Steph was spending her last day in Colorado with longtime nursing friends on Monday so the kids and I made our way south of Elberton. A local DAR chapter reached out to us about being in a small film production concerning the life of Nancy Hart. Admittedly, I was a bit surprised that many long time Georgians had not hear her story. Nancy lived in a cabin on Wahachee Creek about half a mile from its confluence with the Broad river; near the border of Elbert and Wilkes County. In the period of the Revolution this area was a place of civil unrest. Allegiances could change overnight, and often times Whigs and Tories were motivated by feuds and monetary interests as much as they were governmental loyalties. The kids and I got dressed up and headed out Anyway, the legend goes something like this…

Several Tories found their travels taking them to Nancy’s Cabin. In the time that followed they were either invited or self-invited into the cabin for drink and food, possibly including one of Nancy’s Turkeys. As they spent their time with the refreshments, Nancy found opportunity to begin passing their firearms through a hole in the wall to her daughter outside. The Tories discovered the action and rose to stop her. Nancy fired upon one killing him, then held the others at gun point with their own guns. She then turned them over to the local militia. The militia was split on whether to shoot them on the spot or handle them otherwise. The Whigs decided to hang them and marched them a short distance away where they were hanged and buried. How much truth is in this? Well, let’s see.

George Gilmer in his book “Sketches of Some of the First Settlers of Upper Georgia” attest to the cabin’s location with firsthand knowledge and confirms her Patriot beliefs. Gilmer also describes her as a cross eyed, redheaded woman with a reputation as a bit of an herbal healer. That takes care of her cabin’s location and her political leanings. Now what about the incident. On the 17th of September, 1825, the Milledgeville Recorder printed a story on Nancy, it was also run by several other papers. If you wish to read that the link is below. Now what about the Tories? In 1912 the Elberton and Eastern Railroad was under construction. This line would connect Elberton to Washington and its route generally paralleled State Route 17. While digging one day 5 skeletons were found in a row, buried 3 feet deep and it came to be discovered that these were the Tories from the Nancy Hart story. Below are several newspaper articles about the discovery.

I have always enjoyed genealogy and reenacting or living history. I don’t really care for the fancy show of satin or polyester uniforms mimicking wars past. I like wool, linen, and cotton; the real stuff. The smell of black powder burning as the smoke dissipates from a gun and the dark stains that cover your hands. I like the sweat of really experiencing the event. I was so fortunate to be able to serve in the filming as a Provincial Soldier, one of the Tories. Although most of my ancestors were Patriots, I know of one that fought for King George and was hanged at Ninety-Six, SC. Wearing the red coat gave me a sense of his allegiance. Thinking about the Tories at Nancy Hart’s cabin I wondered what ever happened to their bodies after they were unearthed. The search is on.

I could find no reference to where the bodies were placed after they were found by the railroad crews. I decided to use the limited knowledge I had gathered to determine a possible final resting place for the Tories. Let us start with the facts we know. We know Nancy Hart’s rebuilt cabin stands near where the original was on Wahachee Creek. After Capturing the Tories they were hanged anywhere from near the cabin to 2 miles away from the cabin. The newspaper articles in 1912 give us the data that the hanging site was about a mile from the Hart cabin and hear the mouth of Watachie creek. Several of the newspapers say the skeletons were found in an area known as Heard’s Field.

You’ll see a number of pictures below that I used to support my thoughts, but here goes nothing. First, I drew a circle that was 2 miles from the Hart Cabin. Next, I used old US Geological Survey Maps to identify the route of the Elberton and Eastern railroad. Since the railroad only operated from 1912 until dismantled in 1935 the window was limited. The 1970 Jackson’s Crossroad Quadrangle proved useful. The old railroad grade is noted in that quadrangle and I focused on the section of the railroad that fell within the 2 mile circle. At the little Community named Bell there is a small square labeled “CEM” for cemetery and the railroad runs directly through it. Using an overhead map the cemetery lies on Bell’s Ferry Road. James Bell received a grant for this land in 1794 so that helps associate the name. Bell was a station stop on the railroad 11.3 miles south of Elberton. The National Archives has the railroad valuation maps for the Elberton and Eastern, but they have not been digitized. The Georgia Archives has a photo of the rail bridge over the Broad River, but not much else. I searched the Elbert County records and found that that one small square marked “CEM” is listed as a cemetery on the Tax Rolls and is under the ownership of the Universal Church in Elberton. Find a grave does list the site as the Universalist Cemetery and there are several Markers there, some of which predate the railroad. This could be a possible sport for the burials. Some of the newspapers mention people coming out of Elberton to see the skeletons although they reference the site being 13 miles south of Elberton which would place it south of the Broad river. That matches Gilmer’s account of Nancy Hart wading the Broad River with the Tories at gun point. This means the site could be between the broad river and the community of Norman on the rail line. A review of the valuation maps would be most helpful so maybe one of my friends in DC can pull those for me. Who knows, we might rediscover the grave site yet.

All in all Monday was a great day. The kids did wonderfully and had a good time being in the film. I was privileged to make the acquaintance of Sean Liam Wallis. Sean is an exceptionally professional living historian. He is the type I really enjoying working with as he cares about the details, the commands, the true feel of the time. I owe him a debt of grace for his patience as I tried to translate 1812 commands into Revolutionary War commands in my head, I don’t think I did too poorly. I was also supported by Jesse Tarver who portrayed our officer that day and was kind in his treatment to all. John Hyatt almost made me fall out of character several times as he and the other patriots (including my father) walked us to the gallows. My Mom was wonderfully helpful and loving as always taking care of the grandbabies while I portrayed a Tory. She is the most helpful Nana ever. Papa Wolf looked splendid in his Patriot clothing. It was a good day.

Pay no attention to the Redcoat with the wrong gun.

Valuation Map Record from the National Archives

1914/1915 Picture looking from Wilkes County into Elbert County at the Railroad Bridge.

Link to a Savannah Reprint of the Milledgeville Recorder’s Story on Nancy Hart.

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn87062327/1825-10-06/ed-1/seq-2/