(Antique Tobacco) — Fruits and Flowers Mixture Tin

Manufacturers of all styles and grades of Smoking Tobacco, No. 514 North Twelfth street. This is the oldest and the largest factory engaged exclusively in the manufacture of smoking tobacco in the city, and for twenty-six years has "Fruits and Flowers" been upon the market as their leading brand. 

(VCU) — 1889 Baist Atlas Map of Richmond — Plate 5

Its reputation is known to the lovers of a good smoke on two Continents, and no brand made in this city is better known to the local trade The capacity of the factory is 1,200,000 pounds per annum. They employ forty hands; have three commercial salesmen on the road: local agents all over the United States, and sell to the trade throughout America, Australia, and England.

(Find A Grave) — William Walden Russell

This business was founded by the late E. T. Pilkinton in 1860, who managed the concern until his death in January, 1883, since which time Mr. W. W. Russell has been the proprietor. Mr. Russell has had many years experience in tobacco, and was connected with this house for years prior to becoming the owner of the business. He is a native of Virginia, and a former resident of Petersburg. [IOR]

[RVCJ93] — W. W. Russell’s Tobacco Factory, circa 1893

Eventually, respect for the previous ownership and branding faded. 

W. W. Russell, manufacturer of fine smoking tobaccos at 514 North Twelfth street, has been established in that line of business since 1882; for the first eight years of this period under the firm name of E. T. Pilkinton & Co., though he was sole proprietor. Two years ago he discontinued the use of that name, as well as the manufacture of their brands, and has since been devoting his attention to fine and fancy smoking tobaccos.

(Antique Advertising) — Virginia Creeper Granulated Mixture Tin

His leading brands are the “Virginia Creeper,” “Topaz,” and “Queen of Virgina.” He manufactures more granulated smoking tobacco than any other house here, and he covers a larger trade territory than any other here also. He has four men on the road in his interest, and his fancy smoking mixtures are sold all over the United States. His factory has a capacity of a million pounds a year.

Mr. Russell is a Virginian, twenty-one years resident of Richmond. A cut accompanying this notice shows the outward appearance of his establishment. [RVCJ93]

(Library of Congress) — Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond (1905) — Plate 74 — showing the former E. T. Pilkington location now as Chas. Milhiser’s (sic) Cigar Factory #135

By 1905, the property had been taken over by Charles Millhiser, another well-established tobacco man, for his cigar manufacturing operations.

The “Virginia Star” cheroot factory, Mr. Charles Millhiser’s establishment, which is shown in the cut accompanying this matter, is one of the representative and most notable concerns of its line at Richmond. It has 150 Mr. Millhiser first embarked in the trade in 1885, and he is one of the most substantial manufacturers of his line. He has resources and property to back him, and the enterprise to maintain the lead he has gained over competing concerns.

[RVCJ93] — “Virginia Star” Cheroot Factory, location unidentified, circa 1893

He has five men on the road selling for him. They cover nearly the entire United States, and he sells besides, largely, through brokers and others, in all the principal cities. The “Virginia Star” cheroot is his specialty, although he makes also a number of other brands. It forms—such is the demand for it—nine-tenths at least of his output. It is made of superior stock, and is of the best workmanship. It is produced from the best New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Havana leaf, under the close inspection of competent heads of departments.

[RVCJ93] — Charles Millhiser, circa 1893

Mr. Millhiser gives the business personal supervision. He brings to his labors a long and varied experience, not merely of tobacco in its divers commercial forms, but of business generally. He is a native of the city, and was in general mercantile pursuits from 1866 until 1879.

In that year he went into the manufacture of cigars, and afterwards included the trade in leaf tobacco; and after spending six or seven years profitably in that line became one of the pioneers of cheroot manufacture here, by establishing the “Virginia Star” factory and brand. He is, as we have said, a man of solid resources and high character, and is well known and highly esteemed here. [RVCJ93]

December 2019 — looking towards 514 North Twelfth Street today

And so was it true in 1893. By the time of the 1903 edition of Richmond, Virginia: The City on the James, Millhiser is no longer a darling of the Chamber of Commerce, or perhaps didn’t pay to be in the book, and is unmentioned.

Today, the corner on the alley where E. T. Pilkington stood is now completely consumed by the Harry Lyons Building of the VCU Health School of Dentistry.

[IOR] [RVCJ93] — side-by-side comparison of the 1886 (left) and 1893 (right) depictions of 514 North Twelfth Street

It’s interesting to note that while the 1893 edition of Richmond, Virginia: The City on the James reused some illustrations from Industries of Richmond, that is not the case here. It is clearly not a reworking of a previous photo; the street scenes and cloud patterns are completely different.

(E. T. Pilkington is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)

Print Sources

[IOR] Industries of Richmond. James P. Wood. 1886.

[HOR] — note the cupola on the roof, which has since been removed

Six years after Dr. Brockenbrough had built his mansion at Clay and Eleventh Streets, he bought from Hall Neilson another halfacre lot, only a block away, and before the end of 1816 had begun another large house. The coming of Robert Mills to Richmond as architect of the Monumental Church, and the beauty of the house he had designed for John Wickham diagonally across from Dr. Brockenbrough’s earlier one was probably what inspired the new house. 1816 was a boom year, and the lot alone cost $10,000.

(Rocket Werks RVA Postcards)

The following year Brockenbrough added another lot to the east, on what is now only a very steep hillside. The ravine between Church and Shockoe Hills, then unspoiled by railroad tracks, no doubt seemed a more commanding location than the one he had chosen for his former house. In 1818 the new house was not yet finished, but the chief work on it was done that year, as is evident from two insurance policies taken out at that time. It is first insured for $7000 and later in the year for $20,000.

October 2018 — eastern facade

Though not yet occupied, the house was obviously nearly complete when this second policy was secured, consequently it is interesting to compare it with the present house. The dimensions are 67 by 52 feet, the walls are brick, plastered outside, the roof of slate. Both the small front porch and the big back portico show in the drawing. The chief difference is in the height—the house is described in 1818 as having 2½ stories. The half-story would be the high basement. Parapet walls all round is another detail that does not correspond with the present house.

(Find A Grave) — Dr. John Brockenbrough

Dr. John Brockenbrough, who had become, after the death of Abraham Venable in the Theatre Fire, President of the Bank of Virginia, was one of the leading politicians, citizens, and gentlemen of his day. On the jury for the trial of Aaron Burr he had made the acquaintance of John Randolph of Roanoke, and they became the closest of friends. Randolph visited Brockenbrough again and again in both of the latter’s homes. Of Brockenbrough, Randolph wrote a friend, That gentleman stands A1 among men, and said of him to another, He is not as other men are.

(Find A Grave) — John Randolph

Randolph was no less devoted to Gabriella Harvie Brockenbrough, who had first been married to Thomas Mann Randolph of Tuckahoe. John Randolph said of her, There is a mind of a very high order: well improved and manners that a queen might envy. Blennerhassett called her the nearest approach in this town to a savante and bel esprit. It was no doubt Mrs. Brockenbrough who laid out the now vanished garden on the slope of the ravine. John Randolph said that most gracious and amiable friend excelled in gardening and in all the domestic arts that give its highest value to the female character.

(Find A Grave) — James A. Seddon

In 1844 Dr. Brockenbrough sold the house for $20,000 to James M. Morson, himself retiring to his property at Warm Springs, where he died. Morson only owned the Brockenbrough house a year. In 1845 he sold it to his wife’s sister, one of the two beautiful Bruce girls, who shortly afterwards married James A. Seddon. It was probably during the Seddons’ ownership that the third story was added.

When Morson left the Brockenbrough house, he moved to Dover in Goochland County. In 1857 his brother-in-law James A. Seddon likewise sold the house in town and moved to Sabot Hill near Dover. Seddon subsequently had an important part in the Confederacy, being one of Virginia’s representatives at the Peace Congress in January, 1861, and later Secretary of War of the Confederate States. The Brockenbrough house was purchased by Lewis D. Crenshaw, who remained there until June 1, 1861, when he sold it to the City for $35,000.

(Mississippi Encyclopedia) — Jefferson Davis & Varina Howell Davis

The City had intended to offer the use of the house to President Davis, but he refused to accept this, and the Confederate Government rented the house from the City for a presidential residence. As soon as the house and the furniture which the City had bought were ready, the Davises moved in, and there they lived until April 2, 1865 when the President and government officials fled from Richmond. The chief events that took place in the house while it was the White House of the Confederacy were the birth of Varina Anne (Winnie) Davis, the baptism of the President by Dr. Minnigerode of St. Paul’s, the tragic death of little Joe, not yet five, who fell from the back porch on April 30, 1864 and was instantly killed, the marriage of Jefferson Davis’s sister to Captain William Waller, and an attempt, fortunately frustrated, by some of the servants to burn the house, in January, 1864.

(LOC) — illustration of President Lincoln visiting the late residence of Jefferson Davis — Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 29 April 1865 — sketch by Joseph Becker — note the missing cupola

On April 2, 1865 President Davis and the government officials fled from Richmond. The conquerors took immediate possession of the former executive mansion; General Weitzel is even said to have breakfasted on the fare provided for the President. During the visit of a few hours that Lincoln paid to the city on the day Richmond was occupied, a reception was held, chiefly of Union officers, in the late White House of the Confederacy.

(LOC) — Beers Illustrated Atlas of the Cities of Richmond & Manchester, 1877— Plate G — showing the full extent of the property

Seized by the United States Government, the Mansion was held until 1870, when it was returned to the City. Having barely escaped being turned over to the Freedman’s Bureau to be used as a Negro Normal School, it was in 1871 made into a public school, called Central School, and continued to be so used until 1890. In a recent letter to the News Leader, a former pupil has vividly described his boyhood there and the adaptation of the house and the many outbuildings then standing to the uses of a public school.

The A. B. C. class was located in the former kitchen, east of the mansion. The girls’ playground was in the garden that Mrs. Brockenbrough and Mrs. Davis had loved. The janitors, Henry and Paul, lived in the former slaves’ quarters. The writer recalls the large trees: Among them were two 150-year old horse chestnuts, a live oak and an English walnut. There were also stables, and the place was surrounded by a ten-foot brick wall.

(Find A Grave) — Colonel John B. Cary

In November 1889 a movement to tear down the former White House as no longer suitable for a school was initiated in the City School Board. Fortunately a sufficient number of citizens were opposed to this to prevent the same fate that later overtook the Van Lew house. On December 9, 1890 Colonel John B. Cary offered a resolution in the Board of Aldermen that an appropriation for a new school be made and that the White House be turned over to the Confederate Memorial Literary Society for use as a museum as soon as the new school was ready.

October 2018 — iron stairs leading from the rear portico

On June 3, 1894 (Davis’s birthday) this transfer formally took place. Under the supervision of Henry C. Baskerville, architect, the house was repaired and fire-proofed. In every particular the old house in its entirety was preserved, the woodwork [replaced by iron] being used for souvenirs. On February 22, 1896 it was opened to the public as the Confederate Museum with ceremonies appropriate to such an occasion.

October 2018

Of the half-dozen Richmond houses that have been attributed to Robert Mills, the second Brockenbrough house is the only one in which any proof of his authorship has thus far been found. Mr. Kimball has seen a letter from Dr. Brockenbrough to the architect which he considers establishes the fact. It is interesting to compare this house with the Wickham house, always attributed to Mills. Without the third story the proportions would be similar, low and broad. The fact that both are stuccoed has little significance, since we are not sure the Wickharn house originally was stuccoed.

October 2018 — front door transom

Concrete resemblances are the triple windows (though these have not the recessed arches of the Wickham house) and, on the inside, the elliptical entrance-hall, the niches both there and on the steps, and the stairway itself. This last is a smaller adaptation of the striking palette stair of the Wickham house. Tucked away in the hall on the right, it is not a feature of the architecture as that of John Wickham’s house is, but perhaps Mrs. Brockenbrough demanded the extra service stair which balances it on the left.

(VDHR) — 1975 nomination photo

The three chief rooms across the garden side follow the same arrangement as those of the Wickham house, with the advantage of better lighting, since the portico is two stories high. Perhaps the high portico was Dr. Brockenbrough’s own amendment, as he had built a similar one on his first house. This is certainly the most magnificent garden-front portico in Richmond, and, with the elliptical one on the Archer Anderson house (1815) set a fashion that did not exhaust itself until the late 1840’s.

October 2018 — portico window detail

The woodwork and plaster cornices of this house are less delicate than those of the Wickham house, but the central room with its hold ceiling and folding doors to match is very effective. From the point of view of one studying its architecture, the White House of the Confederacy is in very unsatisfactory condition, the rooms being filled almost to the ceiling with Confederate relics.

October 2018 — garden portico today

The process of fire-proofing involved concrete floors, and the mantels have all been changed long ago from the originals. In spite of these drawbacks it is a magnificent building, and it is earnestly to be hoped that some day the relics may be moved to a more nondescript setting and Dr. Brockenbrough’s mansion restored to its former charm. [HOR]

October 2018 — horse-head hitching post

It’s unfortunate that this otherwise innocent house should suffer guilt-by-association, but then you could argue that same stain of guilt is all that has kept it from being demolished by VCU.

Even though the connection with the Confederacy was brief, worshippers of The Lost Cause ensured that this house would never be thought of differently. Mary Wingfield Scott’s quip about the Van Lew House (as well as her racist aside on the Freedman’s Bureau) underscores the point: it was okay to tear down the home of a northern sympathizer, but never the crib of Jeff Davis.

Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. You may not like it (are citizens of Kraków happy that Auschwitz is in their backyard?), but it happened here, and the Confederate White House is at least a reminder of the awful things that went down. Go see it if you get the chance. Besides, it’s not a heroic bronze statue, it’s a marvel of architecture, and Abe Lincoln was there, so focus on that.

(VDHR) — 1984 nomination photo

The construction of the Richmond Academy of Medicine in 1931-32 represented the culminating effort of a generation of Richmond physicians who, during the latter part of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, established the city's private hospitals, developed the University College of Medicine and the Medical College of Virginia into a unified institution, and made Richmond a medical center of national reputation.

(Scholars Compass) — VCU The First 125 Years: 1838-1963 — University College of Medicine staff, 1894

The Academy traces its origins to a group of Richmond and Manchester physicians who organized the first medical society in Richmond in 1820. Named the Medical Society of Richmond, it continued under that title until 1866 when it was changed to the Richmond Academy of Medicine. Throughout the 19th century the local medical community was divided by intense rivalries among various competing factions of physicians.

(Scholars Compass) — VCU The First 125 Years: 1838-1963 — Medical College of Virginia Staff, 1925

Before 1893, this friction most often involved a clash between members of the Academy and various doctors at the Medical College of Virginia. In 1880 this antagonism led to the formation of a rival group called the Richmond Medical and Surgical Society, and for the next decade the city had two hostile and competing professional medical organizations.

(VCU Libraries) — Drs. William T. Sanger, Stuart McGuire, & Samuel Chiles Mitchell

In 1926 the Academy began seriously to address the problem of a permanent home. Serendipitously at the same time, Dr. Joseph Miller of Thomastown, West Virginia, a graduate of the University College of Medicine and collector of rare medical books, manuscripts, instruments, and silhouettes, was considering an appropriate recipient of this collection. Dr. William Sanger, President of MCV, upon hearing of the availability of this collection, sought the collection for his college, perhaps seeing the collection as a rallying point to gather local support for a new library for his institution.

(Raptis Rare Books) — De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem — Andreas Vesalius

The library in 1927 was considered a regionally significant collection, consisting of about 3,000 portrait prints, silhouettes and other engravings, and over 3,000 medical books, at least one half of which were of unusual interest. According to the Academy, the silhouettes composed the largest collection of silhouettes of medical personalities in the United States. The books include the first printed book on obstetrics published in 1545; Andreas Vesalius's De Fabrica Humani Corporis, published in 1453; Anthologia by Hieronymus Fracastorius, published in1592; Chirugia, ende alle de opera by Ambroise Pare', published in 1592; Circulation of the Blood by William Harvey, published in 1649; and the first English edition of Harvey's Anatomical Exercitations, one of only 35 copies originally offered, published in 1653; Chirugia Magna in Duos Tomos Digesta by Aureolus Paracelsus, published in 1573 (some of the pages of this volume were blotted out by hot irons during the Inquisition); and Jason Partis's De Pariente et Partu, 1527, probably the only copy in America.

(ProQuest® Sanborn Maps Geo Edition™) — Sanborn Insurance Maps of Richmond (1919-July 1950 vol. 2, 1925-Apr. 1950) — Plate 220

Dr. Sanger, with permission from the Academy's Board of Trustees, purchased frontage along Clay and Twelfth streets to accommodate the Academy's projected needs. By June 14, 1927 financial arrangements were stable enough to commission Baskervill and Lambert to prepare sketches for the proposed building. On December 6, 1927 the firm was authorized to prepare working drawings. The estimated cost of the Academy's portion of the building was $60,000. Funds for MCV's portion of the building were not appropriated until 1930, delaying building dedication until September 1932. The Academy's final share of the building cost was $92,000.

October 2018

The restrained Georgian style of the Academy is typical of the work of the Baskervill firm. The firm, a prolific and highly competent Richmond enterprise, had designed several structures in the area. In each building design they reacted to the concerns of the MCV trustees that the structures be designed in the same mutually compatible styles. These structures include the Dooley Hospital (1917), St. Phillips Hall (1917-20), and Cabaniss Hall (1927), which harmonize with the style and scale of the surrounding historic structures. The Richmond Academy of Medicine is no exception to this trend, for its 3-story height and severely restrained facade provide a sympathetic streetscape for the White House of the Confederacy directly to the south and the Maury and Stevens houses to the southwest. Its brick and limestone exterior is also sympathetic to McGuire Hall, another MCV building (1912), across the street to the west.

October 2018

In the early 1970s there was a strong movement by a large segment of the membership to dispose of the Academy building and to move to new headquarters. A majority of the membership favored disposing of it, if adequately compensated, but the Academy's Board of Trustees decided instead to preserve it as a home and workshop for the local profession. The recent building campaign at MCV has led Academy members to become concerned about future impacts on the building and generated interest in having the Academy building officially designated as a historic landmark. Apart from its own individual merits, the Academy functions as an important visual component of the 1200 and 1100 blocks of East Clay Street, adding beauty and dignity to this historic neighborhood, which includes the White House of the Confederacy, the Wickham House, and the Valentine Museum.

Which is all great, but it’s a bit hard to appreciate that ol’ sympathetic Georgian styling with the insidious Tree-Architecture Conspiracy giving us the finger. Compare the view today with the 1984 view above, and see for yourself.