My question would be, why did the Belmonts have to go in hiding during the 1800s adn the VK whip had to be given to the Morris clan to take up the reigns in their absense. No real official word has been stated, only fan speculation involving Richter being "tainted" when Shaft possessed him in SotN.
That's just the thing - there's been no explanation. Keep in mind that it's only been since Portrait of Ruin that the whole idea that the Morris clan
had to be given custodianship of the whip came about as a plot point. Before that, we just assumed ownership of the whip passed to the Schneider and Morris offshoots of the family due to complications within the main Belmont branch family - either someone didn't have a child who was capable of taking up the whip and they had to wait another generation or two, or something else came about - and then the whip eventually returned to the main house with Julius in 1999.
Perhaps Shaft's possession of Richter corrupted the Belmont power, and there had to be sufficient time given for that corruption to be bred out of the main family bloodline before they could wield the whip's full power again. There's also the possibility that Shaft left a curse on Richter much like Dracula left a curse on Simon - a curse that was passed onto Richter's children and grandchildren that prevented the ability to use the Vampire Killer whip to its full capacity.
The latter theory makes a TON of sense if you think about it - if Shaft had the foresight before his death to instill Richter with a curse that would prevent future generations of his bloodline to use the Vampire Killer whip, it would be absolutely devastating to the Belmonts and would almost assuredly clinch Dracula's victory during his next future resurrection. Granted, Shaft couldn't have thought ahead to the possibility that Belmont branch families would find ways to wield the power of the VK whip to fight Dracula, but even still - if the main family couldn't fight using the whip, it would throw a serious monkey wrench into things. That is, until a way to break the curse was found - which, lets face it, wouldn't be out of the question if it was the type of curse that couldn't be broken until a certain amount of time had passed or a certain number of generations had been born.
So the Belmont main family, without the main weapon in their arsenal, goes into hiding in order to avoid attacks by Dracula's followers. They entrust the whip and their knowledge to the Morris and Schneider branch families and their associates, and begin a self-imposed exile until they have beaten the curse and can once again wield the whip and take back their destiny.
My thoughts.