Heard, Stephen D., 1807-1875.

Stephen D. Heard (1807-1875), lawyer, commission merchant, and native of Wilkes County, Ga., practiced law in Talbotton, Ga., from about 1835 until about 1847. In 1836, he married Mary Anne Willis of Wilkes County, whose father, Colonel Richard Jefferson Willis, later signed the Ordinance of Secession. About 1847, Heard moved to Augusta, Ga., where he worked for the remainder of his life as a commission merchant in the successive firms of Dye & Heard, Heard & Simpson, S. D. Heard, and S. D. Heard & Son. Heard was an active Mason, a member of the Augusta Board of Health (1858), a wartime alderman, a member of the board of directors of Milledgeville Railroad Co. (1862) and of the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad Co. (1874), and president of the Macon & Augusta Railroad Co. (1866). In 1861, Heard was commissioned second lieutenant in the Silver Greys, a volunteer organization for home defense, and served throughout the war. After the war Heard established a business partnership with his son, Richard Willis Heard. Stephen D. Heard was a first cousin twice removed of the Stephen Heard who served as governor of Georgia in 1781.

From the guide to the Stephen D. Heard Papers, ., 1758-1889, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)

Stephen D. Heard, lawyer, commission merchant, and native of Wilkes County, Ga., practiced law in Talbotton, Ga., from about 1835 until about 1847. In 1836, he married Mary Anne Willis of Wilkes County, whose father, Col. Richard Jefferson Willis, later signed the Ordinance of Secession. About 1847, Heard moved to Augusta, Ga., where he worked for the remainder of his life as a commission merchant in the successive firms of Dye & Heard, Heard & Simpson, S. D. Heard, and S. D. Heard & Son.

Heard was an active Mason, a member of the Augusta Board of Health (1858), a wartime city alderman, a member of the board of directors of the Milledgeville Railroad Company (1862) and of the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad Company (1874), and president of the Macon & Augusta Railroad Company (1866). His son and partner Richard Willis Heard (d. 1880) married Anna Platt of Augusta, Ga., in 1868.

From the description of Stephen D. Heard papers, 1758-1889 (bulk 1840-1874) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 27190210