Referred to as "Captain Hart," he was not only a polished member of society but also an "accomplished and complete gentleman." As one of the proprietors of the Transylvania Company, he was a leading spirit in opening the Kentucky territory and in establishing the town of Boonesborough. Nathaniel Hart's estate, known as Red House, located at Nat's Fork on Country Line Creek, was of considerable proportions. Shortly after Thomas Hart's death, his widow and children moved to Orange County and settled on Country Line Creek, where three of her sons-Thomas, Nathaniel, and David-in the late 1750s and early 1760s obtained land grants in the area that was cut off from Orange in 1777 to form Caswell County. His mother was an aunt of Daniel Rice, the renowned Presbyterian minister who, before moving to Kentucky in 1781, is said to have taken part in the establishment of one or more early Presbyterian churches in Orange County (now Caswell County), N.C., among which Hyco (now Red House) is one of the oldest in central North Carolina. His grandfather, Thomas Hart, a merchant, emigrated from London, England, to Hanover County about 1690 and left an only son, Thomas (1632–1755), father of Nathaniel.
Sadly, that has always been the objective, I think.Nathaniel Hart, pioneer, Revolutionary officer, and proprietor in and chief negotiator for the Transylvania Company of Kentucky, was born in Hanover County, Va., the son of Thomas and Susannah Rice Hart. By erasing this part of our history, and in particular Southern history, we destroy what made America great. These were rugged, tough individuals with Southerners setting the standard. Nothing was given to them and they expected nothing less. They didn’t wait around for someone to bail them out, blaze trails, or achieve success. The common man in early American history did many extraordinary things. He always thought of himself as a common American. PETA probably wants that phrase struck from Audubon’s account.īoone not only defined the American man, he defined the American spirit, a spirit that was forged by his experiences in the South and the Southern frontier. Audubon was amazed at Boone’s skill as a hunter and described him as “a stout, hale, and athletic man, dressed in a homespun hunting shirt, bare-legged and moccasined, carried a long and heavy rifle, which, as he was loading it, he said had proved efficient in all his former undertakings, and which he hoped would not fail on this occasion, as he felt proud to show me his skill.” He then blew up a squirrel. Southern naturalist John James Audubon went hunting with Boone in Kentucky and later sketched a portrait.
The famous romantic poet Lord Byron made Boone a character in his Don Juan. Boone was the inspiration for the character Natty Bumpoo (Hawkeye) in James Fenimore Cooper’s Letherstocking Tales. Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School of art, dedicated a canvas to him in 1826. Americans, both North and South, considered Boone to be the quintessential American man. American men are now defined by “Pajama Boy.” Such actions don’t make a hero in America any longer. He served with distinction in the American War for Independence with George Rogers Clark. He fought American Indians (though he treated them with respect). He was frugal and though it ruined him financially, repaid his debts. He was manly in the way Jefferson described the word in the Declaration of Independence. He was an honest, rugged individual, and more importantly a Southerner. Boone is the antithesis of the modern American man. It would be impossible to produce that show today. Parker portrayed Boone from 1964-1970 on the television series of the same name. “Daniel Boone was a man, yes a big man.” So began the (now not so) famous Ballad of Daniel Boone by legendary Southern actor Fess Parker.
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