The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-07-14
Woman Spy Of Lost Cause.

Mrs. John Nance, one Of the oldest
of odd characters, was found dead
seated by the roadside in Clay county,
Tenn, recently. Hers was indeed a
strange and eventful life. Sixty years
ago Jacob Schroeder, a Pennsylvania
Dutchman, emigrated to this section
of Kentucky and settled down to
farming and dealing in stock. His
family consisted of two son and a
daughter. By frugal habits Schroeder
accumulated considerable property
and was known as one Of the wealth.
est men Of this section. The daugh-
ter, Kate, had many admirers, the ia
vored sutton being Wilson Bergman,
a carpenter. Owing to a fancied in
suit offered him by Bergman, old man
Schroeder was opposed to the marriage
of his daughter, and forbade Bergman
entering his house. A few days after
the wordy war between the two men,
old Schroeder was SHOT from ambush.
Suspicion pointed to Bergman as
being the assassin, but the evidence
was not sufficient to warrant his arrest
Two weeks after the murder Bergman
attempted to elope with Kate Schro-
der. The clipping couple were over.
taken by the two Schroeder boys and
Bergman was killed. The Schrodcrs
left for parts unknown. Two years
later Kate Schroeder married John
NJ. Nance, afarmer and former admirer.
At the commencement of the war,
Nance, who was a strong Southern
sympathizer, was arrested and taken
to Louisville, where he died in prison.
Mrs. Nance always claimed his death
was caused by the cruel treatment of
his captors. Burning for revenge,
Mrs. Nance entered the service of the
rebels in the capacity of a spy. She
was of great service to the Confedcr-
ates, and was considered one OF the
most daring spies in the service. She
was with Bragg when he raided
through Kentucky, and at the battle
of Perryville handled a muskct in the
front ranks. During the war she was
usually attircd in male attire, unless
feminine attire suited her purpose bet
ter.
Many were her hair-brcadth escapes
from capture and death. One of the
closest calls she we experienced
was while fording Red River, in Logan
County, Ky. She had visited Rus
sellville in search Of information.
An hour after her departure the Fed
eral commander of the town, learning
she was a rebel spy, dispatched a com
pany of cavalry to capture or kill her.
The troops overlook the daring wo-
man at the river, which was bank full
and past fording, owing to recent
rains. With certain death behind
and a dangerous river in front, she
plunged into the raging torrent. When
half way across the stream the Federal
cavalry appeared and fired a volley at
the fleeing woman. Her horse was
killed and she received a wound in the
shoulder. Surprising she had received
her death wound, the troops left her
to the mercies of the stream. She was
washed against a pile of driftwood
and reached the opposite shore. She
reached her command and gave infor-
nation which resulted in the cap
ture Of Russellville the following week.
During her career as a scout she
made oath that not until the indepen-
dencc Of the Confederate States would
she ever sleep beneath a roof. At the
close of the wal Mrs. Nance returned
to this county, sold her little farm,
and began a roaming life, which ended
only in her death last week.
Securing a spring wagon, a horse
and several head of mich cows, she
roamed through southern Kentucky
and northern Tennessee. Wherever
good grazing could be found there she
would camp for an indefinite period.
Her wants were few and simple, and
were supplied by selling milk and but
ter. This life she led both winter
and summer. A perfect storehouse
Of information, yet she never referred
to her own life, and it vas with great
difficulty that this short sketch was
secured.
At the time Of her death she had
twenty mich COWS. These she had
MIXED up to the hour of her death.
Finding the grim monster reckoning,
she seated herself by the roadside,
leaned against a tree and was dead
when discovered. She kept her oath
made during the rebellion. For thir-
ty-threc years she never slept under a
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