Bit O'Heaven - 459 East University Avenue

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This home was built in 1800s as a two-story wood vernacular frame style. The land was originally owned by Charles H. Parker who came to Orange City in November of 1875 along with a group of 175 men. This was the second group of men after the Wisconsin Company had come to Florida to buy acreage what will be known as Orange City. Mr. Birdsey Grant Pratt purchased the land/home from Mr. CH Parker in 1884 according to Orange City Tax Records when he moved to Florida from Kent, Connecticut. The home had a formal Living Room, Dining Room, and bedroom on the first floor. There were two more bedrooms on the second floor. The stairs leading up to the second floor were on the outside of the building. Mr. BG Pratt enclosed the outside stairs at some point. The kitchen was a separate building, not attached to the main house as during that time people were afraid of fires that would take their entire home. The kitchen and out-house are no longer on the property. New owners Bill & Karen Devane Sr., purchased the home in 1976 and added the porch, side and kitchen in the back of the house. Current owner, Joelle Devane, daughter of Bill & Karen Devane, Sr. who served on Orange City Council and a community member before moving to Deland.

Images

1987 Front Facade

January 13, 1900 patch on chimney

Attic

Original hardwood floors in home

1978 Eastside Facade

BG Pratt Grave Stone

Mr. Pratt was buried in his hometown of Kent, CT.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Mr. GH Parker was born in Amherst, New Hampshire and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a young child with his parents.

When Mr. GH Parker became a young adult he joined a group of 175 men from the Union army at Camp Douglas to head to Tallahassee, Florida on October, 1875. The Minnesota men traveled to Tallahassee by railroad. Once arriving in Tallahassee and Welcomed by the Minnesota's former mayor and Wisconsin group, they spent the night before traveling to Jacksonville via railroad. The Minnesota men boarded a river boat called the Volusia and the men got off the river boat in what is later called Blue Spring Landing, on November 2, 1875.

Mr. GH Parker was able to purchase a 10 acre track of land to start his Orange Groves.

Mr. Birdsey Grant Pratt was born in 1829, Kent, CT. Mr. BG Pratt became a farmer and was very active in his community in Kent, CT. He married Almira Easton Lyman Pratt, they had two children; Edward W Pratt and Mills Bordwell Pratt.

In 1894, Almira Pratt passed away. After many years of hard work and being apart from the Kent community, Mr. BG Pratt decided to retire in Orange City, Florida where he built "Bit O'Heaven" home, in `1884.

On April 30,1904, met and married a second time to Maggie Lukens Pratt. Mr. BG Pratt adopted her two more children; Joel Northrop Pratt and Orinda Northrop Pratt.

Mr. Birdsey Grant Pratt passed away in 1939.

Cite This Entry

Admin, Clio and Donna Cobb on behalf of City of Orange City, FL. "Bit O'Heaven - 459 East University Avenue." Clio: Your Guide to History. March 29, 2021. Accessed July 27, 2025. https://theclio.com/entry/124923

Sources

"CT Deaths & Burials, 1772 - 1934." Index.

Find a Grave Memorial #33700615 Good Hill Cemetery, Kent, CT.

Ancestry.com. CT, church record Abstracts, 1630 - 1920 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA; Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011

2000, Lafluer, Joan. "Our Story of Our Orange City, Florida, Fourth Edition." Village Improvement Association, Inc., Orange City Women's Club.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Good Hill Cemetery