# Stephen Heard

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**Stephen Heard** (November 1, 1740 – November 15, 1815) was an American planter, politician and military officer who briefly served as [president](/source/List_of_governors_of_Georgia) of [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)) and was sometimes called "governor". Born in Virginia, Heard fought in the [French and Indian War](/source/French_and_Indian_War) in the Virginia militia under [George Washington](/source/George_Washington),[citation needed] then with his father and brother moved to the Georgia colony based on a land grant for such service, and built two forts in [Wilkes County](/source/Wilkes_County,_Georgia) called "Fort Heard".[citation needed] During the [American Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) Heard served as a [lieutenant colonel](/source/Lieutenant_colonel) in the [Georgia Militia](/source/Georgia_Militia) under Colonel [John Dooly](/source/John_Dooly).[1]

He fought with Gen. [Elijah Clarke](/source/Elijah_Clarke) at the [Battle of Kettle Creek](/source/Battle_of_Kettle_Creek) where he was captured but escaped.[citation needed] Voters elected Heard to the [Georgia House of Representatives](/source/Georgia_House_of_Representatives), where he served from 1779 to 1795 (the war officially ending in 1783). Heard's Fort was designated the seat of government for Georgia on February 3, 1780 and remained such until 1781, then developed into the town of [Washington, Georgia](/source/Washington,_Georgia) (still the county seat). Fellow legislators elected Heard as the state's executive, where he served from May 24, 1780, until August 18, 1781. One source records Heard as resigning as president in 1782.[2]

## Early life

Stephen Heard was born in [Hanover County, Virginia](/source/Hanover_County,_Virginia) on November 1, 1740, to John Heard Jr. and his wife Bridgett Carol Heard, wealthy tobacco planters. Heard's paternal grandfather, John Sr., was his immigrant ancestor on that side, arriving about 1720 in Virginia from [Ireland](/source/Ireland). Heard's parents were each born and raised in Virginia, where their families were planters. All four of Heard's grandparents were part of the [Anglo-Irish](/source/Anglo-Irish_people) [Protestant Ascendancy](/source/Protestant_Ascendancy) of Ireland.[3] Stephen was brought up in Virginia and received his primary education there. This was the limit of his formal education.[4]

## French and Indian War

With the outbreak of the [French and Indian War](/source/French_and_Indian_War) in 1754, Heard left school in search of honor and adventure in the army. Along with some of his brothers, Heard enlisted in the Virginia colonial regiment under the command of [George Washington](/source/George_Washington), then a colonel. Heard drew from this experience of warfare in the frontier in his later military service. During the war, Heard was promoted by Washington to the rank of captain. Heard served with Washington at the [Battle of Jumonville Glen](/source/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen), [Battle of Fort Necessity](/source/Battle_of_Fort_Necessity), [Braddock Expedition](/source/Braddock_Expedition), and the [Battle of the Monongahela](/source/Battle_of_the_Monongahela). Heard also served under Washington on the Virginia frontier (in what is today the state of [West Virginia](/source/West_Virginia) from August 1755 until early 1757 as part of the Virginia regiment's war against Native American forces in that region.

Heard also served directly under Washington during the [Forbes expedition](/source/Forbes_expedition). This military collaboration led to a lifetime friendship between the two men. Heard named one of his sons George Washington Heard in his commander's honor.[4] Heard was one of few Virginians to take part in the [Battle of the Plains of Abraham](/source/Battle_of_the_Plains_of_Abraham) and the only (known) Virginian to take part in the [Battle of Signal Hill](/source/Battle_of_Signal_Hill).

## Between wars

Following the war, the Heard family received a land grant of 150 acres for their service in what is today [Wilkes County, Georgia](/source/Wilkes_County,_Georgia). Stephen, his brother Barnard, and their father John, moved there with their families. This land was near the mouth of the [Little River](/source/Little_River_(Etowah_River)) in an area that Britain had not yet acquired from the [Muscogee](/source/Muscogee) and [Cherokee](/source/Cherokee) Indians. Because of this, the family constructed Heard's Fort as a defensive post for travelers from Native American attacks and the wilderness.[5] The Heards also built a second fort about eight miles north of the first fort, which was also named after the family.[6]

Heard's Fort was completely finished in 1774. Others settled near it and in 1780 it was designated as the city of [Washington, Georgia](/source/Washington,_Georgia). For a time during the [Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War), Heard's Fort served as the temporary capitol of [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)).[7]

## Revolutionary War

When the [Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War) broke out, Heard immediately joined the patriot cause. He was joined by fellow Georgians [Elijah Clarke](/source/Elijah_Clarke), [Nancy Hart](/source/Nancy_Hart), and [John Dooly](/source/John_Dooly), who also lived in Wilkes County. Georgia residents were very divided on the issue of independence. Throughout the war, the patriots faced a strong Loyalist resistance. In the winter of 1778 while Heard was away fighting, a group of Tories stormed his house and burned it down. They forced his wife Jane, and their adopted daughter out into a snow storm; the women died from cold exposure.

Despite the death of his family, Heard continued to fight in the revolution. He participated in the [Battle of Kettle Creek](/source/Battle_of_Kettle_Creek), where he was involved in the most violent and dangerous part of the fight. According to one source, Heard set himself apart by "encouraging his men and leading them to points of danger and vantage."[citation needed] Heard was captured by Loyalists at the [Battle of Kettle Creek](/source/Battle_of_Kettle_Creek) in what was his last battle of the war. Although scheduled to be executed, he was freed through a ruse by [Mammy Kate](/source/Mammy_Kate), whom he subsequently freed.

After the war, Heard became a politician as well as planter. The new state of [Georgia House of Representatives](/source/Georgia_House_of_Representatives) elected him as [president](/source/List_of_Governors_of_Georgia); the position was later known as [governor](/source/Governor). He served from May 24, 1780, until August 18, 1781. One source records Heard as resigning as president in 1782.[2]

Heard had been elected to the [Georgia House of Representatives](/source/Georgia_House_of_Representatives), serving from 1779 to 1795. As their terms were short, he was allowed to keep his position while serving the short period as governor.

As partial payment for his patriotic service, Heard received a land grant of more than 6,000 acres inland near the [Upper Savannah River](/source/Upper_Savannah_River) and the Georgia/South Carolina border and about 30 miles from what had been Fort Heard, but had become [Washington, Georgia](/source/Washington,_Georgia). He established a plantation he called "Heardmont". In 1790, Wilkes County was split and Heardmont was in [Elbert County, Georgia](/source/Elbert_County,_Georgia), across the river from [Abbeville, South Carolina](/source/Abbeville,_South_Carolina). At the Georgia Constitutional Convention in 1795, Heard was one of Elbert County's delegates. Heard and two other men decided on the location of [Elberton](/source/Elberton,_Georgia), the county seat in 1803. Although Heardmont disappeared long ago, the Stephen A. Heard Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution obtained ten acres, which includes the former house site as well as the cemetery.[8]

## Family life

Heard's first wife and daughter died during the American Revolutionary War. He remarried, to Virginia-born Elizabeth Darden, who bore five daughters and four sons. One of his sons, Thomas Jefferson Heard, was probably the biological father of George Heard, who was in turn the father of Bishop [William Henry Heard](/source/William_Henry_Heard)[9]

Heard became a leading advocate for educating women, on the board of trustees for [Salem College](/source/Salem_College) in North Carolina, dedicated to educating women.

## Death and legacy

Heard died at his home, Heardmont, in [Elbert County, Georgia](/source/Elbert_County,_Georgia), in 1815, at the age of 75. A historical marker commemorates his former home near Middleton, near [Elberton](/source/Elberton,_Georgia).[10] Heard's death was not otherwise publicly recorded, with no known [obituaries](/source/Obituaries) or death notices.[11] [Heard County, Georgia](/source/Heard_County,_Georgia) was named for him.[12]

## See also

- [Mammy Kate](/source/Mammy_Kate)

## Notes

1. Davis, Robert Scott (2006). ["A Frontier for Pioneer Revolutionaries: John Dooly and the Beginnings of Popular Democracy in Original Wilkes County"](http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=22341492&site=eds-live&scope=site). *Georgia Historical Quarterly*. **90** (3). Retrieved 23 May 2016.

1. Candler, Allen Daniel (1 January 1908). [*The Revolutionary Records of the State of Georgia ...*](https://books.google.com/books?id=GldEAAAAIAAJ). Franklin-Turner Company. ISBN 9780404073008. Retrieved 27 July 2016. – via Google Books.

1. *Georgia Revolutionary Soldiers & Sailors, Patriots & Pioneers* by Herman Ross Arnold

1. ["Stephen Heard (1740-1815)"](http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/stephen-heard-1740-1815). Retrieved 27 July 2016.

1. ["Heard's Fort (Early Georgia Capital) historical marker"](http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/wilkes/heards-fort-early-georgia-capital). *GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac*. Retrieved 23 May 2016.

1. ["Fort Heard - FortWiki Historic U.S. And Canadian Forts"](http://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Heard)

1. root. ["Stephen Heard"](http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_georgia/col2-content/main-content-list/title_heard_stephen.default.html). Retrieved 27 July 2016.

1. ["Gov. Heard's Home"](https://georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/gov-heards-home/)

1. From Slavery to the Bishopric in the A.M.E. Church, An Autobiography by William H. Heard

1. ["Gov. Heard's Home historical marker"](http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/elbert/gov.-heards-home). *GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac*. Retrieved 23 May 2016.

1. Walker, Malea (May 14, 2026). ["Mourn Not! A History of Obituaries in American Newspapers | Headlines & Heroes"](https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2026/05/mourn-not-a-history-of-obituaries-in-american-newspapers). *The Library of Congress*. Retrieved 2026-05-27.

1. Gannett, Henry (1905). [*The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States*](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ). Govt. Print. Off. pp. [153](https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n152)

## Sources

- [National Governors Association](http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=d7b449ccbebd1110VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD)
- [New Georgia Encyclopedia](http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/stephen-heard-1740-1815)

## External links

- [The Political Graveyard](http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/3837.html)
- [Heard County History](http://www.heardgeorgia.org/welcomepages/history.htm)
- [Stephen Heard Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution](http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2001_02/fulltext/hr677.htm)
- Heard, Stephen. ["Deposition of Stephen Heard, 1784 May 28"](http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/zlna/id:tcc240). *Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842*. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
- Heard, Stephen. ["\[Letter\] 1781 Mar. 2, Henry County, Virginia"](http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/zlna/id:krc098). *Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842*. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
- [Gov. Heard's Grave](http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/elbert/gov.-heards-grave) historical marker
- [Gov. Heard's Home](http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/elbert/gov.-heards-home) historical marker

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