robert turned 21 years old, the land was kept in the name of Beersheba's second husband, Thomas Poythress, until the 1840s, as his stepson Robert C. Harrison owed him money. John Minge, executor of Collier Harrison's estate, also purchased "Dudley's" 105 acres from John Southall in 1821 in R.C. Harrison's name, thereby extending the Kittiewan Plantation boundaries eastward to Mapsico Creek perhaps for the first time since Roane's 1667 patent. At this time, except for the Brown tract on the north side of the road, the current Kittiewan Plantation boundaries were set.
In 1841, Robert C. Harrison and wife Nancy sold 10 acres from the Brown tract across the Weyanoke Road to the Episcopal Church, which became known as part of the "Parsonage" tract (labeled "Posonage" on a 19th century plat). In 1846, Robert Carter Harrison's estate sold the 1000-acre property to Dr. William Allen Selden, a local physician, and his wife Jane Douthat, who was a neighbor from Weyanoke. Jane's father Robert Douthat had built nearby Weyanoke Plantation and William Selden's brother John owned nearby Westover Plantation in the mid-19th century.
William A. Selden was a physician and surgeon and maintained an office on the property about 100 feet northeast of the manor house. The Selden office was a two-story wood frame structure and had a rear upstairs doorway, possibly used as both a residence, office, and possibly infirmary. The office building was razed in the early 20th century.
The Seldens had at least nine children, so they built a school on the property to the east of the manor house near a modern-day tenant house and barn. The one story wood frame structure was still standing by the late 1930s. In 1983, the chimney was dismantled to provide historic hand-molded bricks in the walls of the enlarged basement at Kittiewan. Dr. Selden literally left his mark at Kittiewan when he scratched him name into one of the glass panes on the west side of the dining room.
The Seldens lived at Kittiewan through the onset of the Civil War, and Mrs. Selden, along with her good friend and neighbor Julia Tyler, wife of President Tyler of Sherwood Forest, raised money and goods for the Confederate soldiers. Financial pressures forced them to sell Kittiewan in 1863 to a group of local investors and move to Powhatan County, Virginia, where William died in 1865. Jane Selden, with many of her children, was living in Baltimore, Maryland by 1870.
As stated earlier, the Selden's sold the property in 1863 to four businessmen: William Alexander Stuart (Jeb Stuart's older brother), George Palmer, John Harvey, and John Spotts (Deed Book 11:479-480). Stuart and Palmer were partners in the Saltville salt works which provided the majority of salt for the state during the Civil War. Stuart was the older brother and mentor of Jeb Stuart, helping him with an education and financial support. Harvey and Spotts were mercantile partners in Richmond and teamed with Stuart and Palmer in many property acquisitions across the state. It is unknown if Kittiewan Plantation was simply an acquisition or if they were helping the Seldens in a time of crisis.
Of the four businessmen owners of Stuart, Palmer, Harvey and Spotts, none actually lived at Kittiewan Plantation. The Kittiewan Plantation residents in the 1870 census have not been isolated, assuming they were renters and not owners. Spotts, Stuart, Harvey and Palmer are not listed in the 1870 Charles City County census.
The Heinrich Kracke family lived in Richmond and in the mid-1870s, his son-in-law Edward Euker, owner of the Euker brewery in Richmond, died while on a business trip in Germany. The elder Kracke, a German immigrant, rented Kittiewan Plantation for two or three years, maybe living there full time or perhaps only during the summer or holidays. He died on Christmas Day in 1879, and was buried in the cemetery at the Mapsico Church they attended. The Kracke and Euker family were found living there in the 1880 census. The family continued to rent the place until at least 1884.
On June 6, 1883, the day after her Aunt Emma Kracke married Charles Parsons, 12 year old Emsie Euker signed her name on the back of the door leading to the cellar or basement (Figures 24 and 25). Henrietta Kracke kept an autograph book while they stayed at Kittiewan from 1881 to 1884, with over 40 signatures of neighbors and guests. Stories of the Kracke and Euker family at Kittiewan Plantation have filtered down to their descendants, and in September 2007, a gathering and special tour took place at Kittiewan for over two dozen family members.
Local farmer William T. Pointer purchased Kittiewan Plantation in 1897. After being neglected by the non-resident landowners for over 34 years, he moved into the dilapidated manor house with his wife, four daughters and one son. The photograph with the Pointers and the house is the oldest known photograph of the house. Window panes broken and missing, shingles falling off the roof, and the southwest corner of the cellar entrance (lower left) collapsed into the yard, all visible in the photograph.