Aaron was a trader who was constantly moving around a wide area of the Carolinas. He had bought a small cabin on the Haw River south of Hillsborough and soon established a travel route as far south as Savannah, with regular excursions into Indian territory. He rode mediocre mounts, followed by two to four tethered packhorses loaded with his merchandise of the moment. As everyone knew, he was always ready to trade any of the horses and even harnesses, as well as his constantly changing stock of goods. He liked to have one companion in his travels, usually a young man who helped him with his inventory so that Aaron could remain alert when moving along a trail that might be dangerous. Although mild-mannered, he was shrewd and resilient, and well able to protect himself. His services were appreciated among the white settlers’ isolated homesteads, and were even more valuable in the Cherokee and Creek villages. He offered one of the few alternatives to the official British traders, whose terms were relatively harsh and rigid and whose demeanor was usually humorless. Aaron was as fluent in the native languages as any white man and seemed to feel at home among the Indians when he came to visit.

One product that the trader distributed freely was information. He loved to talk and prided himself on staying abreast of current events along his trade route and also news available from the latest periodicals published in Charles Town and Savannah. Although there was little profit from it, Aaron went out of his way to stop by Elijah Clarke’s place whenever he was passing through. The big farmer would listen attentively to his every remark, ask endless questions, and then finally expound on whatever subject interested him most. He was harsh in his judgments, seldom failed to make a firm decision, and Hart would always leave the Clarke homestead with a renewed sense of his own self-importance and more certain of his opinions about complex issues. He was too malleable to take issue with Elijah, but mainly put forward contrary opinions by quoting others and then waiting to see what the farmer’s reaction would be.

There were two issues on which he had to be very careful. One was how to accommodate Clarke’s illiteracy without embarrassing him. The other was their sharp differences concerning Indians, who, in this cabin, were always called “savages” or worse. Aaron respected the natives whom he knew, trusted them more than he did most of his white customers, and usually remained mute or noncommittal when Elijah was attributing to them the characteristics of animals or vipers. He would never have admitted how much he enjoyed having sex with their women, and certainly not with one woman with whom he stayed several days at the end of each of his forays into northwest Georgia, despite the fact that he was married. She had already borne one of his children, and was pregnant again.