Person:Nancy Morgan (25)

The following is from Heather W. Bowers and is filed at: 2001-11-3. She gives the date of marriage as "before 1761, either NC or GA." This seems to fit better with the dates of birth I had for some of their children.

She is said to have been a heroine of the Revolutionary War. She was a big muscular woman who frequently posed as a man, sometimes a "crazy man", in order to help with her scouting. She never learned to read or write, but was famous for her profanity. She is said to have helped the escape of a rebel spy. Different stories abound about her exploits in this spy case, but the most common one is this. " Six Tories, on the trail of this spy, followed him to the Hart house and sat down and ordered a meal. Nancy managed to smuggle two Tory muskets from the house before the spy was found. In the commotion that followed, Nancy wounded two of the Tories and held the other four at bay with a musket." Other stories give her credit for hanging the six Tories, but whatever the truth, in Boatners encyclopedia, he states that six skeletons were uncovered near Nancy's house around the middle of the 19th Century. She and Benjamin were from New Hanover, Pa., later moved to Orange, Chatham County, N.C., and possibly Georgia still later.

David Millican says she was once quoted as saying that her husband was a "sorry old stick". He also says that Nancy was of the family of Daniel Morgan, "the Old Wagoneer", the Revolutionary War general who won the battle of the Cowpens that turned the tide in the South.

Barbara Martin says that she is buried in N.C., but a grave marker in Kentucky says she died in 1835. Barbara Johnson shows her birthdate as 17 March, 1744/1747. She also shows that she was buried in Book Cemetery, Henderson, Henderson Co, Ky, between 1830-1840.

The following is from a lesson plan for students from the Oconee (County, Georgia) Cultural Arts Foundation. arts@@ocaf.com

Nancy Hart Nancy Hart was a freedom fighter in the backcountry of Georgia and South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. She fought in the famous battle of Kettle Creek. She was also a spy for the American patriots. Native Americans nicknamed her War Woman in tribute to her bravery and her marksmanship. She was also known as Aunt Nancy, a skilled cook and midwife. She is the only woman who has been honored by having a Georgia county named for her. There is also a Georgia highway, a city, and a state park named for her. Nancy Morgan Hart was born in North Carolina. She married Benjamin Hart and moved to Georgia in the 1770's. The Hart family lived on Wahatchee Creek in what is now Elbert County. They had eight children. Ben Hart was a lieutenant in the Georgia Militia. After the Americans won their independence, the Harts moved to Brunswick, where Ben was a justice of the peace and a justice of the inferior court. Ben Hart died in 1790, and Nancy remarried, but her second husband died shortly after the marriage. Nancy moved with her son John to Kentucky. She died around 1812 and was buried in the family cemetery in Henderson County, Kentucky.

Nancy Hart's role during the Revolutionary War has become legendary. In a well-known incident, she detained five Tory soldiers at her log cabin, under the guise of cooking them a meal. When she had won the soldiers' confidence with food and liquor, she began to disarm them, passing their muskets stealthfully to her daughter, Sukey. A soldier caught her stealing his musket, Nancy shot him, then held the others captive until her husband's band of militia could arrive. Nancy urged the militia to hang the captives, claiming that these soldiers were responsible for the ambush and murder of John Dooly, a celebrated patriot and neighbor. According to the legend, Nancy sang "Yankee Doodle" as she marched the soldiers out to be hanged.

Nancy also spied on enemy troops. In another incident, she fashioned a raft by tying logs together with a grapevine. Then she rafted across a river to reach a Tory camp and bring back news about troop numbers and weapons. In another tale, she pretended she was deranged so she could roam through the enemy ranks, picking up information.

Part of the Nancy Hart legend is her striking appearance: She stood nearly six-feet tall, strong and muscular. It was said that she towered over her skinny husband, Ben Hart. Nancy had blazing red hair and her eyes crossed when she stared. She had an ugly face, her skin scarred by smallpox. She scowled fiercely at opponents, and her speech was rough.

There is another version of a story about her in the research of Barbara Newham. Filed at: 2002-1-8.

1. ↑ Boddie, John Bennett. Southside Virginia families. (Baltimore [Maryland]: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1976, 1996).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Nancy Ann Morgan Hart, in Find A Grave.
3.   Ancestral File NEHGS