Southern Reverie

Little Josephine Lesesne and her two infant siblings have laid here together since the early 1800s. Born to Joseph and Ann Lesesne, Josephine died on April 30, 1809 at only 5 months old. Peter Lesesne died at six days old in 1807 and Mary Caroline Lesesne died at two years, three months, and twenty five days.

Josephine was an infant child in a prominent Lowcountry family, and her story is one of the most common (and tragic) realities of early Georgetown life when infant and childhood mortality rates were extremely high due to malaria, yellow fever, and dysentery.

What makes her grave especially important is that it sits among multiple Lesesne children in the same churchyard. This tells us that the family experienced repeated infant losses, which was heartbreakingly common and that they were established enough to bury their children at Prince George, one of the most important churches in the region.

Josephine belonged to the Lesesne family, one of the older French Huguenot-descended families in coastal South Carolina.

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This is a sixteenth-century Tudor manor—not in England, but in Richmond, Virginia. Agecroft Hall was originally built in Lancashire, England, around 1500, making it over 525 years old. It was dismantled, shipped, and reconstructed in Richmond’s Windsor Farms neighborhood in 1926 by a team of skilled craftsmen for Thomas C. Williams Jr. and his family. Williams died three years later, shortly after completion, but stipulated that upon his widow’s death or relocation, Agecroft Hall would become a museum open to all. Agecroft Hall & Gardens has operated as a museum since 1969.

For years, both Warwick Priory in Warwick and Agecroft Hall in Salford (just outside Manchester) stood vacant. By 1925, the Priory was dilapidated, and Agecroft had been overrun by toxic pollution from Manchester’s factories and a nearby coal mine. With no buyers, both faced demolition. At his architect’s suggestion, Williams purchased both to ship to his Virginia estate. During the Country Place Era, when wealthy Americans built European-inspired estates, Williams—whose interests included to***co, banking, and shipping—sought a true English manor on his 23-acre property overlooking the James River, named for the first Stuart king.

However, the English public was outraged. While relocating houses within England was not uncommon, exporting one to the United States was seen as a crass attempt to buy cultural heritage. In 1926, The Architect condemned the sale of Warwick Priory as showing “greed on the part of the seller and vanity, ostentation, and bad breeding on the part of the purchaser.” Newspapers decried the move as cultural vandalism, and the issue reached Parliament, where legislation was introduced to prevent such exports. Williams briefly feared he could not proceed, but the bill ultimately failed.

In December 1927, the Williamses opened their home with two nights of glittering housewarming parties for Richmond’s social elite. Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth (Bessie), embraced their Tudor home, surrounding it with gardens designed by noted landscape architect Charles Gillette. Today, the house and gardens remain among Richmond’s most popular historic attractions. -Southern Reverie

Cashiers, North Carolina was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal as where America’s wealthiest go to fly under the radar and as the home to at least four billionaires, Cashiers has one of the country’s highest concentrations of wealth.

Cashiers has more humble beginnings as a small mountain community in Jackson County with roots dating back to the early 19th century. The area began to take shape around 1820–1830, when settlers were drawn to its cool climate, fertile valleys, and strategic location along trading paths in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The community’s name is believed to come from an early trading post where a local “cashier” handled bartering and payment for travelers and farmers.

By the mid-1800s, Cashiers had grown into a seasonal destination, known for its natural beauty and welcoming inns. Among the most significant early families were the Zacharys, whose influence shaped much of the town’s development. In 1852, young merchant Zachary-Tolbert built what is now one of the best-preserved Greek Revival structures in western North Carolina: the Zachary Tolbert House (featured). Remarkably, the home remained in its original condition for more than 150 years and stands today as a rare architectural survivor in the region.

The preservation and celebration of this history is led by the Cashiers Historical Society founded in 1996. The organization is dedicated to protecting the cultural and architectural heritage of Cashiers through research, restoration, educational programs, and community events. The Society operates the Zachary Tolbert House as a museum, showcasing 19th-century life, local craftsmanship, and original hand-made furniture, offering visitors a direct link to the town’s earliest days.

Together, Cashiers’ origins, its preserved landmarks, and the efforts of the Cashiers Historical Society reflect a mountain community committed to honoring its past while welcoming generations of new visitors.

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