Difference between revisions of "Mary Boykin Chesnut" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | ( | + | (March 31, 1823 – November 22, 1886), Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut better known as '''Mary Boykin Chesnut''', was a [[South Carolina]] author noted for writing a sophisticated diary describing the [[American Civil War]] and her circles of Southern society. In 1981 it was republished under the title ''Mary Chesnut's Civil War''. It won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] in 1982. |
==Early life == | ==Early life == | ||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
==Marriage== | ==Marriage== | ||
| − | After many years’ courtship, Mary Boykin Miller married [[James Chesnut, Jr.]] (1815–85) on | + | After many years’ courtship, Mary Boykin Miller married [[James Chesnut, Jr.]] (1815–85) on April 23, 1840. He was a lawyer and politician eight years her senior and became later a U.S. Senator from South Carolina like her father. He served in the [[United_States_Senate|Senate]] from 1858 until South Carolina's [[Secession_in_the_United_States|secession]] from the [[Union_(American_Civil_War)|Union]] in 1860. Once the Civil War broke out, James Chesnut, Jr. became an aide to President [[Jefferson Davis]] and a [[brigadier general]] in the [[Confederate Army]]. |
Mary Chesnut was intelligent and witty and took actively part in her husband’s career. The Chesnuts’ marriage was at times stormy due to difference in temperament (she was hot-tempered and passionate and came occasionally to regard her husband as cool and reserved). Nevertheless their companionship was mostly warm and affectionate. They had no children.<ref>Chesnut, ''Mary Chesnut's Civil War'', ''passim''.</ref> | Mary Chesnut was intelligent and witty and took actively part in her husband’s career. The Chesnuts’ marriage was at times stormy due to difference in temperament (she was hot-tempered and passionate and came occasionally to regard her husband as cool and reserved). Nevertheless their companionship was mostly warm and affectionate. They had no children.<ref>Chesnut, ''Mary Chesnut's Civil War'', ''passim''.</ref> | ||
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==Her diary== | ==Her diary== | ||
| − | Mary Boykin Chesnut began her diary on | + | Mary Boykin Chesnut began her diary on February 18, 1861, and ended it on June 26, 1865. During much of that time she was an eyewitness to many historic events as she accompanied her husband to many significant places of the Civil War. Among them were [[Montgomery, Alabama]] and [[Richmond, Virginia]], where the [[Provisional_Confederate_Congress|Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America]] convened, Charleston, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, [[Columbia, South Carolina]], where her husband served as the Chief of the Department of the Military of South Carolina and brigadier general in command of South Carolina reserve forces, and again Richmond, where her husband served as an aide to president. At times they also lived with her parents-in-law in a house called [[Mulberry Plantation]] near Camden, in the midst of thousands of acres of plantation and woodland but with many visitors. |
| − | The diary was of her impression of events as they unfolded during the Civil War, but she also edited it after the war for publication. She was very politically aware, and analyzed the changing fortunes of the South and its various classes. | + | The diary was of her impression of events as they unfolded during the Civil War, but she also edited it after the war for publication. She was very politically aware, and analyzed the changing fortunes of the South and its various classes. She also portrayed southern society and the mixed roles of men and women, including the complex and fraught situations related to slavery. For instance, Chesnut confronted the problem of white men fathering children with enslaved women in their own extended households. |
| − | She was conscious of trying to create a work of literature and described the people in penetrating and enlivening terms. She revised it in the 1870s and 1880s for publication, but kept its character of unfolding and surprising events. | + | She was conscious of trying to create a work of literature and described the people in penetrating and enlivening terms. She revised it in the 1870s and 1880s for publication, but kept its character of unfolding and surprising events. Literary scholars have called the Chesnut diary the most important work by a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] author. Chesnut captured the growing difficulties of all classes of the Confederacy. |
Because Chesnut had no children, before her death she gave her diary to her closest friend Isabella D. Martin and urged her to have it published. The diary was first published in 1905 as a heavily edited and abridged edition. | Because Chesnut had no children, before her death she gave her diary to her closest friend Isabella D. Martin and urged her to have it published. The diary was first published in 1905 as a heavily edited and abridged edition. | ||
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
[[Ken Burns]] used extensive readings from Chesnut's diary in his 1990 [[documentary film|documentary]] [[television series]], ''[[The Civil War (documentary)|The Civil War]]''. [[Academy Award]]-nominated actress [[Julie Harris]] read these sections. | [[Ken Burns]] used extensive readings from Chesnut's diary in his 1990 [[documentary film|documentary]] [[television series]], ''[[The Civil War (documentary)|The Civil War]]''. [[Academy Award]]-nominated actress [[Julie Harris]] read these sections. | ||
| − | On March 1, 2000, the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]] announced that [[Mulberry Plantation]], the house of James and Mary Boykin Chesnut in [[Camden, South Carolina]], had been designated a [[National Historic Landmark]], the highest designation, due to its importance to America's national heritage and literature.<ref name="Nomination for Mulberry Plantation"/> The [[plantation]] was where Mary Boykin Chesnut resided when she wrote most of her diary. | + | On March 1, 2000, the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]] announced that [[Mulberry Plantation]], the house of James and Mary Boykin Chesnut in [[Camden, South Carolina]], had been designated a [[National Historic Landmark]], the highest designation, due to its importance to America's national heritage and literature.<ref name="Nomination for Mulberry Plantation"/> The [[plantation]] was where Mary Boykin Chesnut resided when she wrote most of her diary. She recorded events of the Civil War and her observations on their effect on the home front and [[the South]]. The plantation and its buildings was also representative of James and Mary Chesnut's elite social and political class. |
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
Revision as of 17:37, 1 February 2009
(March 31, 1823 – November 22, 1886), Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut better known as Mary Boykin Chesnut, was a South Carolina author noted for writing a sophisticated diary describing the American Civil War and her circles of Southern society. In 1981 it was republished under the title Mary Chesnut's Civil War. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982.
Early life
She was born Mary Boykin Miller on March 31, 1823, on her grandparents' plantation, near Stateburg, South Carolina, in the High Hills of Santee. Her parents were Mary Boykin (1804–85) and her husband Stephen Decatur Miller (1788–1838), who had served as a U.S. Representative (1817–19) and later became the governor of South Carolina (1829–30) and a U.S. Senator (1831–31).
She was educated in Charleston at Mme. Talvande's French School for Young Ladies, where she became fluent in French and German and received a strong education.[1]
Marriage
After many years’ courtship, Mary Boykin Miller married James Chesnut, Jr. (1815–85) on April 23, 1840. He was a lawyer and politician eight years her senior and became later a U.S. Senator from South Carolina like her father. He served in the Senate from 1858 until South Carolina's secession from the Union in 1860. Once the Civil War broke out, James Chesnut, Jr. became an aide to President Jefferson Davis and a brigadier general in the Confederate Army.
Mary Chesnut was intelligent and witty and took actively part in her husband’s career. The Chesnuts’ marriage was at times stormy due to difference in temperament (she was hot-tempered and passionate and came occasionally to regard her husband as cool and reserved). Nevertheless their companionship was mostly warm and affectionate. They had no children.[2]
As Mary Chesnut described in depth in her diary, the Chesnuts had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in the society of the South and the Confederacy. Among their friends were, for example, Confederate general John Bell Hood, Confederate politician John L. Manning, Confederate general and politician John S. Preston and his wife Caroline, Confederate general and politician Wade Hampton III, Confederate politician Clement C. Clay and his wife Virginia, and Confederate general and politician Louis T. Wigfall and his wife Charlotte. The Chesnuts were also intimate family friends of President Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina Howell.
Mary Boykin Chesnut died in her own home in Camden, South Carolina in 1886 and was buried next to her husband in Knights Hill Cemetery in Camden, South Carolina.[3]
Her diary
Mary Boykin Chesnut began her diary on February 18, 1861, and ended it on June 26, 1865. During much of that time she was an eyewitness to many historic events as she accompanied her husband to many significant places of the Civil War. Among them were Montgomery, Alabama and Richmond, Virginia, where the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America convened, Charleston, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Columbia, South Carolina, where her husband served as the Chief of the Department of the Military of South Carolina and brigadier general in command of South Carolina reserve forces, and again Richmond, where her husband served as an aide to president. At times they also lived with her parents-in-law in a house called Mulberry Plantation near Camden, in the midst of thousands of acres of plantation and woodland but with many visitors.
The diary was of her impression of events as they unfolded during the Civil War, but she also edited it after the war for publication. She was very politically aware, and analyzed the changing fortunes of the South and its various classes. She also portrayed southern society and the mixed roles of men and women, including the complex and fraught situations related to slavery. For instance, Chesnut confronted the problem of white men fathering children with enslaved women in their own extended households.
She was conscious of trying to create a work of literature and described the people in penetrating and enlivening terms. She revised it in the 1870s and 1880s for publication, but kept its character of unfolding and surprising events. Literary scholars have called the Chesnut diary the most important work by a Confederate author. Chesnut captured the growing difficulties of all classes of the Confederacy.
Because Chesnut had no children, before her death she gave her diary to her closest friend Isabella D. Martin and urged her to have it published. The diary was first published in 1905 as a heavily edited and abridged edition.
Publication history
- 1905, A Diary from Dixie.
- 1949: An expanded edition, edited by Ben Ames Williams and annotated to identify the many different people and places.
- 1981, a new edition entitled Mary Chesnut's Civil War edited by C. Vann Woodward.
Honors and Legacy
In 1982, Mary Chesnut's Diary, edited by C. Vann Woodward, won a Pulitzer Prize.
Ken Burns used extensive readings from Chesnut's diary in his 1990 documentary television series, The Civil War. Academy Award-nominated actress Julie Harris read these sections.
On March 1, 2000, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that Mulberry Plantation, the house of James and Mary Boykin Chesnut in Camden, South Carolina, had been designated a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation, due to its importance to America's national heritage and literature.[1] The plantation was where Mary Boykin Chesnut resided when she wrote most of her diary. She recorded events of the Civil War and her observations on their effect on the home front and the South. The plantation and its buildings was also representative of James and Mary Chesnut's elite social and political class.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nomination for Mulberry Plantation National Park Service, accessed 29 May 2008
- ↑ Chesnut, Mary Chesnut's Civil War, passim.
- ↑ Mary Boykin Chesnut, Find A Grave listing
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Chesnut, Mary Boykin, Mary Chesnut's Civil War (New Haven: Yale University Press 1981), ed. C. Vann Woodward.
External links
- Electronic copy of Mary Chesnut's A Diary from Dixie, 1905 edition, Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill
- Mary Boykin Chesnut, "About Famous People" Biography
- Mulberry Plantation (James and Mary Boykin Chesnut House), National Historic Landmarks Program, National Park Service
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