I Don't Think Those Yankees Are Kin

When I spell out our surname and insist there is no t in the middle, I am occasionally asked if we are related to Mary Chesnut, the author of A Diary from Dixie which is used as primary source material for many historians of the Civil War/War Between the States.
"Oh yes, I know who you mean: Mary, the wife of cousin James. We are going to her house for a visit in the summer of 2009."

When I made the reservation for our one-night stay at Chesnut Cottage Bed & Breakfast, I told the host, Gale Garrett, he knew how to spell our last name.

"Are you related?"

This time, as a serious family historian and amateur genealogist, I admitted I had not been able to yet document the familial relationship. If my husband is related to her husband, the relationship is no closer than a fourth-cousin, many-times-removed.
We walked around historic sites of Columbia SC. A short, rain shower only raised the humidity and heat for which Columbia, SC is famous so we returned to our room for an afternoon nap.

An hour into our nap, I heard a rattling of the glass in our room door, as if someone were shaking the door or a wind gust blew against it. By the time I got to the door, no human was on the other side. In my drowsy state, I muttered to whatever spirits might still linger in any old house, "Thanks for letting us stay here. I appreciate it."

At our breakfast the next morning, Gale Garrett told us of the unexplained noises he heard during the renovation of the house and of the photographed cat who did not appear in printed pictures. Now I can imagine my experience was the spirit of our Southern lady declaiming, "I do not think those Yankees are kin."