# Nancy Hart

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American Revolutionary War spy (1741–1830)

For the Confederate American spy, see [Nancy Hart Douglas](/source/Nancy_Hart_Douglas).

Nancy Hart Nancy Hart, as depicted in an 1865 book Born Around 1741 Province of North Carolina, British America Died 1830 Humphreys County, Tennessee, U.S. Occupations Spy, housewife Spouse Benjamin Hart Children Six sons and two daughters Espionage activity Allegiance United States of America

**Nancy Morgan Hart** (c. 1741–1830) was a rebel heroine of the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War), noted for her exploits against [Loyalists](/source/Loyalist_(American_Revolution)) in the northeast [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)) [backcountry](/source/Backcountry). She is characterized as a tough, strong and resourceful frontier woman who repeatedly outsmarted Tory soldiers, and killed some outright. Stories about her are mostly unsupported by contemporary documentation, and it has been impossible for researchers to entirely distinguish fact from [folklore](/source/Folklore).

## Early life

Although explicit details concerning most of her life are unknown, Nancy Ann Morgan Hart is believed to have been born in [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina) around 1741, in the [Yadkin River](/source/Yadkin_River) valley, though some researchers think that she was born in [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania) or [New York state](/source/New_York_(state)). She married Benjamin Hart of that area. His extended family's descendants included such famous later political figures as [Missouri](/source/Missouri) [Senator](/source/United_States_Senate) [Thomas Hart Benton](/source/Thomas_Hart_Benton_(senator)) and [Kentucky](/source/Kentucky) Senator [Henry Clay](/source/Henry_Clay).[1]

During the early 1770s, Nancy, Benjamin and their family left North Carolina and migrated to Georgia, settling in the extremely fertile [Broad River](/source/Broad_River_(Georgia)) valley of the northeast Piedmont area. There she drew on her many frontier skills, including [herbalism](/source/Herbalism), hunting and shooting.[1]

Hart was well connected through family ties to other prominent figures in early American history. She was a cousin to [Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) general [Daniel Morgan](/source/Daniel_Morgan), who commanded victorious American forces at the [Battle of Cowpens](/source/Battle_of_Cowpens) in [South Carolina](/source/South_Carolina) on January 17, 1781.

According to contemporary accounts, "Aunt Nancy", as she was often called, was a tall, gangly woman. She was rough-hewn and rawboned, with red hair and a face scarred by [smallpox](/source/Smallpox). One early account said 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."[1]

Hart was said to have 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. Many remembered that she, rather than her husband, ran the Hart household. They had a total of 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](/source/Herbalist), a skilled hunter, and an excellent shooter.[1]

## Revolutionary War accounts

According to one account, during the [Revolution](/source/American_Revolutionary_War), a group of five or six [Tory](/source/Tory#United_States) soldiers came by the Hart house sometime in 1779 looking either for food or a [Whig](/source/Patriot_(American_Revolution)) they were pursuing (accounts vary). The soldiers demanded that Hart cook them one of her [turkeys](/source/Turkey_(bird)), and she agreed to feed them. As they entered the cabin, they placed their guns by the door before sitting at her table to eat. As they were drinking and eating, she pushed their guns outside through a hole in the wall of the cabin. After the soldiers had been drinking a sufficient time, she grabbed one of the remaining guns and ordered the men to stay still. One ignored her threat, so she shot and killed him. Another made a move toward the weapons, and she killed him as well. She held the remaining Tories captive until her husband and neighbors arrived. According to legend, her husband wanted to shoot the soldiers outright, but she demanded that they be hanged, which was accomplished from a nearby tree.

The various versions of this story provide different details. But in 1912 construction crews working on the Elberton and Eastern Railroad in the area found evidence that seemed to validate the legend.[2][3] 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 suggested they had been hanged. They were determined to have been buried for at least 100 years.

In her 1925 county history, Cook published a version based on an 1825 newspaper article.[4] McIntosh quoted two such stories in a 1940 history of Elbert County.[5]

## Other stories

Mrs. Louisa H. Kendall was the niece of John Hart, the son whom Nancy lived with in later life. Kendall wrote a letter in 1872 recalling some of the stories her uncle had heard from his mother.[6] According to this letter, once when Nancy was taking a bag of grain to the mill, a band of Tories forced her off her horse and threw the grain to the ground. Undaunted, Hart picked up the heavy bag and walked the rest of the way to the mill. Nancy Hart was said to have acted as a [sniper](/source/Sniper), killing Tories as they came across the Broad River.[6]

McIntosh quotes a Mr. Snead, who was also related to the Harts. He said that one time during the war, Nancy was cooking [lye](/source/Lye) soap in her cabin when her daughter discovered a spy looking through a crack in the wall. Hart threw a ladle of the boiling soap into the spy's eyes, went outside and tied him up, and turned him over to the local Patriot militia.[7]

Two accounts say that Nancy dressed as a man in order to enter Tory camps, where she could overhear talk and observe the layouts and other elements of military value.[8]

According to folklore, the local Native Americans referred to her as "Wahatche" which may translate to "War Woman", and named a creek for her. But many scholars dispute this, as there were records of the [Cherokee](/source/Cherokee) name for the creek prior to the war. In addition, the late 19th-century ethnographer [James Mooney](/source/James_Mooney) noted, "Several cases of women acting the part of warriors are on record among the Cherokee."[9]

## Life after the war

[George Rockingham Gilmer](/source/George_Rockingham_Gilmer), twice governor of Georgia before 1850, knew Hart personally. In an account of early settlers which he published in 1855, he wrote that she became "religious" after the war:

A [Methodist](/source/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](/source/Devil) as manfully as she fought the Tories . . .[1][10]

During the late 1780s, the Harts moved to [Brunswick, Georgia](/source/Brunswick%2C_Georgia). (Some accounts suggest that they may have spent time in [Alabama](/source/Alabama) and [South Carolina](/source/South_Carolina) as well). Benjamin Hart died shortly thereafter. Nancy Hart returned to the settlement on the Broad River but found that a flood had washed away their former cabin. Eventually, she settled with her son John Hart and his family along the [Oconee River](/source/Oconee_River) in [Clarke County](/source/Clarke_County%2C_Georgia) near [Athens](/source/Athens%2C_Georgia). Around 1803 John Hart took his mother and family to [Henderson County, Kentucky](/source/Henderson_County%2C_Kentucky), where they settled again 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.[1]

## Motivations

Patriot beliefs and her deep desire to rid her home area of Loyalist (Tory) and British forces. [External Link](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/nancy-hart-ca-1735-1830/)

## Legacy

On the approximate site of Hart's frontier cabin along River Road in Elbert County,[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*] the [Daughters of the American Revolution](/source/Daughters_of_the_American_Revolution) erected a replica cabin in the early 20th century. They used chimney stones recovered from the site of the original cabin, which had stood on the crest of a large hill overlooking [Wahachee Creek](/source/Wahachee_Creek).[1]

Georgians have memorialized Nancy Hart in several place names:

- [Hart County](/source/Hart_County%2C_Georgia),[11] organized to the north of Elbert County, was named for her, as was its county seat, [Hartwell](/source/Hartwell%2C_Georgia).

- During the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War) (1861–1865), a group of women in [LaGrange, Georgia](/source/LaGrange%2C_Georgia) founded an all-female militia company, which they named the [Nancy Harts](/source/Nancy_Harts), to defend the town from the [Union Army](/source/Union_Army). Most of the men of fighting age had been drawn off to war.[12][13][14]

- In the 20th century, nearby [Lake Hartwell](/source/Lake_Hartwell) and [Hartwell Dam](/source/Hartwell_Dam),[15] [Hart State Park](/source/Hart_State_Park), and the Nancy Hart Highway ([Georgia Route 77](/source/Georgia_Route_77))[16] commemorate the legendary woman.

- In 1997 Hart was inducted into [Georgia Women of Achievement](/source/Georgia_Women_of_Achievement).[1]

- The [Milledgeville, Georgia](/source/Milledgeville%2C_Georgia) chapter of the [National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution](/source/National_Society_of_the_Daughters_of_the_American_Revolution) was renamed in honor of Nancy Hart.[17]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nge_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nge_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nge_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-nge_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-nge_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-nge_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-nge_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-nge_1-7) Ouzts, Clay. ["Nancy Hart (ca. 1735–1830)"](http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/nancy-hart-ca-1735-1830)., *New Georgia Encyclopedia.* August 28, 2013. Web. October 29, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "Skeletons of Six Tories Hanged Near Elberton, Found," *The Atlanta Constitution*, December 23, 1912, p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1912_article_3-0)** ["Skeletons of Tories Killed by Nancy Hart Unearthed Tuesday"](http://georgiaobits.net/Misc.Articles,Part%202.htm#Nancy%20Hart's%20Tory%20Skeletons) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180329054509/http://georgiaobits.net/Misc.Articles,Part%202.htm#Nancy%20Hart's%20Tory%20Skeletons) March 29, 2018, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), *Lavonia Times and Gauge*, January 3, 1913.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Cook, Anna Maria Green. *History of Baldwin County Georgia.* Anderson, S.C.: Keys-Hearn Printing Co., 1925, pp. 165–166.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** 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, p. 1,722.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Cook,_op.cit.,_pp._159–60_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Cook,_op.cit.,_pp._159–60_6-1) Cook, *op.cit.*, pp. 159–60

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** McIntosh, *op. cit.*, p. 17

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Macintosh, *op.cit.*, pp. 21–22

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** 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.)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Gannett, Henry (1905). [*The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States*](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ). Govt. Print. Off. pp. [151](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n150).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Troup_Archives_12-0)** [Troup County Historical Society Archives](http://www.trouparchives.org/harts.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060430053443/http://trouparchives.org/harts.html) April 30, 2006, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nh_historical_marker_13-0)** ["Georgia Historical Marker for the "Nancy Harts""](https://web.archive.org/web/20060901105751/http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gahistmarkers/nancyhartshistmarker.htm). Archived from [the original](http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gahistmarkers/nancyhartshistmarker.htm) on September 1, 2006. Retrieved March 31, 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Appleby, Joyce (2002). *Encyclopedia of Women in American History, Volume I*. Sharpe Reference. p. 117. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7656-8038-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7656-8038-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LakeHartwellHistory_15-0)** [Army Corps of Engineers History of Hartwell Dam and Lake Hartwell](https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/About/Divisions-and-Offices/Operations-Division/Hartwell-Dam-and-Lake/history/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Nancy_Hart_Highway_16-0)** ["Nancy Hart Highway"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091027131202/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6651/photo/nhhwy.html). Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2006.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_bot:_original_URL_status_unknown))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Milledgeville_DAR_Chapter_17-0)** [Nancy Hart Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution](http://nancyhart.georgiastatedar.org//)

## External links

- [Biography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography)
- [Georgia (U.S. state) portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Georgia_(U.S._state))

- [Georgia Encyclopedia Nancy Hart entry](http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2876)

- [Nancy Morgan Hart](http://www.gawomen.org/honorees/hartn.htm)

- [Another Nancy Hart Bio site](https://web.archive.org/web/20091027001259/http://geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6651/) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived October 27, 2009)

- [Hart County History](http://www.hartcountyga.org/about.htm#)

- [Army Corps of Engineers Nancy Hart info](https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/About/Divisions-and-Offices/Operations-Division/Hartwell-Dam-and-Lake/hart/)

- [Nancy Hart](http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/elbert/nancy-hart) historical marker

- Michals, Debra. ["Nancy Morgan Hart"](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nancy-morgan-hart). National Women's History Museum. 2015.

v t e Georgia Women of Achievement 1990s 1992 Martha Berry Lucy Craft Laney Juliette Gordon Low Flannery O'Connor 1993 Dicksie Bradley Bandy Mary Musgrove Cassandra Pickett Durham Viola Ross Napier Ma Rainey 1994 Julia Flisch Carson McCullers Margaret Mitchell Ruth Hartley Mosley Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman 1995 Selena Sloan Butler Anna Colquitt Hunter Hazel Jane Raines 1996 Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson Nellie Peters Black Ellen Craft Corra Harris Lugenia Burns Hope 1997 Rebecca Latimer Felton Mary Ann Harris Gay Nancy Hart Lucy Barrow McIntire 1998 Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Julia Collier Harris Rhoda Kaufman Carrie Steele Logan 1999 Moina Michael Lillian Smith 2000s 2000 Sallie Ellis Davis Laura Askew Haygood Ellen Axson Wilson 2001 Julia L. Coleman Catherine Evans Whitener 2002 Wessie Gertrude Connell Lula Dobbs McEachern Alice Harrell Strickland 2003 Madeleine Kiker Anthony Helena Maud Brown Cobb Julia Lester Dillon Leila Ross Wilburn 2004 Mathilda Beasley Louise Frederick Hays Helen Dortch Longstreet Sarah McLendon Murphy Emily Barnelia Woodward 2005 Alice Woodby McKane Nina Anderson Pape Jeannette Rankin 2006 Eliza Frances Andrews Grace Towns Hamilton Sarah Porter Hillhouse 2007 Margaret O. Bynum Edith Lenora Foster Helen Douglas Mankin Sara Branham Matthews 2008 Elfrida De Renne Barrow Amilee Chastain Graves Susan Dowdell Myrick 2009 Caroline Pafford Miller Jane Hurt Yarn Harriet Powers 2010s 2010 Mary Ann Lipscomb Celestine Sibley Madrid Williams 2011 Lillian Gordy Carter Mary Francis Hill Coley May duBignon Stiles Howard 2012 Sarah Randolph Bailey Beulah Rucker Oliver Ethel Harpst 2013 Lollie Belle Wylie Mary Gregory Jewett Henrietta Stanley Dull 2014 Rebecca Stiles Taylor Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas Bazoline Estelle Usher 2015 Allie Carroll Hart Frances Freeborn Pauley Nell Kendall Hodgson Woodruff 2016 Sarah Harper Heard Ellamae Ellis League Katie Hall Underwood 2017 Carolyn Mackenzie Carter Clermont Huger Lee Lucile Nix 2018 Ludie Clay Andrews Susie Baker King Taylor Mamie George S. Williams 2019 Leila Denmark Mary Dorothy Lyndon 2020s 2020 Clarice Cross Bagwell Katharine DuPre Lumpkin Juanita Marsh Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright 2021 Ruby M. Anderson Mary G. Bryan Laura Pope Forester Allie Murray Smith 2022 Lizzie Lurline Collier Josephine Fields Sanders Hedy West Josephine Wilkins 2023 Phyllis Jenkins Barrow Alice Coachman Luck Flanders Gambrell Dorothy Rogers Tilly 2024 Beatrice Hirsch Haas Adella Hunt Logan Valerie Murphey Elizabeth "Bessie" Tift 2025 Jessye Norman Alma Thomas

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nancy Hart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Hart) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Hart?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.