William Heard was born into slavery about 1843 (1850?) in
Elbert County, Georgia, some three miles from the small settlement of Longstreet. His father was George W. Heard (b. circa 1813), recorded in the 1870 census as of
mixed race. Before emancipation, he was an enslaved skilled workman: he worked first as a blacksmith and later as a wheelwright and carpenter. George did not know the name of his mother. His biological father was said to have been a white man named Thomas Heard Galloway (d. circa 1859). She was skilled in plowing, but she was also valued by her owners as a "breeder" (a woman who regularly produced children). She was allowed to work close to her own cabin in order to nurse and care for her children. As slaves, Heard's parents were prohibited from legally recognized marriage. Also, they were held by planters on separate estates some three miles apart, so could not live together. George Heard was given permission by his owners to visit his family twice a week when his labor was not required (overnight, Wednesday-Thursday: Sunday). As a young child Heard was sold twice with his family: his mother and three siblings Millie, Beverley and Cordelia. Their youngest brother, George Clark Heard, was born later. When he was nine and working as a servant in the household where his mother was a cook, both she and his elder sister died of
typhoid fever. At age ten Heard was set to work as a plow boy on a farm. At fifteen, having been assaulted by a drunken "boss man" and becoming aware of the potential ending of his slave status after the Civil War, he fled and began living with his father. He kept a wheelwright's shop in
Elberton. Although slaves were prohibited from learning to read and write, Heard attended Sunday school and trained his memory by learning large amounts of the Bible by rote.
Post-Emancipation After emancipation, while living with his father, Heard paid a white schoolboy ten cents a lesson to teach him basic literacy. He also began working for a local farmer, earning five dollars a month. He also arranged to recite back to him a lesson Heard had learned over lunch. This farmer was William H. Heard, from whom Heard took his surname (he had previously been known only as "Henry"). Heard attempted a similar arrangement with another local farmer. But, dissatisfied with the education he was receiving, he returned to his father's shop to work. By this time a school had been set up in Elberton for freedmen and their children, which he could attend. By following every opportunity for education, Heard in time achieved a teaching qualification and a place at the state university. He attended the
University of South Carolina until 1877, when white Democrats regained control of the state government and prohibited black students from attending the flagship college. ==Career==