Last week I visited VCU’s Real Estate Services office to have a look at the title polices and environmental assessments of the row on South Cathedral to see if I could garner any new clues. Mitzi and Josh were very helpful in locating the files I needed to view. The deeds on file for the VCU-owned row gave a brief history of most recent owners going back to those just prior to the Catholic Diocese. This was a great help! The more names to associate, the better. This also added quite a bit to the chronology of each unit, leaving a portion of the middle to fill in. Hopefully with the help of the Richmond court records and Architectural Survey files that can be achieved. Here’s a look at the current chronology of the western unit, 819 S Cathedral Place:
1889 Construction completed, property owned by John C. Shafer
1890 Parrish family resides: William H., W. H. Jr., T.K. (Chataigne’s Directory, 1891) – renters?
1892 John Shafer sells property to George W. Stevens (Richmond Land Tax, 1893)
1906, Nov 29 Dedication of Cathedral of the Sacred Heart took place
19?? Property transfers by will to Helen Stevens Gravatt – need more details on this owner: probably George Steven’s kin
1942 Property transfers by deed to Anne E. Holzgrefe and sisters, G. Marie last surviving joint tenant (Deed Book 430B, Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court, City of Richmond, VA, p. 250)
1969 Listed in Richmond City Directory as occupied by Marie Holzgrefe
1978 Property transfers by will to Rev. John J. Russell, Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond (Will Book 118, Clerk’s Office, Circuit Court, City of Richmond, VA, p. 54)
2009 Property transfers by deed to Virginia Commonwealth University (Deed of Tax Parcel No. W000-0345-002, by Andrew J. Tapscott, Esq., Hunton & Williams, LLP, Richmond, VA)
renaissancerva.co 