NISH: The South's Man of Mystery and Deception

NISH is a historical novel based on the life of Abraham Dionysius Chenault, a minister and physician from Lincoln County, Georgia, who lived from the 1830s-1880s. Nish, as folks called him, is perhaps best-known for being tortured by a fanatical Union general in his search for the proceeds from the robbery of a wagon train of gold in the summer of 1865. The beloved planter was an outspoken supporter of secession and a popular preacher at Methodist camp meetings, despite lacking formal religious training. After relocating to Northeast Georgia, Chenault became a Presbyterian preacher and held himself out as a physician, while lacking any formal medical education. Bad financial dealings and poor business relationships threatened to expose his incredibly creative deception and destroy his facade as a trusted, well-respected pillar in his community. NISH could best be described as the South's man of mystery and deception.