Stephen Heard (abt. 1740 - abt. 1815)

Born about 1 Nov 1740 in Hanover County, Virginia,

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Darden) Heard — married about 1785 in Wilkes County, Georgia

Descendants

Died about 15 Nov 1815 at about age 75 in Elbert County, Georgia, United States

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Preceded by Acting Governor Humphrey Wells

Stephen Heard 14th Governor of Georgia[1] 1780

Succeeded by Acting Governor Myrick Davies

Biography

Stephen Heard is Notable.

Stephen Heard performed Patriotic Service in Georgia in the American Revolution.

Stephen Heard is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A053860.

Stephen Heard was born in Virginia in 1740 and was the son of John Heard and Bridget Carroll^[2]

Stephen joined George Washington's Virginia regiment in the French and Indian War, looking for adventure. After the war, he obtained a land grant of 150 acres in St. Paul Parish, Georgia (later known as Wilkes County) for his service. Stephen and his brother, Barnard, constructed a fort in 1773 for protection from the Indians. ^[2] The area was known as Heard's Fort until 1780, when the name was changed to Washington.^[3]

Stephen took part in the American Revolution.^[4] While he was away, Tories invaded his home and forced his wife and adopted daughter outside in the snow and they froze to death. Stephen fought in the Battle of Kettle Creek, a battle in the American Revolution that took place in Wilkes County, Georgia. He was captured by the Tories during this battle. He was set to be executed for treason, but legend has it that two of his slaves, Mammy Kate and Daddy Jack, helped Stephen escape. ^[2]

After the Revolution, Stephen received a land grant of 6,850 acres in Wilkes County. He built a home 30 miles north of the city of Washington (county seat of Wilkes county) and called it Heardmont. In 1790, the land on which Heardmont was built became part of Elbert County.^[2]

Stephen served as the Governor of Georgia from 1780-1781. Also served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1794-1795.^[5]

Stephen remarried in about 1785 to Elizabeth Darden. They had 9 children together: Barnard Carroll, Martha Burch, George Washington, John Adams, Bridget Carroll, Pamela Darden, Thomas Jefferson, Sarah Hammond, and Jane Lanier^[2][6]

Legacy

• Heard County, Georgia is named in his honor
• Fact: Occupation (from 24 May 1780 to 18 August 1781) Governor of Georgia Georgia, United States
• Fact: Burial Elberton, Elbert, Georgia, United States
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch PoliticalGraveyard.com

Heard, Stephen (1741-1815) of Elbert County , Ga. Born in Hanover County Va., November 13, 1741 . Son of John Heard, Jr. and Bridget (Carroll) Heard; married to Jane Germany; married, August 25, 1785 , to Elizabeth Darden (1765-1848); father of Jane Lanier Heard (who married Singleton Walthall Allen <), George Washington Heard, Barnard Carroll Heard and Thomas Jefferson Heard; grandfather of Sarah Heard (who married Luther H. O. Martin, Sr.), Rebecca Allen (who married William H. Mattox >), James Lawrence Heard, Robert Middleton Heard and William Henry Heard; great-grandfather of Anna Cassandra McIntosh (who married Budd Clay Wall ), Nancy Middleton Heard (who married Phillip Watkins Davis ), William Henry Harrison Heard and Luther H. O. Martin, Jr. <http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/martin6.html>. Engineer <h; planter >; served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; Governor of Georgia, 1780-81; member of Georgia state house of representatives 1794-95. Died in Elbert County , Ga., November 15, 1815 (age 74 years, 2 days ). Interment at Heard Cemetery , Elberton, Ga

When the Assembly named Richad Howley as a delegate to the Continental Congress, it expected the executive power to devote upon Goerge Wells, president of the Exectuive Council and a leading radical. The fiery Wells, however, was killed in a duel by James Jackson on February 16, 1780. Two days later Stephen Heard of Wilkes County replaced Wells as president of the Executive Council. When Howley finally departed for Philadelphia, Heard became Georgia's chief executive, acting as governor from May 24, 1780 to August 18, 1781. During the Revolutionary war, Stephen Heard supported the Whig cause and fought under Elijah Clark at the Battle of Kettle Creek, where the Whigs stopped Colonel James Boyd's invasion. Heard, like many settlers in back country Georgia suffered abuses from the enemy. While he was attending a military conference in Augusta, his wife Jane and their adopted daughter were driven from their home in the midst of winter and subsequently died from exposure. Before the siege of Augusta in September, 1780, Heard along with his father and brother were captured by Tories and imprisoned in Augusta. During Heard's confinement a faithful slave, "Mammy Kate," visited him twice a week. She brough him food, washed his clothes, and, if tradtional lore can be accepted, enabled him to escape. Supposedly the stout Mammy Kate concealed Heard in the large basket used to carry clothes and carried him unnoticed through the British lines.

As governor of Georgia, Heard inherited an impossible situation. Nineteenth century historian George White stated that Heard 'did all in his power to inspire the desponding people with hope." But, regardless of his efforts, there was little hope at this time. British forces occupied or controlled much of the state, including Savannah and the coastal rea. Only Wilkes County and a part of Richmond County remained under Whig authority, and those areas were raided periodically by Tories and Indians. From May 1780 until July 1781 the whereabouts and actions of the state government are conjectural. No assembly was elected and the governor apparently moved from place to place to avoid capture by the British. It seems certain that Heard fled into North Carolina as the backcountry of Georgia and South Carolina was ravaged by war. In reality, state government exisited in name only. As Kenneth Coleman, the chief historian of the Revolution of Georgia, observed: "Truly, state government was in default and it was every man for himself in Whig Georgia." Following the recapture of Augusta, a new assembly met there in August, 1781. Heard served as a member of this legislature and the Executive Council until he resigned in August, 1782.

After the War, Heard settled down to the quiet life of a prosperous farmer. He built a beautiful home in a forest near Washignton which he called Heardmont Farm. A model of beauty and comfort with plastered walls and solid mahogany furniture imported from London, it was reputedly the finest home in Georgia north of Augusta. His landholdings were expanded with generous land grants form the sate for his civil and military service during the Revolution. In 1784 he received grants that totaled 6,850 acres, mostly in what became Elbert County. At the itme of his death he owned twenty four slaves. In 1785 he married Elizabeth Darden of Virginia and they had nine children. Three of their sons were named for the first three American Presidents.

Heard remained active in politics, serving several terms in the Assembly as a representative form Wilkes County and Elbert County. (in 1790 his area of Wilkes County became part of the new Elbert County.) He served as foreman of the first grand jury to convene in Elbert County, helped select the site of Elberton, and for many years as a justice of the county court. Heard also served as a representative to the Georgia consitutional convention in 1795. A lover of books, he accumulated an excellent library and was a pratron of th Moravian school for young women at Salem, North Carolina, and a trustee of the academy at Washington, Georgia.

Heard died at his home on November 15, 1815 and was buried in the family cemetery at Heardmont. Fifteen years after his death, a county in the western part of the state was named in his honor. On his monument at Heardmont is the inscription: "An honest man is the noblest work of God."

After the Revolutionary war Governor Stephen Heard settled down to a quiet life in the country. He was the only Heard whose home was cut off from Wilkes county when Elbert County was formed in 1791 and the records show that he was the first foreman of the grand jury in the new county. He was also one of the delegates from Elbert when the convention met in the spring of 1795 to revise the constitution of the State of Georgia. His residence was considered a marvel of comfort and beauty. When the contractors were building it, people came for many miles to see it. It was the first lathed and plastered house of that section. The front was not unlike the "Heard House" of Washington, Georgia, with its tall columns and double veranda but the arrangement of the interior was entirely different. The furniture of this house was purchased in London and of solid mahogany. Some of it is still in the family. The old place is called "Heardmont" and the house is stone that once crowned the hill by the family cemetery. Governor Stephen Heard was attractive in person and engaging manners. He was rather below medium in size with clear-cut features, bright dark eyes, and dark brown hair. Careful of the feelings of others, he was modest and retiring -- seldom advocating his own cause, preferring to be judged by his actual worth. He loved learning and delighted in his books. He educated his children and some of them gained distinction. He was one of the first patrons of the Moravian School of Salem, NC, and one of his daughters were educated there.

Sources

1. ↑ Georgia lists George Wells, a militia colonel as acting governor for less than a day. Humprey Wells (unknown relationship) reportedly then served 2 days before resigning in favor of 14th governor Stephen Heard.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/stephen-heard-1740-1815
3. ↑ *Bowen, Eliza A. The Story of Wilkes County, Georgia. Continental Book Company, Marietta, Georgia, 1950.
4. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed July 15, 2016), "Record of Stephen Heard", Ancestor # A053860.
5. ↑ Stephen Heard on Wikipedia
6. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20053 Find A Grave Memorial# 20053

• Probate papers:Georgia, Elbert County, Wills:"Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990"
  Catalog: Georgia, Elbert County, Wills Will records, will book, p. 1-308, 1816-1821
  Image path: Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990 > Elbert > Wills 1816-1821 > image 254 of 377; citing Houston County Probate Court Judge, Georgia.
  FamilySearch Image: 33SQ-GR6N-JVP (accessed 1 September 2022)
• Wikipedia: Stephen Heard
• Men of Mark in Georgia, Volume I (Northen, Georgia, 1907), pages 156-162.

See also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 21 February 2018, 20:33), entry for Stephen Heard(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:KH5B-K64); contributed by various users.