Nancy Hart: Difference between revisions
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{{for|the Confederate spy|Nancy Hart Douglas}} |
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[[File:Nancy Hart.jpg|thumb|right|Nancy Hart, as depicted in an 1896 book]] |
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'''Nancy Morgan Hart''' (c. 1735 – 1830) was a heroine of the [[American Revolutionary War]] whose exploits against [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] in the [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] backcountry are the stuff of legend. Because stories about her are mostly unsupported by contemporary documentation, it is impossible to entirely distinguish fact from [[folklore]]. |
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Although explicit details concerning most of her life are unknown, it is widely assumed that Nancy Ann Morgan Hart was born in [[North Carolina]], in the [[Yadkin River]] valley (although some believe that she was born in [[Pennsylvania]]), around 1735 (some say 1747). She died in 1830 in [[Henderson County, Kentucky|Henderson County]], [[Kentucky]], where she was buried. During the early 1770s, Hart and her family left North Carolina and made their way into [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], eventually settling in the fertile [[Broad River (Georgia)|Broad River]] valley.<ref name=nge>Clay Ouzts. [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2876 "Nancy Hart (ca. 1735-1830)"] (last updated January 29, 2010). ''[[New Georgia Encyclopedia]]''. This article incorpono she dint |
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\rates text from this source, which is released under a Creative Commons license (see [[Talk:Nancy Hart|talk page]] for details. All derived works must credit the NGE and the original author.</ref> |
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Hart was well connected through family ties to many prominent figures in early American history. She was a cousin to [[Revolutionary War]] general [[Daniel Morgan]], who commanded victorious American forces at the [[Battle of Cowpens]] in [[South Carolina]] on January 17, 1781. Her husband, Benjamin Hart, came from a distinguished family that later produced such famous political figures as [[Missouri]] [[United States Senate|senator]] [[Thomas Hart Benton (senator)|Thomas Hart Benton]] and Kentucky senator [[Henry Clay]].<ref name=nge/> |
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According to contemporary accounts, "Aunt Nancy," as she was often called, was a tall, gangly girl . She was rough-hewn and rawboned, with red hair and a [[smallpox]]-scarred face. One early account pointed out that Hart had "no share of beauty—a fact she herself would have readily acknowledged, had she ever enjoyed an opportunity of looking into a mirror".<ref name=nge/> |
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Hart's physical appearance was matched by a feisty personal demeanor characterized by a hotheaded temper, a fearless spirit, and a penchant for exacting vengeance upon those who offended her or harmed her family and friends. Local Native Americans soon began to refer to her as "Wahatche", which may have meant "war woman". She was also a domineering wife. Many remembered that she, rather than her husband, ran the Hart household, which eventually included six sons and two daughters. Although she was illiterate, Hart was amply blessed with the skills and knowledge necessary for frontier survival; she was an expert [[herbalist]], a skilled hunter and killer, and an excellent shot.<ref name=nge/> |
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==Capturing British soldiers== |
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According to the most famous story about her during the Revolution, a group of [[Tory#American Revolution|"Tory"]] soldiers (5 or 6) came by her house either looking for food or a [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Whig]] they were pursuing. The soldiers demanded that she cook them one of the turkeys in her yard before they left. She sent her daughter to the well for water. |
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She agreed to feed the Tory soldiers. As they entered the cabin, they placed their guns by the door and sat down at her table to eat. As they were drinking and eating, she was pushing their guns through a hole in the wall of her log cabin. After they had been drinking a sufficient time, she grabbed one of the remaining guns and threatened the men not to move. One ignored her threats, so she killed him. Another made a move toward the weapons and was also killed by Hart. The remaining Tories were held captive until her husband, Benjamin Hart, and neighbors arrived. According to legend, her husband wanted to shoot the soldiers, but she demanded that they be hanged. They were hanged on a nearby tree. |
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There exist various versions of this story, all of which agree in general, but provide different details. McIntosh quotes two such stories.<ref>McIntosh, John H. ''The Official History of Elbert County, 1790-1935 (Supplement 1935-39 by Stephen Heard Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, organized 1901, Elberton, Georgia).'' Edited and published by Stephen Heard Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1940, pp. 17-22.</ref> Cook provides another version from an 1825 newspaper.<ref>Cook, Anna Maria Green. ''History of Baldwin County Georgia.'' Anderson, S.C.: Keys-Hearn Printing Co., 1925, pp. 165-66.</ref> |
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Construction crews working on the Elberton and Eastern Railroad in the area in 1912 seemed to have validated this story.<ref>"Skeletons of Six Tories Hanged Near Elberton, Found," ''The Atlanta Constitution'', December 23, 1912, p. 3.</ref><ref name="1912 article">[http://georgiaobits.net/Misc.Articles,Part%202.htm#Nancy%20Hart's%20Tory%20Skeletons ''Skeletons of Tories Killed by Nancy Hart Unearthed Tuesday'', '''Lavonia Times and Gauge''' 3 Jan 1913]</ref> While grading a railroad site less than a mile from the old Hart Cabin, the workers found five or six skeletons buried neatly in a row. A few of the skeletons' necks were broken which hinted of hanging. They were declared to have been buried for at least near to 100 years. |
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==Other stories about Nancy Hart== |
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Mrs. Louisa H. Kendall, whose uncle was Jonny Hart, son of Nancy Hart, wrote a letter in 1872 recalling some of the stories her mother had heard from Nancy Edith Hart.<ref>Cook, ''op.cit.'', pp. 159-60</ref> |
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According to this letter, once when she was taking a bag of grain to the mill, a band of Tories forced her off her horse and threw the grain on the ground. Undaunted, the muscular, six-foot Nancy picked up the heavy bag and walked the rest of the way to the mill. |
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The letter also tells about Nancy acting as an unofficial Revolutionary War sniper, killing Tories as they came across the river. |
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Alamony also quotes a Mr.Snach, who was related to the Harts, about a time when Nancy was cooking lye soap in her cabin when she discovered a spy looking in through the cracks in the wood chimney. She splashed the boiling soap into his eyes, then went outside and tied him up.<ref>McIntosh, ''op. cit.'', p. 17</ref> |
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There are two stories about Nancy dressing as a man (and perhaps acting “crazy”), entering Tory camps and gaining information of military value.<ref>Mcintosh, ''op.cit.'', pp. 21-22</ref> |
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According to folklore, the local Native Americans referred to her "Wahatche" which could have meant "War Woman", and named a creek for her. However, Mooney disputes this, and notes that there are records of the creek's name as early as 1775, and “Several cases of women acting the part of warriors are on record among the Cherokee.”<ref>Mooney, James. ''Myths of the Cherokee.'' New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995, a reproduction of ''Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1897-98: in Two Parts—Part I.'' Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1900, p. 419.</ref> |
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==Life after the war== |
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Broad River settlement for several years after the Revolution. In 1790 the area was cut from Wilkes County and incorporated into a new county, called [[Elbert County, Georgia|Elbert]]. By then Nancy Hart had found religion through a new [[Methodism|Methodist]] society that had formed in her neighborhood. According to former Georgia governor [[George Rockingham Gilmer]], who knew Hart, tells a story about Nancy becoming “religious” after the War. “A Methodist society was formed in her neighborhood. She went to the house of worship in search of relief. She found the good people assembled in class meeting, and the door closed against intruders. She took out her knife, cut the fastening and stalked in. She heard how the wicked might work out their salvation; became a shouting Christian, fought the devil as manfully as she fought the Tories . . .”<ref>Gilmer, George R. ''Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia, of the Cherokees, and the Author.'' New York 1855, 1926, p.90. (Reprinted 1965 by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, and 1989 by Heritage Papers, Danielsville, Georgia. Much of what Gilmer wrote is quoted with attribution to H. B. Mitchell in Cook, ''op.cit.'', pp. 160-162.)</ref> The indomitable woman "went to the house of worship in search of relief. She . . became a shouting Christian, [and] fought the Devil as manfully as she had [once] fought the Tories."<ref name=nge/> |
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During the late 1780s, the Harts moved to [[Brunswick, Georgia|Brunswick]]. (Some accounts suggest that they may have spent time in [[Alabama]] and [[South Carolina]] as well). Benjamin Hart died shortly thereafter. Nancy Hart then moved back to the Broad River settlement, only to find that a flood had washed away the cabin. Eventually she settled with her son, John, along the [[Oconee River]] in [[Clarke County, Georgia|Clarke County]] near [[Athens, Georgia|Athens]]. Around 1803 John Hart took his mother and family to Henderson County, Kentucky, to live near relatives. Hart spent the remaining years of her life there. She was buried in the Hart family cemetery a few miles outside of Henderson.<ref name=nge/><ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=16616031 Find a grave for Nancy Hart]</ref> |
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==Legacy== |
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On the approximate site of Hart's frontier cabin along River Road in Elbert County, the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a replica cabin, using chimney stones from the original cabin, which had stood on the crest of a large hill overlooking Wahatche Creek.<ref name=nge/> |
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Georgians have memorialized Nancy Hart in a number of ways. [[Hart County, Georgia|Hart County]], Elbert County's neighbor to the north, was named for her, as was its county seat, [[Hartwell, Georgia|Hartwell]]. In the same general area, [[Lake Hartwell]] and the [[Nancy Hart Highway]] ([[Georgia Route 77]]) commemorate the legendary woman. During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] (1861–65), a group of women in [[LaGrange, Georgia|LaGrange]] founded a militia company named the Nancy Harts to defend the town from the [[Union army]]. In 1997 Hart was inducted into [[Georgia Women of Achievement]].<ref name=nge/> |
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Various things in Georgia named after Nancy Hart include: |
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*The '''Nancy Harts''' - a militia of women from [[LaGrange, Georgia]] during the time of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]<ref name ="Troup Archives">[http://www.trouparchives.org/harts.html Troup County Historical Society Archives]</ref><ref name="nh historical marker">[http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gahistmarkers/nancyhartshistmarker.htm Georgia Historical Marker for the "Nancy Harts"]</ref> |
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*[[Hart County, Georgia|Hart County]] - the only one of Georgia's 159 counties that is named after a woman |
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*[[Hartwell, Georgia]] - the [[county seat]] of Hart County |
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*[[Hartwell Dam]]<ref name=LakeHartwellHistory>[http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/lakes/hartwell/history.htm Army Corps of Engineers History of Hartwell Dam and Lake Hartwell]</ref> |
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*[[Lake Hartwell]]<ref name=LakeHartwellHistory/> |
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*[[Hart State Park]] |
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*[[Nancy Creek (Atlanta)|Nancy Creek]] - located in north Atlanta |
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*[[Warwoman Creek]] and Warwoman Rapids, both watershed on Section III of the [[Chattooga River]]. |
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*'''Nancy Hart Highway''' - located in Hart County.<ref name="Nancy Hart Highway">[http://web.archive.org/web/20091027131202/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6651/photo/nhhwy.html Nancy Hart Highway]</ref> |
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*The [[Milledgeville, Georgia]] chapter of the [[National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution]] (NSDAR).<ref name="Milledgeville DAR Chapter">[http://www.friendsofcems.org/NSDAR/ Milledgeville, Georgia Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution]</ref> |
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'''Nancy Hart''' is also confused with [[Nancy Hart Douglas]] of Civil War Fame. |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2876 Georgia Encyclopedia Nancy Hart entry] |
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*[http://www.gawomen.org/honorees/hartn.htm Nancy Morgan Hart] |
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*[http://web.archive.org/web/20091027001259/http://geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6651/ Another Nancy Hart Bio site] |
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*[http://www.hartcountyga.org/about.htm# Hart County History] |
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*[http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/lakes/hartwell/hart.htm Army Corps of Engineers Nancy Hart info] |
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==References== |
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<div class="references-small" style=ty"-moz-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;"> |
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<references/> |
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{{Georgia Women of Achievement}} |
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
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| NAME = Hart, Nancy |
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| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
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| SHORT DESCRIPTION = |
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| DATE OF BIRTH = |
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| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
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| DATE OF DEATH = 1830 |
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| PLACE OF DEATH = |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Nancy}} |
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[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]] |
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[[Category:1830 deaths]] |
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Revision as of 13:18, 25 October 2013
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