Georgia-born actress Miriam Hopkins appeared in thirty-six full-length films over the course of a four-decade career that reached its height in the 1930s. Her performance in the title role of Becky Sharp (1935), the first full-length color film, earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress. Hopkins also performed numerous stage roles, and in the 1950s and 1960s she appeared in a variety of dramatic roles on television. Ellen Miriam Hopkins was born in Savannah on October 18, 1902, to Ellen Cutter and Homer A.

Morgan County, in central Georgia, was created from Baldwin County by an act of the state legislature in 1807. It was named in honor of Revolutionary War (1775-83) general Daniel Morgan. In 1809 the town of Madison was incorporated and named the county seat. Until 1818, when Walton County was created, Morgan County was a part of the western frontier of Georgia—all lands to the west of it being Creek Indian territory.

Georgia’s most acclaimed female participant during the Revolutionary War (1775-83) was Nancy Hart. A devout patriot, Hart gained notoriety during the revolution for her determined efforts to rid the area of Tories, English soldiers, and British sympathizers. Her single-handed efforts against Tories and Indians in the Broad River frontier, as well as her covert activities as a patriot spy, have become the stuff of myth, legend, and local folklore. Frontierswoman Although explicit details concerning most of her life are unknown, it is widely assumed that Nancy Ann Morgan Hart was born in North Carolina, somewhere in the Yadkin River valley (although some believe that she was born in Pennsylvania), around 1735 (some say 1747).

During the Civil War, Nancy Hill Morgan cofounded the Nancy Harts Militia, a female military unit organized in LaGrange to protect the home front. Morgan, the wife of a Confederate soldier, served as captain of the militia. Courtesy of Troup County Archives The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

The Old Governor’s Mansion is located in Milledgeville, the state’s capital from 1807 to 1868. In 1835 the Georgia legislature resolved to construct the first official residence for the governor. Construction on the Old Governor’s Mansion began in 1836 and was completed in 1838 or 1839. The mansion, designed by the Irish architect Charles B. Cluskey, was erected in the Greek revival style, one of the most significant architectural styles from the early Victorian period of architecture in America.