Sunday, April 19, 2020

Whether uncertain because of her cross-eyes which one she was aiming at, or transfixed by her ferocity, they remained quiet

I was unaware of this story. From A brief history of Georgia's Warwoman.
When grading crews went out that fateful day in 1912 to work on the Elberton and Eastern Railroad, they could not know the effect they were about to have on Georgia History. These men were about to prove that a Georgian by the name of Nancy "Warwoman" Hart actually existed. Near a piece of property she once owned they uncovered the grave of six men from the late 1700's, probably British, and changed the way America viewed a woman whose exploits had grown to mythical proportions.

The first story about Nancy Hart appeared in the Milledgeville Southern Recorder in 1825.
One day six Tories paid Nancy a call and demanded a meal. She soon spread before them smoking venison, hoe-cakes, and fresh honeycomb. Having stacked their arms, they seated themselves, and started to eat, when Nancy quick as a flash seized one of the guns, cocked it, and with a blazing oath declared she would blow out the brains of the first mortal that offered to rise or taste a mouthful! She sent one of her sons to inform the Whigs of her prisoners. Whether uncertain because of her cross-eyes which one she was aiming at, or transfixed by her ferocity, they remained quiet. The Whigs soon arrived and dealt with the Tories according to the rules of the times.
Over the years many historians began to debunk the stories of Nancy Hart. Finding the grave so close to Hart property gave the story such credence that today it is accepted as historical fact. On the northeast border with South Carolina, Hart County is the only county in Georgia named for a woman.

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