Roseland Plantation

Roseland Plantation was the longtime home of Samuel Alston Fitts.[3] He was born on May 15, 1815 in Warren County, North Carolina, the eldest son of James Harris Fitts and Rebecca Emily Alston. James Fitts had established Roseland as a 1,200-acre (490 ha) plantation in the Canebrake region of Marengo County during the late 1820s, but was murdered by a discharged overseer on July 16, 1832. His death left Samuel, at the age of eighteen, in charge of caring for his mother and eight brothers and sisters.[4]

Samuel Fitts married Sarah Elizabeth Alston of neighboring Clarke County on November 29, 1838. Her parents were William Williams Alston and Mary Haywood Burges, also originally from North Carolina.[4] Fitts had made the plantation a success by 1860, with property valued at $95,000. By this point Roseland was worked by at least 67 slaves.[3]

The plantation house at Roseland Plantation began as a dogtrot house in 1835.[5] A large two-story Greek Revival-style frame addition was added to the front of the dogtrot in the mid-1850s. The former front porch of the dogtrot became a cross-hall and the breezeway of the dogtrot was extended into a very long center-hall in the new construction. The upper floor was accessed from the central hallway via a reverse staircase.[3]

Entrance drive to the Roseland site.

The main house and most of the outbuildings have been demolished by neglect, but the largely undisturbed site remains important for archaeological reasons. A dairy cooler and the original log kitchen do remain at the site.[3][5] A survey done in 1993, prior to its nomination to the National Register, indicated that the main house was in ruins with only a few walls remaining.[3]

At the time of the survey a small Greek Revival plantation office had already been removed to another location.[3] Known as the "apothecary", it was used for dispensing medicine to the plantation's slaves.[6] The property owners gave it to the Sturdivant Museum Association and it was moved to the grounds of Sturdivant Hall in Selma in order to ensure its preservation.[3] A large seven-seat privy at Roseland, dating from the 1850s, was also donated to the Sturdivant Museum Association in 1979, but was not relocated to Sturdivant Hall until 2005.