History
Nottoway was completed in 1859 for John Hampden Randolph and his wife, Emily Jane Liddell Randolph, and it was home to their eleven children. John had purchased over 600 acres of swamp land and 400 acres of highland to plant his estate on. John wanted his mansion to be located along the Mississippi in order for it to be easy to get supplies and other goods from boats along the river.
The house was so massive that it had 1 opening for each day of he year. Before the civil war Nottoway had served as his massive dream home, but as the war crept up on him he had to leave his home. He had only left women and small young children that way union soldiers wouldn't be persuaded to attack the mansion. One day a huge river boat had stopped along the river in front of the plantation, Emily had ordered the mammies to take the children away as she approached one of the soldiers who had exited the river boat. Turns out that the young man was a family friend and had saved the plantation from being attacked or destroyed. The identity of that young man is still not known to this day.
The house was so massive that it had 1 opening for each day of he year. Before the civil war Nottoway had served as his massive dream home, but as the war crept up on him he had to leave his home. He had only left women and small young children that way union soldiers wouldn't be persuaded to attack the mansion. One day a huge river boat had stopped along the river in front of the plantation, Emily had ordered the mammies to take the children away as she approached one of the soldiers who had exited the river boat. Turns out that the young man was a family friend and had saved the plantation from being attacked or destroyed. The identity of that young man is still not known to this day.