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Mary Boykin Chesnut – A Biography If it hadn’t been for that one simple book that wasn’t really a book at all, history may never have known Mary Boykin Chesnut. The book in reference is Mrs. Chesnut’s “Diary from Dixie”. Dixie was a journal from her accounts as a member of the elite of the old south. She was witness to the major events of the war, both beginning and ending. From the firing at Fort Sumter through the days of Lee’s surrender, Mary Chesnut recorded the happenings during this period for posterity’s sake. Mrs. Chesnut was born Mary Boykin Miller in a small community in Statesburg, SC in 1823. Her mother was quite young at 19 but her father, who had been married before but whose wife had past away, was a South Carolina Senator and had served a term in the U.S. Congress. In fact, Mary’s father, Stephen Decatur Miller, introduced what would become the foundation of the “States Rights” party. Her father once again became a Congressman and headed off to Washington D.C. While Mary’s father was gone, she officially began her schooling in Camden, SC. It was shortly after she had become familiar with Camden, and Camden’s elite with her, that she was first introduced to “Colonel Chesnut of Mulb