Dan Tucker’s Grave, Elbert County

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Sign marking the trail leading to Dan Tucker’s grave

Elbert County has always promoted Dan Tucker’s gravesite to visitors based on the assumption that the Daniel Tucker buried here is the “Old Dan Tucker” of 19th-century American folklore. There is no academic or even incidental agreement on this assertion, but it’s a great story, and the public access trail to the historic Tucker Cemetery is one of the nicest walks around. And as a big fan of vernacular gravestones, I’d suggest a visit to others who appreciate this underappreciated art form. Kudos to Elbert County for maintaining it so nicely. It’s a low rise path surrounded for most of its short distance by wooded slopes descending into Richard B. Russell Lake. The small cemetery has several other markers, three of which are identified.

Path to Dan Tucker’s grave

Since the origins of the standard folk song “Old Dan Tucker” are unclear and may never be confirmed, there is no way of proving the identity of its namesake. Some credit the song to Dan Emmett, who popularized blackface minstrel shows and composed the song “Dixie”, but it has also been credited to J. R. Jenkins, and Henry Russell. Dan Emmett told his biographer that he wrote the song circa 1830-1821 when he was 15 years old. “Old Dan Tucker” was first published as sheet music in 1843. The earliest versions (there are many) employed Black Vernacular English, portrayed Dan Tucker as a drunken troublemaker, and breaks with many social conventions. He was a Black man in these iterations. At least four versions with different lyrics and identities for Tucker were published in the 19th century. Some suggest it’s based on a notorious sea captain and widely despised colonist named Daniel Tucker. This seems a bit far-fetched to me. More likely, as has been suggested, it’s derived from earlier minstrel tunes.

General view of Tucker Cemetery

Elbert County’s Dan Tucker was Daniel Tucker (14 February 1740-7 April 1818), a Virginia native who served as a captain of the Amelia County Militia during the Revolutionary War. For his service, he was awarded a land grant on the Georgia frontier. He developed a successful plantation, Point Lookout, with an enslaved workforce, ran a ferry on the Savannah River, and served as a minister, particularly known, through oral tradition, “…to bring Christianity to those he enslaved.” He was a neighbor and good friend of Governor Stephen Heard.

Frances Tucker (25 April 1790-19 May 1818). The nice vernacular headstone, of local material, reads: Sacred to the memory of Frances Tucker W of Rev Eppes Tucker – Born April 25 1790 – dp this life May the 19 1818 -Age 28 years.

A 1957 Georgia Historical Marker, which is no longer standing, claimed this about Daniel Tucker: “…Esteemed by his fellow planters, he was loved by the Negroes who composed the many verses of the famous ditty, “Old Dan Tucker,” a favorite song at corn shuckings and other social gatherings.” There is no evidence whatsoever to support this claim, other than local tradition. While I never dismiss it outright, oral history is spotty at best. I mean no ill will in pointing this out, and I enjoyed my visit to Dan Tucker’s grave. I never gave it much thought when I first heard it on The Andy Griffith Show and Little House on the Prairie as a boy.

Decedent unknown. I’m working on translating the name but haven’t gotten it yet.

There are several unidentified stones in the cemetery, all relatives or in-laws of Daniel Tucker as best I can discern.

Frances Epps Tucker (4 April 1750-6 August 1823). The stone reads: In Memory of Frances Tucker W. O. Daniel Tucker-who was born April the 4th 1750-dp this life Aug the 6th 1823-Age 73 Yr. [The maker of this marker used a backward capital D for the letter R, and for the number 5 in the birthdate, quite an unusual characteristic.]

Daniel Tucker’s grave is also quite primitive.

Rev. Daniel Tucker (14 February 1740-7 April 1818)

A newer military-issued marker has been placed in recent years, and it’s a good thing, as these memorials are all fading fast.

Heard Cemetery, Circa 1800, Elbert County

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Entrance to Heard Cemetery

This historic cemetery near the lost plantation village of Heardmont is best known as the final resting place of Stephen Heard (1741-1815), who served briefly as governor of Georgia, from 1780-1781. It’s also referred to as the Stephen Heard Cemetery, Heardmont Cemetery (historic), and God’s Acre Cemetery. The earliest identified burial dates to 1800. It has been maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution, though I’m not sure if that arrangement is still in place. It’s very well maintained. A granite marker near the entrance states: John W. McCalla, husband of Mary Allen McCalla, daughter of Singleton W. Allen*, deeded ten acres more or less, to the order of the “Daughters of the American Revolution” on November 24, 1903. The northeast corner, known as Heardmont Cemetery and church lot, to be reserved for burying purposes of the family members and relatives of Singleton W. Allen. *-Singleton Walthall Allen, Sr. (1793-1853), married Jane Lanier Heard, daughter of Stephen Heard.

A second generation Irish American from Hanover County, Virginia, Heard was the son of John Heard 1717-1788), and Bridgett Carroll (1719-1784). He set aside his schooling in the 1750s, and along with several of his brothers, joined George Washington’s Virginia regiment in the French and Indian War. He was promoted to captain by the future president and the men maintained a lifelong friendship.

This wall surrounds the entire cemetery.

He and his family came to Georgia in 1759, and in 1766 was the beneficiary of a 150-acre land grant for service rendered during the French and Indian War. Tensions remained high among the British settlers and the Creek and Cherokee peoples, and after both tribes signed the Treaty of Augusta in 1773, land north of the Little River was opened to settlement. To help protect new settlers from Native American incursions, Heard and his brother Barnard constructed Fort Heard, at present-day Washington, in 1774. Around the same time, Stephen and Barnard, along with their father, established another fort, known as Heard’s Fort, seven miles north of Fort Heard near Fishing Creek.

The Heards were patriots (Whigs) and were part of a larger group of rebels that included Nancy Hart, Elijah Clarke, and John Dooly. Far from being embraced by their fellow settlers, these colonists were the target of British sympathizers, known as Tories. As the British occupied Georgia, the Tories committed widespread acts of violence, culminating for Stephen Heard in the loss of his wife, Jane Germany, and their adopted daughter. The Tories invaded the Heard property and forced the women outside and into the snow. They later died of exposure.

His resolve greater than ever, Stephen Heard participated in the Battle of Kettle Creek on 14 February 1779. The battle was a major setback for the British in northeast Georgia, as only 270 of a force of 600 survived, but Tories continued to create chaos in the area. During one such campaign, Heard was captured and taken as a prisoner to Fort Cornwallis in Augusta. Legend holds that he was saved by one of his slaves, Mammy Kate.

Heard was appointed governor by the executive council of the House of Assembly on 24 May 1780 and served just over a year, departing the office on 18 August 1781. Clay Ouzts writes: “During his term, the British, who had overrun most of the state, were in control of its principal cities, and the backcountry was in a state of anarchy. Heard’s Fort functioned temporarily as Georgia’s capitol, but raids by Tories and Indians forced Heard and the council to move about continually to avoid capture by the British.“

Elizabeth Darden Heard (October 1765-5 June 1848)

After the Revolutionary War, Heard was granted nearly 7000 acres. He built Heardmont about 30 miles north of Washington on land which became part of Elbert County in 1790. He married Elizabeth Darden (1765-1848), a great niece of George Washington according to Findagrave, and they had nine children. Heard was an early justice of Elbert County, a delegate at the state constitutional convention of 1795, and a member of the committee that laid out the county seat of Elberton in 1803. He died at Heardmont on 15 November 1815. Heard County is named for him.

Col. Stephen Heard (13 November 1741-15 November 1815) The memorial doesn’t mention his brief service as governor, but notes: He was a soldier and fought with the great Washington for the liberties of his country…

Mammy Kate and Daddy Jack: Forgotten Black Patriots

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There are no known contemporary images of a woman enslaved by Stephen Heard known simply as Mammy Kate, but early references described her as imposing, over 6 feet tall, very strong and fearless. She also declared herself to be the daughter of an African king. These firsthand accounts are part of an oral tradition among the descendants of Stephen Heard that have elevated Mammy Kate to near mythological status for her bravery in freeing Heard from his British captors at Augusta during the American Revolution.

On 14 February 1779, Heard was present at the Battle of Kettle Creek and was subsequently captured and imprisoned at Fort Cornwallis in Augusta. He would have been executed had he remained there. Hearing of his capture, Mammy Kate set out on his horse, Lightfoot, and after reaching Augusta, gained the trust of the British soldiers at Fort Cornwallis by doing their laundry, and therefore got close to Heard. The story goes that she convinced him to get into a basket and she carried him out on her head. This part may be apocryphal, but is central to the story. She did in fact get Stephen Heard safely back to Fort Heard, (present-day Washington, Georgia). Mammy Kate was given her freedom for this daring act, as well as a small plot of land and a four-room house. She continued to live at Heardmont alongside her husband, Daddy Jack, who remained enslaved and worked as Heard’s gardener. Ironically, Mammy Kate left her nine children to Stephen Heard’s children upon her death. It does raise questions as to the broader relationship dynamics at work but there is nothing to be found, even in genealogical resources that I’ve consulted.

Published accounts of this story emphasize that Mammy Kate lived in “freedom from care and want” and that she loved her “kind” master. It should be pointed out that, ultimately, African-Americans, even free African-Americans, didn’t have carefree lives or a sense of self determination at this time and such accounts should be taken at face value and within a broader context.

Daddy Jack (Heard)-Birth and death dates unknown, Heard Cemetery, Elbert County

Even less is known about Daddy Jack than Mammy Kate. I was unable to find any mention of their countries of origin in Africa or their children.


A 2011 article in the Athens-Banner Herald notes that Mammy Kate was the first Black woman in Georgia honored as a patriot by the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution. Daddy Jack was also afforded this honorific. Heard’s descendants, who have diligently worked to preserve family stories over the centuries, were happy to see the recognition for Mammy Kate and Daddy Jack.

Mammy Kate (Heard)- Birth and death dates unknown. Heard Cemetery, Elbert County

The very presence of two marble slabs bearing their names in the Heard Cemetery is proof that Mammy Kate and Daddy Jack were held in high esteem. Unfortunately, there are no birth or death dates on their memorials. They were likely installed at the same time, possibly years after their deaths. I can’t think of another enslaved man or woman who died before Emancipation that are honored in this way, though I imagine there could be a few in existence.

Nancy Hart Cabin, Elbert County

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Just past the group shelter as you approach the cabin, you’ll see this marker, noting the location of a spring on Nancy Hart’s property at Wahachee Creek. It was erected by the New Deal Works Progress Administration and the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1936, as part of ongoing work inside the Nancy Hart park.

Though to my knowledge she never made a flag, Nancy Hart (c.1735-1830) is the Georgia equivalent to Betsy Ross, in the sense that she’s the best known woman of the Revolutionary War era in the state. As a spy and combatant, she far exceeded the expectations of her gender at the time. She’s also the only woman to be the namesake of a county in Georgia; nearby Hart County was so named in 1853. The city of Hartwell, and Lake Hartwell also bear her name. At the outset of the Civil War, a group of wives of Confederate soldiers in LaGrange formed a militia group to protect the home front and called themselves the Nancy Harts.

Though details about her life are varied and sometimes in conflict, most historians believe Nancy Hart was born Nancy Ann Morgan in the Yadkin River Valley of North Carolina circa 1735. She was a cousin of Daniel Morgan, who commanded a successful American force at the Battle of Cowpens. She married Lieut. Benjamin Hart (1732-1802), himself a relative of Thomas Hart Benton and Henry Clay. Her family came to the Broad River Valley of Georgia in the early 1770s, just as tensions between Tories, English soldiers and other British sympathizers were coming to a head. As to her personal qualities, Clay Ouzts writes: “…Aunt Nancy,” as she was often called, was a tall, gangly woman who towered six feet in height. Like the frontier she inhabited, she was rough-hewn and rawboned, with red hair and a smallpox-scarred face. She was also cross-eyed. One early account pointed out that Hart had “no share of beauty—a fact she herself would have readily acknowledged, had she ever enjoyed an opportunity of looking into a mirror.” And, her “physical appearance was matched by a feisty personal demeanor characterized by a hotheaded temper, a fearless spirit, and a penchant for exacting vengeance upon those who offended her or harmed her family and friends. Local Indians soon began to refer to her as “Wahatche,” which may have meant war woman“.”

The greatest legend about Nancy Hart was that she killed six Tories who had come to her cabin looking for a patriot (Whig) leader whom she’d just help escape. Details of the event have emerged as fact and folklore, but the story goes that the Tories killed one of her turkeys, ordered her to prepare it and feed it to them, and became drunk on the wine she served. After killing two of them with their own weapons, she held the others captive while reinforcements were gathered. The survivors were then hung from a nearby tree. Some proof of this may have been uncovered, literally, when railroad crews unearthed six human skeletons near the site of the original cabin, in 1912.

A bronze plaque notes that this replica of Nancy Hart’s cabin was built by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1932, at the approximate site of the original and using some of the original bricks in the chimney.

After the war, Nancy became quite religious, later moved to Brunswick and upon Benjamin’s death in 1802, returned to her Broad River homesite, which had at some point flooded and washed away the cabin. After briefly residing in Athens with her son, John Hart, they settled near relatives in Henderson County, Kentucky, where Nancy spent the rest of her life.

I’m glad that such a fascinating character in Georgia history is remembered. There may be as many myths as truths in her story, but she certainly embodies the spirit of resistance that flowered in Georgia during the Revolutionary War.

Brood XIX Cicadas in Elbert County

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Brood XIX Cicada nymph emerging from shell, Elberton

Chances are, if you’re anywhere on Earth right now, you’ve heard something about the concurrent emergence of two broods (XIII and XIX) of periodical cicadas. Entomologists suggest their numbers will be in the trillions but not to worry, it’s not like a biblical plague of locusts. Cicadas are essentially harmless.

Brood XIX Cicada, Elberton

This year’s emergence is a rare event, on a scale that hasn’t happened since 1803, and it has inspired a lot of citizen science and non-stop media coverage. There’s an update about new sightings every day. I wasn’t thinking of the bugs when I planned a trip to northeast Georgia last weekend but there was no avoiding them. They were on the ground, on historic markers and graves, and on trees and telephone poles.

Brood XIX Cicada, Nancy Hart Memorial Park

The Elbert County cicadas are part of the Great Southern Brood, which according to the National Museum of Natural History has a 13-year life cycle, though the adults only live a few weeks. Most of their lives are spent underground feeding on tree roots and sap. The great thing to me about this phenomenon was being able to see the nymphs emerging while also seeing adults. Fascinating.

Black Rock AME. Church, Circa 1830s + 1900, Wilkes County

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Black Rock AME Church was established in 1868 by freedmen, most of whom had been members of the white Independence Methodist Church in nearby Tignall. The old church building was moved in 1870 to land given to the congregation by member John Stovall Poole, Sr. (1820-1893). The plain style church remained unchanged until the steeple and vestibule were added to the front circa 1900. The style is sometimes called “wedding cake” for its stacked construction and is quite rare in Georgia.

One of the large rocks that inspired the church’s name was engraved to commemorate their anniversary in 1940. Rev. J. Clinton chose Matthew 21:42 to represent the strength and faith of the congregation: The stone which the builders rejected became the cornerstone of the building.

Rocks of this type are common in Georgia’s “Granite Belt” and often give names to places and geographical features throughout the region.

Slabs of local stone are commonly used for headstones in most of the older cemeteries in this part of the state. I’ll update this one if I can decipher the name.

Rev. C. M. Pinkleton (28 November 1856-13 March 1905)

Monuments ranging from simple to formal are found throughout the historic cemetery. Many of those buried here were formerly enslaved.

Emily Hawes (1834-16 October 1899)

Emily was the wife of Fate Hawes. The typical stenciled headstone is a common vernacular form.

Nancy Brinson (1868 or 1869-2 May 1896)

Nancy was the wife of Arch Brinson.

Singleton Plantation, Circa 1854, Putnam County

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Pediment of the Singleton House, believed to be the work of itinerant carpenter S. J. Suiter

The construction of the late Greek Revival main house at the plantation of Rebecca Louise Griggs Singleton (1833-1907) and David Terrell Singleton (1831-1913) is credited, through oral tradition, to a very skilled but otherwise unknown carpenter named S. J. Suiter, who came to Putnam County from North Carolina. Suiter was still in Putnam County at the time of the 1860 census, living with the family of William Spivey and perhaps doing work on their property. To my knowledge, nothing else is known of Mr. Suiter. A Parisian plasterer lived on site for two years, creating the cornices and ceiling medallions.

Well house, dating to the ownership of the Singleton family. The Victorian details suggest it likely dates to the late 1800s-early 1900s.

The house was built circa 1854, the year of Rebecca Griggs’s marriage to David Singleton and in the National Register of Historic Places nomination in 1974 was described as “a modest, yet classically sophisticated plantation residence.” That characterization still applies. Structures added to the property by Earl McMillen, Jr., the architect who purchased it in 1968, are featured below with earlier historic structures.

Caretaker’s house, near the entrance to the farm. Likely built in the early-mid 1900s, but may be an expansion of an earlier cottage.

Rebecca Griggs Singleton purchased the property through an inheritance from her father, Robert Griggs, who owned adjoining land across Murder Creek. The Singletons bought several more large tracts in the area, and along with other plantations in the area, formed the basis in 1859 of a community first known as Avalona, and sometime between 1882 and 1895, Willard. The Singletons were members of the Avalona Baptist Church.

Covered bridge over Beaverdam Creek, built by Earl McMillen, Jr.

When Atlanta architect Earl McMillen, Jr., purchased the estate in 1968, the main house and outbuildings were all in a very run down state. As a passionate preservationist, Mr. McMillen set about restoring the house to its historical appearance, while adding modern conveniences to the grounds, He also saved and moved the old Phoenix Academy to the farm.

Covered bridge

Mr. McMillen also built a private covered bridge at a point where Beaverdam Creek crosses the property. Recent flooding caused one of the approaches to shift, but it’s still in good shape.

Tenant home converted into a hunting and fishing cabin by the Odums. Mr. Odum told me that one lady lived here most of her life, died at age 104, and climbed the steep stairs to her loft bedroom even in her old age. They’re some of the steepest stairs I’ve ever seen.

The Odums are the present owners and I am very grateful to their generosity in allowing me to visit and photograph a property that is as vibrant as it ever was. Mr. Odum is passionate about the historic structures but equally important, in keeping the land in good shape for future generations. They are doing a wonderful job.

Singleton House, Circa 1854

National Register of Historic Places

Phoenix Academy: The Joel Chandler Harris Schoolhouse

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This is the enigmatic Phoenix Academy, where Joel Chandler Harris attended school as a young man while working as a print devil for famed plantation publisher Joseph Addison Turner (1826-1868). It was saved and relocated to its present location in the mid-1970s by an Atlanta architect who owned the surrounding property, itself an historic antebellum plantation. More about that after a little background.

PLEASE NOTE: This property is not publicly accessible and trespassing is closely monitored by multiple means.

Phoenix Academy was built in the vicinity of Turnwold, northeast of Eatonton, circa 1860. The area is historically identified as Phoenix on maps. The house known as Turnwold today, the Lane-Turner House, was actually one of two on a large working plantation, the other being the older Alexander-Turner House. Joseph Addison Turner, published The Countryman, a weekly newspaper, from his property, the Alexander-Turner House. The Countryman was the only periodical ever published from a plantation during the Civil War and was widely read throughout the confederacy. His brother, William Wilberforce Turner (1830-1879), who lived in the Lane-Turner House, came up with the Turnwold name for the plantation, according to the National Register of Historic Places, and Joseph like it so much he applied to the entire property. (Turnwold means “Turner’s field”).

Union Academy, built circa 1820 by William Turner (1787-1853), the patriarch of the Turner family, originally stood on the site, but it was lost to fire*. Some time later, Phoenix Academy was built in its place. William Howard Seward, who served as Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of state, was an early rector at Union Academy. Joseph Addison Turner taught and served as president of the board of trustees for Phoenix Academy. He saw promise in a young, poorly educated Joel Chandler Harris, and encouraged him to attend school in the mornings while he apprenticed as a print devil for The Countryman in the afternoons. From his experiences among the enslaved people at Turnwold flowed Harris’s inspiration for the Uncle Remus stories. Though the Uncle Remus canon faded from popularity long before justified modern academic and social debates about controversial topics arose, mostly due to their rural subject matter and stereotypical portrayal of African-Americans, Harris remains a foundational figure in the history of Southern literature, if for no other reason than preserving the lost language of the enslaved and for his firsthand accounts of plantation life. A recent study found: Generations of Putnam County’s children, both black and white, have grown up with Harris, Remus, and Br’er Rabbit looming in the background of their lives. Yet in an age when the Harris books have fallen out of favor and Disney has permanently shelved the 1948 film version, nearly 100% of Putnam’s students engaged in this project acknowledge having never previously read a single Uncle Remus story.

*- (The date of the fire, and of the construction of Phoenix academy, is unclear; the National Register dates it to circa 1862 but also describes it as “antebellum”. I believe it may date to earlier in the 1850s and was assigned the 1862 date due to the Joel Chandler Harris association. The National Register also notes: “Over the years as the student body grew, a larger structure was constructed alongside the academy. The original Phoenix Academy became the headmaster’s residence until the academy’s closing, when it became a tenant residence. The second Phoenix School was torn down approximately ten years ago (c. 1965). Like many rural schoolhouses of the period, Phoenix Academy is of the Greek Revival style. It exhibits a pediment, pilasters with Ionic-order scrolls and molding around the door and window frames. The unusually fine application of Greek Revival details to one of the few surviving examples of rural antebellum academies in Georgia makes Phoenix Academy a unique and noteworthy structure.”).

Now, back to the story of how Phoenix Academy wound up clear across Putnam County. It’s all due to the foresight of architect and preservationist Earl McMillen, Jr. (1938-2007), who practiced in Atlanta and purchased the historic Singleton Plantation in 1968. When McMillen learned of the imminent demolition of the schoolhouse circa 1975, he acquired it from Putnam County and brought it to his property, where he painstakingly put it back together, just as it had originally stood. Its connection to Joel Chandler Harris was too important to be lost, McMillen rightfully believed. He did remove a rear wing, which had been added later in its history. It was used a rural schoolhouse well into the 20th century for children who lived in the area of Turnwold. An early 1900s photograph of Phoenix School, which the old academy was known as by then, shows that the school had a small front porch with a shed roof, but that was likely not original and was also removed by Mr. McMillen. I’m honored to be able to share these photographs, and am grateful to Dutch Henderson for the introduction, and to the Odum family for their generosity in allowing me to do so and for their continued stewardship of this important piece of Southern history. I’ll share more of their historic property in the next post.

Hotel Lanier Mural, Circa 1930, Putnam County

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An old shotgun store on US Highway 129 in southwestern Putnam County, long hidden by vegetation, has recently been exposed, and along with it, a hand-painted sign advertising the Hotel Lanier in Macon. The sign likely dates from the 1920s-1930s. The sides of buildings, especially stores and barns, were often used for advertising, essentially the billboards of their day. Much of US Highway 129 [sections of which were known as the Dixie Highway] was paved by the late 1920s or early 1930s, and as one of the first major improved north-south arteries in Georgia, was valuable real estate to advertisers. The Lanier House, on Mulberry Street, was considered a “crown jewel” in antebellum Macon, owned by Sidney Lanier’s grandparents. After a fire in the early 1900s, it was remodeled and renamed the Hotel Lanier, but remained a popular gathering place until at least World War II. It was razed in 1975.

General Store, Jasper County

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I’m not positive that this old shotgun store was in Jasper County. I photographed driving between Monticello and Eatonton, and can’t relocate it on maps. I’ll gladly update if someone knows its exact whereabouts. It’s a great example and still displays an old Coca-Cola sign, dating to no later than the 1940s. The rusted tin always gets my attention and my mind wanders, imagining the hard-working people who gathered here to buy Co-Colas and swap tales. The store was probably closed by the 1950s or early 1960s.