Harriet (Hattie) Grant was the daughter of William J. Grant and Harriet Serena Chesnut making her the granddaughter of James Chesnut Sr., patriarch and owner of Mulberry Plantation. In the last 35 pages of Professor Woodward’s “Mary Chesnut’s Civil War” Hattie is discussed extensively. Throughout the pages are discussions of when her finance Richard (Dick) Stockton would return from the war and marry her. Johnny Chesnut, a cousin of Hattie’s, doubted Dick would return: “He ain’t coming ---I’ll bet you anything.” Hattie was sure he would. She frequently went down to the ferry awaiting his arrival. Finally, Dick, with the light hair and blue eyes, returned. She was elated, but she puts one condition on the marriage. She would only marry him as long as he would take her out of the South. This demand was quite a gamble by Hattie and exhibited her headstrong personality.
Dick was an acceptable candidate for Hattie for three reasons. First, she was now almost 30. For the time, this was a little late in life to be getting married. Most brides were normally between 17 to 19. Second, he fought for the southern cause and was a confederate soldier. And third, he was from a fine family. His grandfather had signed the Declaration of Independence.
Dick accepts the precondition, and they were married at Hattie’s Aunt Mary Cox (Chesnut} Reynold’s house on July 26, 1865. They spend the first week at Mary Serena Chesnut (Williams) Witherspoon’s, a cousin, and then returned to Dick’s family home in New Jersey. Hattie had her wish and lived the rest of her life north of the Mason-Dixon line.
