I finally found a photo of my 2nd cousin, Robert C. "Bobby" Kenan, Jr. -- a lawyer in Burgaw, North Carolina -- as recently blogged about here: https://theweathercontinues.blogspot.com/2019/05/strange-strange-days-have-inspired.html
Jessie Hargrave (Kenan) Wise -- as recently blogged about here: https://theweathercontinues.blogspot.com/2019/05/when-sallie-bingham-sent-this-penis-to.html
Front Entrance of the Jessie Hargrave (Kenan) Wise House at UNCW.
From here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wilmington/255925328/
Edwin C. Holt House
Now referred to as the "Wise House" the house was originally the home of lumber/cotton baron -- Edwin C. Holt -- who constructed the home using some of the most exotic hardwoods available worldwide. The house was purchased in 1919 by Jessie Hargrave (Kenan) Wise. The majority of the beautiful wood (the hallmark of the home) was recently painted over during UNCW's "restoration" of their Alumni Office. Tiger oak stair and hardwood flooring fortunately avoided wall-to-wall carpeting.
Next door, (then, two-doors down) the Thomas Emerson house (then-president of Atlantic Coast Line railroad). The house was purchased in 1923 by Sarah Kenan, and was rebuilt after being gutted by fire using salvaged pieces with a fire-resistant steel and concrete superstructure. "Miss Sarah" lived there and the sisters (and Kenan family) continued to buy up real estate after surrounding buildings burned or became available otherwise, and completed an eight-nine foot prison-like "privacy wall" around the properties.
The outrageously wealthy Miss Sarah lived on inside the self-imposed-deterioration of Kenan house until just before the end when some say she actually moved into the home of staff—thinking she was insolvent--the final stages of dementia. She finally succumbed to what many feel was lues (sic) in 1968.
>>> ADDED LATER: I just looked "Lues" up, and it is defined: "a serious infectious disease, particularly syphilis".
Sarah Graham Kenan -- who married her first cousin Graham Kenan (who lived for less than a year), saving on stationary printing -- whose story gets REEALLY WEEEIRD:
Rumor has it that banking executives from New York came to Wilmington to finally settle the estate, during their visit literally millions of dollars in cash, silver, etc. was inventoried.
The homes, along with furnishings, and ancillary works of art were ultimately donated to UNCW--a public school. The university continues to spend hundreds of thousands of supposed “donations” to maintain and staff the home as a private residence for the Chancellor of this state institution—quite a perk! Occasional receptions are held in the public areas of the home, supposedly justifying the expense.
When ownership of the property moved from the Kenan family to UNCW, two cases of wine discovered in the basement vault were split between the Kenans and Chancellor Wagoner. The university’s case was finished off that summer by workers—twelve bottles of CHÂTEAU LAFITE ROTHSCHILD.
Night view of William-Rand-Kenan-Jr.-built Carolina Apartments and Kenan Memorial Fountain, Wilmington, NC.
North Face: KENAN MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN / ERECTED 1921 / THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THIS BRONZE TABLET, AUTHORIZED / BY WILMINGTON CITY COUNCIL AND PLACED IN 1953 A GRATEFUL / CITIZENRY EXPRESSES PROFOUND APPRECIATION FOR THE / ACTION OF MR. WILLIAM R. KENAN JR. IN PRESENTING TO HIS NATIVE CITY / THIS LOVELY FOUNTAIN. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL MEMORIAL, CONCEIVED / IN FILIAL GRATITUDE AND DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF HIS BELOVED / PARENTS, CAPTAIN WILLIAM R. KENAN (A GALLANT SOLDIER OF THE / CONFEDERACY), AND MARY HARGRAVE KENAN.
South Face: KENAN PLAZA / CITIZENS, SOLDIERS, ENTREPRENEURS AND PHILANTHROPISTS - / FOR MORE THAN 250 YEARS THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE KENAN / FAMILY HAVE SHARED THEIR LIVES AND FORTUNES WITH THE CITY / OF WILMINGTON, FROM DEFENDING IT IN THE AMERICAN / REVOLUTION TO CREATING AND PRESERVING ITS ECONOMIC, / CULTURAL AND ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE, THEIR RECORD OF / COMMUNITY SERVICE IS ONE OF THAT WE, THE CITIZENS OF / WILMINGTON, PROUDLY ACKNOWLEDGE IN DEDICATING THIS SPACE / AS KENAN PLAZA. / ERECTED BY THE COMMUNITY 20 OCTOBER 1992
Pet Shop Boys, "Inside a Dream" -- and then "More than a Dream":
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