....Charles MacDonald Heard and Stephen Heard were sons of Lt. Charles Heard and Jennie Logan. (They also had a son George Heard, who married Sarah Wright).  Lt. Charles Heard was a Revolutionary Soldier from Hanover County, Virginia.  He was the son of Thomas Heard and Polly MacDonald.  Thomas Heard was son of John Heard and Margaret MacDonald.  John came to America from Ireland in 1718, and one historian states they settled in Hanover County, Virginia.  In McIntosh's History of Elbert County, Georgia, he reports that "John was forced to leave Ireland almost overnight due to an altercation in which he attacked a Roman Catholic priest with a pitch fork, growing out of an attempt by the churchman to collect from him a greater amount than his regular tithe."

Now, to return to the Heards of Hamilton County:

I.  Charles MacDonald Heard married Sarah Moore, daughter of John and Mary (Duff) Moore.  Charles M. and Sarah (Moore) Heard had the following children:

 *1.  Mary Heard, born 1800-1810, married Jeremiah Johnson, May 5, 1830
   2.  James Mulholland Heard, born 1810, married Irena Bozeman.
   3.  John Henry Heard, born ca 1812, married Mahulda Crouch; 2nd Nancy Drew.
   4.  Charles Harvey Heard, born 1814, married Isabella Marshall; 2nd Nahwista Gates
   5.  Elizabeth Heard, born 1815, married Robert Anderson Goudy, January 1, 1835.
   6.  Sarah Heard, born November 29, 1817; died September 7, 1818.

[*Some researchers believe that Mary Heard, daughter of Charles MacDonald Heard and Sarah Moore, married J. J. Powell.  Jehu J. Powell married Mary Heard, daughter of Charles Harvey and Isabella (Marshall) Heard.  From Probate Records of Charles Harvey Heard.]

II. Stephen Heard, born 1776, married Delilah Wilcox, born 1792.  They had the following children:

   1.  Stephen K. Heard, born 1809, married Rosie A. ___(Unknown).
   2.  Thomas Heard, born 1811, married Amanda Waller
 *3.  Mary Heard, born 1810-1815, married Jeremiah Waller May 20, 1829.
 *4.  John Heard, born 1815-1820.
 *5.  Lucinda Heard, born 1820-25, married Uriah Waller, August 1, 1837
   6.  William Bryant Heard, born 1826, married Frances Eveline Johnson, February 2, 1848.
   7.  Charles M. Heard, born March 22, 1829, married Kessiah Varner, October 28, 1851
   8.  James B. Heard, born 1830-32, married Eliza J. Coons, December 18, 1859.
   9.  Susan Heard, born 1837, married Henry Hunt, August 10, 1853

[Susan Heard and Henry Hunt were my great-grandparents.  Their ancestors are listed in Hunting the Hunts, published in 1973.]

[*Children 3, 4 and 5 of Stephen and Delilah Heard are listed as probable children, and are included here for the following reasons:

Mary: Note there is a space of 15 years between the known children--Thomas: b. 1811 and William B. born 1826.  Goodspeed's History said that Charles M. Heard had a daughter Polly (Mary).  We believe she married Jeremiah Johnson.  This leaves another Mary old enough to be married in 1829.  We believe she married Jeremiah Waller.  The search continues for Jeremiah and Mary Waller.  In 1840 and 1850 census of Hamilton  County, there are Wallers, but Jeremiah is not listed.   In the1830 census of Hamilton County, of Stephen there are two female children 15-20 (b. 1810 to 1815).  One is believed to be Mary and the other Amanda, wife of Thomas.

John: The only mention of John is page 269 of Goodspeed's History, where he says Richard and John Heard were lost on "General Lyon, March 31, 1865.  We know that Charles M. and Sarah (Moore) Heard, had a son John Henry Heard, b. 1813, died 1875.  We have found no other John Heard old enough to have served in the Civil War from Hamilton County.

Lucinda: is arbitrarily listed as a child of Stephen and Delilah, because she was not named by Goodspeed as a child of Charles M. and Sarah Heard.  She is too old to have been a child of either son of Charles and Sarah Heard.

.....This is a brief summary of the early Heards in Hamilton County.  Descendants of Charles M. Heard and Stephen Heard are counted in the hundreds, scattered across the nation....The Search continues!!

Goshen Trail's
October, 1979; Volume 15, No. 4; p. 16

by Clara Hunt Miller

Since submitting the family data on the Heards of Hamilton County, published in Goshen Trails, July 1979, further information has been received to make the following additions and corrections:

Richard Heard is a son of Thomas Heard, not a son of Stephen
Lt. Charles Heard was born in Virginia, but he served in the Revolution from Abbeville District, SC
Stephen K. Heard m. Rosway (Rosie A.) Lampley 25 March 1839 in Franklin Co., IL (by M. C. Martin, J. P.)
James Mulherrin Heard, not Mulholland.

According to family tradition Stephen and Delilah Wilcox Heard had two more daughters: Minerva and Nancy.  Through the efforts of the following Heard descendants, they had been identified: Mrs. J. M. Hawthorne, OK; Mrs. Eleanor Roberts, Benton, IL and Mrs. Ann Barrett, Carbondale, IL, and we are grateful to them for their generosity in sharing information.

They sent a family history written in 1924 listing Charles M. Heard m. Jennie Logan, naming Minerva as the daughter of Stephen and Delilah Heard.  Mrs. Ruth Broadway found the marriage record in Hamilton County of Nancy Elizabeth Heard to Thomas J. Cottrell 31 Jan 1840 by Jacob Deen, MMG.  Mrs. Hawthorne has located a great-great-granddaughter of Minerva Heard, who married John Moore.  They had a daughter Nancy Moore, b. 1845.

Pauline Bradac, also a Heard descendant, states in the IOOF Cemetery, McLeansboro, a tombstone has the inscription: "Jemima, daughter of D. & Samuel Marshall, wife of James of John W. Heard, b. March 12, 1825; d. Aug 1889.  She took the information from a printed record, which may indicate the person reading the tombstone could not decide whether the name was James or John W.  Is this the John, son of Stephen Heard?  If so, certainly he is entitled to use the initial "W", since his mother's maiden name was Wilcox.

Neither the 1850 nor 1860 census of Hamilton County lists a James or John W. Heard with Jemima.  Where did they live?  If this is the John Heard "lost on General Lyon" March 31, 1865, then Jemima did not re-marry.  Hopefully, some of their descendents can answer some of these questions.

Pages 256 through 261 of Bible Records & Marriage Bopnd of Tennessee, by Jeannette T. Acklen; pub. 1967, relates that the family of Charles Herd was in Tennessee by 1792.  Charles Herd, James Mulherrin, James Bryant and Thomas Wilcox were among the 41 successful defenders of Fort Buchanan September 30, 1792, against 280 Indian warriors.  Fort Buchanan was four miles east of where Nashville now stands.  We have yet to learn the relationship between the Heards and Bryants.  In the records and census we have reviewed, William and James Bryant were in close proximity to the Heards.  Notice Stephen Heard names a son William Bryant Heard.

In summary, the corrected list of children of Stephen and Delilah Wilcox Heard were:

1. Stephen K. Heard, b. 1809-1810; m. Rosway (Rosie A.) Lampley March 25, 1839
2. Thomas Heard; b. 1811 m. Amanda Waller
3. Minerva Heard, b. 1810-15; m. John Moore
4. *Mary Heard, b. 1810-15, m. Jeremiah Waller
5. *John Heard, b. 1815-20; (Did he marry Jemimah Marshall?)
6. Lucinda Heard, b. 1820-1825; m. Uriah Waller August 1, 1837
7.  Nancy Elizabeth Heard, b. 1820-25; m. Thomas J. Cottrell January 31, 1840
8.  William Bryant Heard, b. 1826; m. Frances Eveline Johnson February 2, 1848
9.  Charles M. Heard, b. March 22, 1829; m. Kessiah Varner October 28, 1851
10.  James B. Heard, b. 1830-32; m. Eliza J. Coons December 18, 1859
Susan Heard, b. 1837; m. Henry Hunt August 10, 1853.

As in all histories, the information comes in bits and pieces, and we sincerely appreciate those who have recently sent their share.  Still searching!!