Stephen Heard

Stephen Heard (November 1, 1740 – November 15, 1815) was a planter, politician and military officer in the colony and later state of Georgia in the United States. In the later days of the American Revolutionary War, he was elected as president of Georgia by the Georgia House of Representatives and was later known as Governor. He served in this position from May 24, 1780, until August 18, 1781. One source records Heard as resigning as president in 1782.[1] The war officially ended in 1783. Heard had been elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, serving in total from 1779 to 1795.

Governor
Stephen Heard
A portrait of Governor Heard
Governor of Georgia
In office
May 24, 1780 – August 18, 1781
Preceded byHumphrey Wells
Succeeded byMyrick Davies
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
In office
1779–1795
Personal details
Born
Stephen Heard

(1740-11-01)November 1, 1740
Hanover County, Virginia
DiedNovember 15, 1815(1815-11-15) (aged 75)
Heardmont, Elbert County, Georgia
Political partyAmerican Whigs
Spouse(s)Jane Germany (-1778), Elizabeth Darden Heard (August 25, 1785- November 11, 1815)
Residence(s)Heardmont
Military service
Allegiance Great Britain
 United States
Branch/service Colonial Militia
Continental Army
Years of service1754–63 (British Militia)
1775–79 (Continental Army)
Rank Captain (Great Britain)
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

Heard had fought as a young man in the French and Indian War and was later a hero of the American Revolution. He served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Georgia militia under Lieutenant John Dooly.[2] He fought with Gen. Elijah Clarke at the Battle of Kettle Creek where he was captured. Heard was also a friend of commanding general and later United States President, George Washington.

Heard was born in Hanover County, Virginia in 1740, and died in Elbert County, Georgia, in 1815, at the age of 75. His home is in Middleton, near Elberton.[3]

After the French and Indian War, Heard, his brother and father received a land grant in Wilkes County, Georgia for their service. They built a defensive post that became known as Heard's Fort.[4] Heard's Fort was designated the seat of government for Georgia on February 3, 1780, during the American Revolution, a position it held until 1781. The Fort was the center of what developed as the town of Washington, Georgia.

Stephen Heard is the namesake of Heard County, Georgia.[5]

Early life

Stephen Heard was born in 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. 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 Protestant Ascendancy of Ireland.[6] Stephen was brought up in Virginia and received his primary education there. This was the limit of his formal education. [7]

French and Indian War

With the outbreak of the 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, 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, Battle of Fort Necessity, Braddock Expedition, and the Battle of the Monongahela. Heard also served under Washington on the Virginia frontier (in what is today the state of 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. 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.[7] Heard was one of few Virginians to take part in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the only (known) Virginian to take part in the 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. Stephen, his brother Barnard, and their father John, moved there with their families. This land was near the mouth of the Little River in an area that Britain had not yet acquired from the occupying Creek and Cherokee Indians. Because of this, the family constructed Heard's Fort as a defensive post for travelers from Native American attacks and the wilderness.

Heard's Fort was completely finished in 1774. Others settled near it and in 1780 it was designated as the city of Washington, Georgia. For a time during the Revolutionary War, Heard's Fort served as the temporary capitol of Georgia.[8]

Revolutionary War

When the Revolutionary War broke out, Heard immediately joined the patriot cause. He was joined by fellow Georgians Elijah Clarke, Nancy Hart, and 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, 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." Heard was captured by British Loyalists at Kettle Creek in what was his last battle of the war.

After the war, Heard served as a politician. The new state of Georgia House of Representatives elected him as president; the position was later known as Governor. He served from May 24, 1780, until August 18, 1781. One source records Heard as resigning as president in 1782.[9]

Heard had been elected to the 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.

See also

Notes
  1. Candler, Allen Daniel (1 January 1908). The Revolutionary Records of the State of Georgia ... Franklin-Turner Company. ISBN 9780404073008. Retrieved 27 July 2016 – via Google Books.
  2. Davis, Robert Scott (2006). "A Frontier for Pioneer Revolutionaries: John Dooly and the Beginnings of Popular Democracy in Original Wilkes County". Georgia Historical Quarterly. 90 (3). Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. "Gov. Heard's Home historical marker". GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  4. "Heard's Fort (Early Georgia Capital) historical marker". GeorgiaInfo: an Online Georgia Almanac. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  5. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 153.
  6. Georgia Revolutionary Soldiers & Sailors, Patriots & Pioneers by Herman Ross Arnold
  7. "Stephen Heard (1740-1815)". Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  8. root. "Stephen Heard". Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  9. Candler, Allen Daniel (1 January 1908). The Revolutionary Records of the State of Georgia ... Franklin-Turner Company. ISBN 9780404073008. Retrieved 27 July 2016 – via Google Books.

Sources
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