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Editor Portrait of a Patriot by Donna Clark, ATHENS MAGAZINE, August 1994, page 32, is the customary blend of myth and personal invention presented as perpendicular fact by local pseudo historians. In particular, the story of Elijah Clarke, page 34, riding up and down the Savannah, shouting "The British are Coming," and leading refugees to Kentucky is an entirely new slant on history. The population of Kentucky did increase from about 100 souls to approximately 30,000 during a war that was very unpopular in Georgia but there is no evidence that General Clarke took time off from harassing the British to lead wagon trains there. Incidentally, that should be Matriot, one that loves their country like a mother, not patriot, one that loves their country like a father. One would expect a publication that recently downgraded Athens Beloved "Miss Moina" to "Ms Michael" in the name of Political Correctness to know better. See my letter of May 26, 1994, to the ATHENS DAILY NEWS. Actually, Matriot or one who loves their country like a mother is not a satisfactory term as it perpetuates the assumption that only those who have reproduced can love their country. Homiriot or one who loves their country like a human is a rather pale insipid term and lacks the fire of patriot but then no sacrifice is too great when made in the cause of Political Correctness. There is also no evidence that an Elizabeth Ellett (sic) wrote Heroic Women in the 1830s. Elizabeth F. Ellet wrote The Women of the American Revolution in 1848 and did include what is the first dated account of Nancy Hart in print. George White included a Nancy Hart sketch in his Historical Collections of Georgia in 1853. White stated that this sketch had originally appeared in the Yorkville S.C. Pioneer but neglected to cite a date of publication. The date could have been anytime between 1823 and 1853. Lucian Lamar Knight included a Nancy Hart sketch in his 1913 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends. Knight credited the 1825 Milledgeville Southern Recorder as the source. George Gillman Smith also cited the 1825 Southern Recorder as the source of a Nancy Hart sketch in a 1901 Atlanta Journal article. Smith did not cite an exact date either. Nancy's whereabouts following Ben's death in Brunswick are not in the least bit mysterious. She moved to Athens, Georgia or at least Clarke County. See Deed Book B, pp. 387-388, in the Clerk's Office, Clarke County Courthouse for a power of attorney. Also see Deed Book A B E F, p. 252 in Clerks Office, Glynn County Courthouse, Brunswick, Georgia for a copy of a deed formally in the Clark County Courthouse. Following her sojourn in Clarke County Nancy moved to Henderson County Kentucky without the assistance of Elijah Clarke. Nancy's son John died in Henderson County Kentucky in October 1821 and his will is on file. See Will Book A, 1799 to 1821, pp. 346-348 in Clerk's Office, Courthouse, Henderson County Kentucky . Lucian Lamar Knight reported Nancy Hart's migration to Kentucky in his 1913 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends. John Hart was High Sheriff of Jackson County Georgia prior to the formation of Clarke County and was one of the commissioners appointed to supervise the organization of Clarke County and to contract for constructing the courthouse and jail. The La Grange, Georgia all female Nancy Hart Confederate Militia Company and the United States Marine Corps Nancy Hart Squad are tales for another day. The exact date of Nancy Hart's death is not known but her tombstone bears the date 1830 and while a tombstone may not be conclusive it is certainly presumptive and highly persuasive. RICHARD E. IRBY, JR. Letters Editor Yet Another Bit Of Southern History Many Southern Ladies were familiar with fire arms and did not hesitate to strike a blow for Southern Liberty when an opportunity occurred. The Southern Watchman, August 10, 1864, reported that Mrs. W. S. Whitehead of Jackson county had captured four of Stoneman's Yankee raiders single handed. The incident was a reenactment of Nancy Hart's legendary capture of several marauding Tories. The Yankees raiders, like their detested Tory predecessors, accosted an apparently defenseless female, demanded breakfast and rapidly found themselves on the business end of their own weapons. Mrs. W. S. Whitehead evidently had a kinder heart than Nancy Hart as she granted her captives request to be treated as prisoners of war and delivered them up to Confederate troops. Nancy Hart, depending on which version of the saga you subscribe to, shot one of her prisoners and when assistance arrived vetoed summary execution by firing squad as too good for Tories and supervised the immediate hanging of the lot. Nancy Hart has been described as "Patagonian," "six feet high, very muscular, and erect in her gait," "cross-eyed, with a broad angular mouth, ungainly in figure, rude in speech, and awkward in manners," "vulgar and illiterate, ...". Those Tories must have been ravenous to demand breakfast from some one answering to this description and faint from hunger to suppose her harmless. The crossed-eyes have been credited for Nancy Hart's success in holding several desperate men at bay. None of them could be sure which one she was looking at and there was only one way to settle the issue and that was to risk being shot. In one version of the story, she did kill one Tory, wound another and bring a third gun to bear before the survivors could react. The wounded Tory was hung with the others. One Confederate Spy styled herself Nancy Hart. It is not known whether Nancy Hart was her name or a nom de guerre assumed by self prescriptive right. More than one female Soldier of Fortune has styled herself Nancy Hart. In any event, a young lady from the Virginia mountains embraced the Southern Cause & provided signal service in the War for Southern Liberty as Nancy Hart. She provided Stonewall Jackson with details on Federal troop movements in West Virginia & personally guided raids on Federal Posts. Her work was so valuable that the Federals offered a large reward for her capture. The Ninth West Virginia captured Nancy at Summerville in July 1862. An itinerant photographer took her picture which causes considerable confusion as many people assume it to be a picture of the original Nancy Hart. The original Nancy Hart was cross-eyed & our Spy was not. Nancy Hart, our Spy, relieved the guard of his musket & shot him dead with his own weapon following the photo opportunity. She escaped on Colonel Starr's horse. Our heroine came into Summerville at a gallop on July 26, 1862, with Major Bailey & two hundred hard bitten Confederate cavalrymen hard on her heels. She fired the town & captured Colonel Starr along with a large number of officers & men. Nancy & her avenging raiders disappeared over the Sutton Road with their prisoners without resistance or interference. RICHARD E. IRBY, JR. |