Captain John Heth (1798 – April 30, 1842) was a Virginian

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

and businessman in the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

industry.

Biography

Heth was born in 1798 at

Black Heath Black Heath was a house and coal mine located near the present day Midlothian, Virginia, Midlothian area of Chesterfield County, Virginia. The Black Heath coal mining enterprises were operated intermittently from the early 1780s until 1939 and wer ...

estate in

Chesterfield County, Virginia Chesterfield County is a County (United States), county located just south of Richmond, Virginia, Richmond in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The county's borders are primarily defined by the James River to the north an ...

. He was the son of Colonel Henry "Harry" Heth, who had fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and established himself in the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

business in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and Nancy Hare Heth. He was named for his father's brother, Lt. John Heth, who had also fought in the Revolutionary War and afterwards settled in the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

area.

War of 1812

John Heth served in the volunteer forces of Virginia as an officer in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, achieving the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. On January 15, 1815, he was captured with Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr., the commander of the U.S. frigate

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and taken to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

with Decatur and his crew as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. With two others, Captain Heth escaped from Bermuda in an open boat.

Coal Industry

After the war, Heth operated the Black Heath

pits near present-day

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, a business inherited from his father, who died in 1821. Under his management, the mines expanded and eventually became the standard coal of the U.S. Navy. In 1832, he petitioned the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

to form the first coal mining corporation in the state, and succeeded, despite protests, the following year. After two serious fatal accidents from explosions in 1839 and 1844, the Black Heath pits were closed until 1938.

Family and children

Captain Heth married Margaret L. Pickett (1801-1850) of Richmond on May 15, 1822. Pickett was the sister of Robert Pickett, who, with his wife Mary, was the father of Confederate general

George Pickett George Edward Pickett (January 16,Military records cited by Eicher, p. 428, and Warner, p. 239, list January 28. The memorial that marks his gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery lists his birthday as January 25. Thclaims to have accessed the baptis ...

. They had 11 children between 1823 and 1842, including future

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Major General

Henry Heth Henry Heth ( not ) (December 16, 1825 – September 27, 1899) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Eastern theater of the American Civil War, Eastern Theater of the American ...

, who was born at Black Heath in 1825.< Their 11 children included: *Margaret Helen Heth (1823-1855), married to Thomas Lynch Hamilton *Ann Eliza Heth (1824-1825) *Henry "Harry" Heth (1825-1899), married Harriet C. "Teny" Selden (1834-1907) and had three children *Lavinia Randolph Heth (1827-1865), married Julien Harrison (1827-1877) and had seven children *Elizabeth Chevallie Heth (1829-1904), married Thomas Vaden and had seven children *John Randolph Heth (1834-1890) *Catherine "Kitty" Heth (1834-1912), married John Cringan Maynard *Caroline Kemble Heth (1835-1859), married Walter K. Martin *Mary Ann Heth (1837-1920) *Beverley Stockton Heth (1839-1927) *Fanny Cadwallader Heth (1842-?)

Death

Heth died on April 30, 1842, at Norwood Plantation in

Powhatan County, Virginia Powhatan County () is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,033. Its county seat is Powhatan. Powhatan County is included in the Greater Richmond Region. The James River forms the coun ...

, and was buried there.

References

1798 births 1842 deaths People from Chesterfield County, Virginia American people of English descent United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812 War of 1812 prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom {{Virginia-bio-stub