Buck Heard and stealing slaves (blackbirding).

Sept 1, 1832, Dekalb County, Ga.

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The conspiracy to evoke a slave revolt and take over the government of several Southern Cities was unearthed by one of John Murrell's confidants in 1835. Slave revolt was serious in the South, many had been killed by their slaves and a large revolt in the West Indies had been on the mind of many Southerners for years. John Murrell, great land pirate of the Natchez Trace, had allies in NW Ga. as well as several other states.

Murrell's forte was inducing slaves to run away, selling them in a far off state and then inducing them to run again…until such time they became so "hot" Murrell would kill them, gut them and fill them with stones, and submerge them in rivers or streams (this practice is first mentioned in relationship with the Sevier raids on the Chickamauga towns during the revolution).

In North Ga. no one person is more associated by the literature with respect to blackbirding than one Dekalb County resident, Buck Heard. William G. Heard is a constant thorn in the side of Dekalb County law enforcement. For years he is mentioned as a "frequent user of the jail" (Garrett) and courthouse denizen. He is indicted by the grand jury for all sorts of offenses and he is cited by several Cherokee as a man who stole from them. His forte, seems seems to have been stealing slaves. He is mentioned by name by several former slaves, including John Brown and is even the subject of many books of fiction on the subject.

(from History of the Pony Club, unpublished)

Buck Heard and Blackbirding (slave stealing)