Notes

Mary Boy kin Miller Chestnut (March 31, 1823 – November 22, 1886), better known as Mary Chestnut, was a South Carolina author noted for writing a diary describing the American Civil War and her circles of Southern society. In 1981 it was republished under the title Mary Chestnut's Civil War and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982.
As the daughter of a governor and senator from South Carolina and wife of senator and Confederate General James Chestnut, Jr., who was an aide to President Jefferson Davis, she knew intimately the Confederacy's political and military leaders.She spoke French fluently and also worked daily in hospitals aiding the sick and wounded.After the war she and her husband struggled to recoup their financial losses but never succeeded in reestablishing themselves as wealthy and powerful members of South Carolina society.She was born on March 31, 1823, on her grandparents' plantation, near States burg, South Carolina.Mary Chestnut's parents were Mary Boykin who lived from 1804-1885 and Stephen Decatur Miller who lived from 1788–1833. When she was born her father was one of South Carolina's state senators. In 1828 he became the governor of South Carolina and in 1830 a U. S. Senator.After several years of courtship, Mary Boykin Miller married James Chesnut, Jr.Who lived from 1815 – 1885 at the age of 17 on April 23, 1840. He was a lawyer who had graduated from Princeton University in 1835.