As the Piedmont Hotel was undergoing renovations about 10 years ago, Joe Whitaker showed a visitor around, then took him to other sites in Gainesville honoring Confederate Gen. James Longstreet. Whitaker didn’t know who the man was, but a couple weeks later, the phone rang. The man worked for a wealthy man in Natchez, Miss., who was moving to Hawaii and sent the employee to find a place to donate his historical furniture, some dating to the 1700s and 1800s. He informed Whitaker the Piedmont Hotel, once owned by Longstreet, had been chosen to receive a large truckload of the furniture.