Mammy Kate was a woman enslaved by

Stephen Heard Stephen Heard (November 1, 1740 – November 15, 1815) was an American planter, politician and military officer who briefly served as president of Georgia and was sometimes called "governor". Born in Virginia, Heard fought in the French and Indian ...

(1740–1815), the future Governor of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. She lived in what was then

Wilkes County, Georgia Wilkes County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,565. The county seat is the city of Washington. Referred to as "Washington-Wilkes", the county seat and ...

, now

Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samue ...

. In an 1820 letter, she was said to be the "biggest and tallest" Black woman the writer had ever seen and had "proven herself to be a strong, a kindly, a never failing friend to Colonel Heard and his family." Of pure African descent, she claimed to be the daughter of a great king. Heard suffered a great deal at the hands of the

Tories A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...

. They forced his wife out into a snowstorm, and she and their young, adopted daughter died from exposure. Then he was captured by the British and

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. Ostensibly to care for his needs, Kate followed him to his prison. One morning, she presented herself with a large covered basket on her head. Telling the

sentry Sentry or The Sentry may refer to: Marvel Comics *Sentry (Kree) *Sentry (Curtis Elkins) *Sentry (Robert Reynolds) *Senator Ward (comics) or Sentry Vehicles *Sentry (AUV), an autonomous underwater vehicle used to measure deep-ocean data *E-3 Sentr ...

on duty that she was there to pick up Heard's soiled linen, she was admitted to his cell. There, she put Heard, a small man, in the basket and calmly sauntered past the guard with him in the basket balanced on her head. The previous night, she had secreted two of Heard's

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easi ...

s—Lightfoot and Silverheels—on the outskirts of

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

, where he was imprisoned. She carried Heard to where she had hidden the horses, and she and Heard rode away. On the ride, he offered to set her free, but she told him that he could set her free, but she would never set him free. Heard gave Kate

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

and a deed to a small tract of land and a four-roomed house, but she continued to work for the Heard family, turning over on her death-bed her children to his family.McIntosh, p. 23.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kate, Mammy 18th-century African-American women 18th-century African-American people 18th-century American slaves Black Patriots People from Elbert County, Georgia People from colonial Georgia (British America) People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Revolution Women in the American Revolution Year of birth missing Year of death missing