Anne Nancy Morgan

  General Notes:

Nancy Morgan Hart was a real person! She is one of many women recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution as a Patriot during the American Revolutionary War. Nancy and her family have had many tributes paid to them. Hart County Georgia was created from Franklin and Elbert in 1853. A correspondent of the Savannah Morning News said that it was called Hart County ... "to perpetuate the memory of that 'Honey of a patriot' mentioned in George White's Statistics, under the name of Nancy Hart, and a fit tribute for such a brave hearted woman." Nancy's daughter Sukey Hart, was a patriot in the Revolutionary War. Sukey Hart helped by carrying her mother's messages to the local Revolutionary militia. The Sukey Hart Chapter, DAR was organized on October 7, 1982, in Warner Robins, Georgia. The Nancy Hart Highway was named by the Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution, and marker erected by the John Benson Chapter, DAR, Hartwell, Georgia March, 1928. The General Samuel Hopkins Chapter, DAR of Henderson County, Kentucky, in 1930 honored Nancy Morgan Hart with a monument. These are just a few of many! {See Nancy Hart HWY}

Nancy Morgan Hart was born Anne MORGAN, circa 1744 or 1747, possibly in Orange County, North Carolina. Her parentage has not positively been proven. Traditionally and many records have claimed her father and mother were Thomas and Rebecca Alexander Morgan. However, more recent evidence strongly indicates the possibility that her parents were actually Mark Morgan and Sarah.


Nancy married Benjamin Hart, born in Hanover Co., Virginia, who moved with his family to Caswell County after 1755. Benjamin and Nancy had at least eight children. It is thought that the Harts moved to Edgefield District, South Carolina and then settled on the Broad River between where Elbert and Wilkes Georgia Counties are today around 1771. They were residing there in Wilkes County when the Revolutionary War erupted. It is believed that Benjamin, Nancy with possibly three of their sons, Morgan, John, and Thomas, participated in the Battle of Kettle Creek, February 14, 1779. After the war they moved to Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia.{Cabin}


After Benjamin's death around the turn of the century, Nancy moved to Clarke County Georgia, where her son John lived, and about 1802/03 they moved to Henderson County, Kentucky where Nancy remained until her death, reportedly at the age of 93.{Grave Site}


Some say Nancy was a firebrand. It's been said of Nancy that she stood six feet tall, had flaming red hair, and apparently was quite a marksman with her musket. The neighboring Indians called her "Wahatchee", meaning "War Woman" out of the healthy respect and fear they had for her.


Some controversy has existed in the past as to whether or not Nancy Hart was a real person, or a figment of someone's over-active imagination. A minor Georgia historian, Rev. G. G. Smith, wrote in The Macon Journal in the early part of this century that ...

"This is a story of fiction. There was no such person as Nancy Hart in real life. It is just a pretty story that was written by a clever writer, and it made such a hit that the character of Nancy Hart has been given a place in history."{Read Article}


Descendants and friends of Nancy Hart immediately came to her rescue, offering irrefutable documentation and personal knowledge of the woman, proving beyond any doubt that Nancy was indeed a real person. One "miffed" supporter from Hart County, Georgia wrote in the Hartwell Sun:

"The Nancy Hart Episode is assuming national importance, as Kentuckians have come forward and told us of Nancy's life, death and burial place in that state. It has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Nancy not only lived in Elbert County, but that she did very near everything that tradition gives her credit for. It is sure that the Rev. Geo. Smith is asking for mercy from the attacks on him for saying that Nancy was a myth."{Read Article}


Sometimes, though, it has been difficult to separate the fact from the myth, as it has been the tendency of her admirers to embellish the details of her accomplishments to the point where they took on Amazonian proportions. Even here with this web site I have been asked by some visitors, "Was this woman a real person?"


One of the first printed stories about Nancy Hart appeared in the Milledgeville Southern Recorder in 1825 as follows:

"One day six Tories paid Nancy a call and demanded a meal. She soon spread before them smoking venison, hoe-cakes, and fresh honeycomb. Having stacked their arms, they seated themselves, and started to eat, when Nancy quick as a flash seized one of the guns, cocked it, and with a blazing oath declared she would blow out the brains of the first mortal that offered to rise or taste a mouthful! She sent one of her sons to inform the Whigs of her prisoners. Whether uncertain because of her cross-eyes which one she was aiming at, or transfixed by her ferocity, they remained quiet. The Whigs soon arrived and dealt with the Tories according to the rules of the times."


According to Pam Wilson in The Hart of Georgia, ...."several years later the same story appeared in Godey's Lady's Book with a few changes. In this account five Tories paid a visit to their old acquaintance, Aunt Nancy. After entering her cabin, they asked if it was true she had helped a Whig rebel escape from the King's men. Nancy boldly admitted to doing so and proceeded to tell them how. She had allowed the Whig to ride through the open doors of her house into the swamp beyond. She laughed at how the King's men had been so easily fooled. Out of irritation the five Tories shot her turkey and demanded that she cook it for then. Nancy sent her daughter, Sukey to the spring to bring water, and more importantly blow the conch-shell to summon Benjamin and the neighbors. Mellowed by the liquor they drank as they waited on their meal, the Tories stacked their guns. While they ate, Nancy passed their guns through a chink in the wall. When they discovered what she was doing they jumped to their feet. Nancy brought the gun she had to her shoulder and threatened to kill the first one who moved. One made a move toward her and was promptly shot dead. When the men arrived, the other four were hanged from a nearby tree.


In later years this story was called into question. However, in 1912 when the Elberton and Eastern Railroad was being constructed, workmen unearthed a grave which contained the six human skeletons. This discovery tended to settle the question of Nancy Hart's encounter with the Tories. "{Read Article}


The Georgia Whigs used Nancy as a spy several times. One time she dressed as a man and entered the British camp, pretending to be crazy, and was able to come away with vital information on the British troop movements. Another time the Georgia Whigs badly needed information about what was going on the Carolina side of the Savannah River. As there were no volunteers for the mission, Nancy tied a few logs together with grapevines, crossed the river and obtained the needed information.


Loula Kendall Rogers says, "Many Tories lived on the other side of the river, opposite her cabin. The stories of her capturing a large number at her own table and throwing hot, boiling soap into the face of one who was peeping at her are true." She further states that, "there was a large oaken stump near her home in which she cut a notch for her gun. Concealing herself in the undergrowth around, she watched for Tories as they crossed the river, and without compunction shot them down, and blew the conch shell for her husband to deliver their bodies over to the proper authorities."{Read Article}


Georgians and Kentuckians alike can be proud to call Nancy Hart their own.



RESOURCES CONTRIBUTED BY BARB JOHNSON

Grave marker: "Nancy Morgan Hart, 1735-1830, Revolutionary Heroine Placed by Gen. Samuel Hopkin's Cahpter D.A.R."

Nancy Hart Highway, Georgia Nancy Hart Highway begins in the city of Hartwell, Hart County Georgia, and reaches through Georgia. According to the United States Bureau of Roads in Washington, D.C. in 1950, this was the only highway in the United States named for a woman.

Nancy Hart Highway marker #1: A granite marker at the corner of Carter and Benson Streets in Hartwell. This is one of several signs in the area that commemorate the Nancy Hart Highway. This particular sign is in Hartwell, Hart Co., Georgia, near Hartwell Public Libraries. The highway was named by the Georgia Daughters of the American Revolution, and marker erected by the John Benson Chapter DAR, March, 1928. Marker reads; "NANCY HART HIGHWAY NAMED BY GA. D.A.R. ERECTED BY JOHN BENSON CHAPTER MARCH 1928"

Nancy Hart Highway marker #2: This Highway marker is located just outside the City limits of Hartwell, Hart Co., Georgia. It stands at the intersection of Old and New Highway 29. It was unveiled on November 11, 1931 with Senator Richard B. Russell making the principal address in which he retold the story of Nancy Hart and the capture of the Tories. Inscription reads: ERECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE YEAR 1931 TO COMMEMORATE THE HEROISM OF NANCY HART.

DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION A PARTY OF BRITISH TORIES CAME TO HER HOME.

SINGLE HANDED SHE KILLED ONE AND WOUNDED ANOTHER.

THE REMAINDER OF THE PARTY SURRENDERED AND WERE LATER HANGED BY HER AND A FEW OF HER NEIGHBORS.


Nancy Hart Park, Elbert Co., Georgia. Reconstructed Hart cabin. It is supposedly pretty much on the original site. There is a sign indicating that some of the chimney stones are originals. Picture #1 taken by, Linda Jordan Poland, 1993. A marker on the cabin reads as follows; "This building erected by the Georgia DAR This marks the home site of Nancy Hart where she preformed many heroic deeds during the American Revolution. This tablet is placed by the Nancy Hart Chapter Milledgeville, GA. and the Stephen Heard Chapter Elberton, GA. DAR. 1952" Nancy Hart Park and the Nancy Hart Cabin, are located near Bobby Brown State Park, within an hour of Hartwell, Hart Co., GA., off Route 17, about twelve miles south of Elberton, Elbert Co., GA. Inside the park is a sign by a spring, which reads; "Spring made famous by Nancy Hart Pioneer Woman Revolutionary War Heroine Only woman for whom Georgia named a county. W.P.A. 1936 D.A.R." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- The following letter to my mother, Mrs. Louisa H. Kendall, from Dr. Neisler, formerly of Athens, dated Butler, Ga., February 8, 1872, and her reply, in relation to the history of Mrs. Hart, will give the facts much more accurately than I can state them. Dr. Neisler says: "My mother is with me and a few evenings since the conversation chanced to turn on Nancy Hart, of revolutionary fame.

She informed me that when my grandfather moved to Georgia in 1803, Nancy Hart was living with her son, John Hart from whom he had bought the lease of the place which he intended to occupy, and furthermore that this John Hart was your uncle, having married your mother's sister. I was delighted as well as surprised, for having little to engage my thoughts, I had been some time rummaging among the musty chronicles of the state, and while doing this I had met with a very meager account of Nancy Hart, and I thought I had now found the means of learning something more of that remarkable woman and her family than is generally known.

I should like to know in what county John Hart lived when he married your aunt, whether your mother knew anything that she can call to mind concerning the woman, her general appearance, her exploits, especially her capture of the Tories and in what state that took place?

John Hart was a man of considerable property for those times, was much respected and elevated far above the mass of the population of the country. I find by reference to Clayton's digest of the laws of Georgia from the year 1801 to 1810, page 35 in the act to divide the county of Jackson, passed December 5, 1801, "John Hart with four others were appointed to fix on the most convenient and central place of said county of Clarke at which courts of elections may be held," and was thus one of the fathers of Watkinsville."

The reply is as follows: "Bellwood, Upson Co., GA., Feb. 22, 1872. I shall be pleased to answer all inquiries in my power concerning Mrs. Nancy Hart, whom I have heard of ever since my childhood. She with her husband and younger children moved from Edgefield, S.C. to Georgia in its earliest history and settled on Broad river, Elbert county, where she remained many years. John Hart, her son, married one of my mother's oldest sisters, Patience Lane, in 1787. He remained in Elbert a year, then moved near my grandfather, Jesse Lane, who lived on Long creek, three miles from Lexington, in Oglethorpe county, which was a wilderness and had not been named. After living there several years Mr. Hart moved to Spark's Fort, three miles below Athens on the other side of the river, the Indians being exceedingly troublesome on this side. He only remained there one year, then bought or leased land near a valuable plantation owned by my grandfather, Lane, on the Oconee, a few miles below Athens. This property was afterwards bought by Colonel Harden. John Hart then bought the land purchased by your grandfather, Mitchell, above Athens [illegible] afterward moved to Kentucky, taking his mother, Nancy Hart, with him who was related to the Morgans of that state. Ben Hart, her husband, was brother to the celebrated Col. Thomas Hart, of Kentucky, who was father of the wife of Henry Clay. It is thought that Thomas Hart Benton is also a member of the same family.

"My mother says 'Aunt Nancy Hart', as she was always called, was in possession of considerable property when she knew her, and able to provide well for her family, though she lost much by moving from place to place.

Her husband indulged her every wish, or she always 'carried her point' at least, though she made a good wife and a very affectionate mother.

She was the mother of eight children, six sons and two daughters. The sons were Morgan, John, Thomas, Benjamin, Lemuel and Mark. The girls were Sarah, who married Hugh Thompson, and Keziah married Mr. Compton, of lower Georgia. "She often told my mother, Winnie Lane, of her exploits with the Tories, which happened in this state as she preceded my grandfather in this state many years.

"Her husband, Ben Hart, was not a coward, as some histories represent him, but was necessarily compelled to take his stock and negroes to the swamps to save them and his own life. The Tories, much to their credit, never shot at women, but killed all the men they could find unarmed. Nancy Hart was conscious of her power and was a stranger to feat, so she always went to the mill, several miles off, entirely alone, and related to my mother an incident that has never been in print. One day, while on her rounds, she was met by a band of Tories with the British colors striped on their clothing and hats. They knew her and asked for her 'pass'. She shook her fist at them and replied, 'this is my pass, touch me if you dare!'

"Being amused at her answer and wishing to have some fun, they dismounted the old lady and threw her corn to the ground, laughing at her trouble. But this did not disconcert her in the least, and with her brave, muscular strength she coolly lifted the two and a half bushels of corn and proceeded to the mill. She often boastingly said she could do what few men could, and that was to stand in a half bushel measure and shoulder two and a half bushels of corn.'

"Many Tories lived on the other side of the river, opposite her cabin, and she had many trials with them as they enjoyed worrying her. The stories of her capturing a large number at her own table, and throwing hot, boiling soap into the face of one who was peeping at her are true.

"There was a large oaken stump near her home in which she cut a notch for her gun. Concealing herself in the undergrowth around, she watched for Tories as they crossed the river, and without compunction shot them down, and blew the conch shell for her husband to deliver their bodies over to the proper authorities."

  Noted events in her life were:

• Honors: Harwell, Georgia, the county seat of Hart County was named after Nancy Hart Morgan: Hartwell, Hart County, Georgia.

• Honors: Only county in Georgia named after a woman, 1853, Hart County, Georgia.

Anne married Benjamin Hart, son of Thomas Hart, Jr. and Susan Rice, about 1764 in , Rowan Co., NC. (Benjamin Hart was born in Oct 1732 in Hanover, Virginia and died Jan 2, 1802 in Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia.)