FIRST HART FAMILIES TO AMERICA By Roger A. Hart While searching for the ancestry of my third great-grandfather, Reuben Hart, I discovered many Harts who made the perilous journey to America. None walked; by that I mean that none of our Hart ancestors came from Mexico, South America, Canada, or Alaska. They left from England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany, seeking a new life for themselves and their families. There were many reasons to cross that dangerous Atlantic, but two seem to top the charts. The most obvious was to escape the religious persecution that was in full force in England and on the Continent. Forced membership in the Church of England did not work for the Quakers who had a different style of worship, and they chose to leave rather than comply. Secondly, the promise of vast new lands in America was irresistible to many who would not inherit the family farm and who had little chance of ever buying their own small piece of England or Ireland. During the 1600s and 1700s ships were crossing the Atlantic packed with these pilgrims looking for a better life than the one they left. Reaching into the unknown without money or promise must have been very intimidating, yet the situation they were leaving must have been even more intolerable, or they would not have left in such numbers. I have catalogued below the first few of these Hart families who reached our shores. There are probably many that I did not find, but these seem to be the main families who brought our Hart genes to America. These arriving Hart families were not related in the sense that they were brothers or cousins. They probably sprung from the same stock within the one hundred or so years preceding their immigration, but as far as they were concerned, they were totally unrelated. I will try to cover the most important of these families. The first to arrive in Surry County, Virginia, Henry Hart was born in England about 1595, and was probably the first of the many Immigrant Harts to arrive in America. Not much has been found about him until he patented land in Surry in 16353, although there was a Henry Hart who appeared in the General Court minutes of Virginia in 1627. Historian John Bennett Boddie wrote that the average land patent for transportation of persons was usually granted several years after the persons came to Virginia. Therefore, we believe that the two Henry’s were the same person, and that he arrived in America several years before the date of his first land patent on August 31, 1635. Henry had two wives; the first was Rebecca, whom he supposedly married on the same day that he patented 350 acres “on the south side of the maine river, over against Jamestown Island”. (Since there are several rivers which converge around the present site of Norfolk and none of them are named the Maine, I believe this was the James River which was considered the “main” river of the group. It also flows right by Jamestown). The date was August 31, 1635. Rebecca must have died early, because he patented 250 acres in James City, on the Surry side, “for the transportation of wife Elizabeth and 4 other persons”. His marriage to Elizabeth is shown as July 14, 1637. I show Henry with one son, Thomas, from first wife Rebecca. I show no children of the second marriage. Henry died before July 3, 1648, because on that date “Thomas Hart, son of Henry Hart, deceased, was granted 100 acres at Smith’s Fort”. The first of the Hart name to arrive in New England appears to have been Edmund. He was in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1630. He later moved to Weymouth, Massachusetts, had six daughters and one son, Elisha. His wife was a Phelps. He apparently moved to Westfield, Massachusetts where he was killed by lightning. There was also an Ephraim Hart who was in Weymouth about the same time, and it is believed by some that they were brothers. Probably the most famous of the Hart immigrants is Deacon Stephen Hart.1 He was born in Braintree, England around 1605, into a family of Puritans. There are several conflicting reports of events, but I believe this to be as accurate as any. Stephen grew up in England under the rule of James I and Charles I. These Kings were trying to impose the Church of England upon their citizens, by force if necessary. The Puritans were under severe pressure to change and accept the teachings of this church. The Reverend Thomas Hooker had enrolled in the University at Cambridge about 1604, and by about 1614 had graduated and become assistant curate at the Puritan church in Chelmsford, which was the church of Stephen Hart. Reverend Hooker was a pious man and taught and lived the Puritan principles. In 1630, the Archbishop of the Church of England ordered his arrest, so Reverent Hooker fled to Holland with a small band of parishioners. Stephen Hart did not join that group, but the incident so unnerved the congregation that they decided to immigrate to New England in order to enjoy religious freedom. This group of dissidents received a charter from the crown and arrived in and settled the town of Braintree, Massachusetts in about 1632, only twelve years after the Mayflower had disembarked it’s passengers on Plymouth Rock. They soon moved to Newton, then on to Cambridge, Massachusetts and wrote to Reverend Hooker, inviting him to join them as the pastor of their new church. Reverend Hooker was in Cambridge before the end of 1632, and a very close, lifelong personal bond grew between him and Stephen. During the time they were in Cambridge, Stephen was admitted as a freeman on May 14, 1634, and became Deacon Stephen Hart at the invitation of Reverend Hooker. Although things were much better in America, there was still a great deal of religious bigotry in Massachusetts, so leaders of the “Movement to banish aristocracy in America”, decided to move to the Connecticut valley to establish a new democratic state. Before the move, Reverend Hooker preached a very moving sermon to his people, which outlined the principles of democracy. These became the founding principles of the constitution of Connecticut, and are also the basic principles underlying our own constitution. First: The foundation of authority is laid in the consent of the governed. Second: The choice of the magistrates belongs to the people. Third: Those who have the power to appoint officers, have also the right to set bounds to their authority. These hardy pioneers loaded their household goods on wagons, drove their livestock behind, and, with wives and children in tow, made the two-week long pilgrimage to the Connecticut River. Here they set up camp until a way to cross the mighty river was found. Tradition has it that Deacon Stephen explored up and down the river until a shallow, narrow crossing was found. It was also in a fertile valley, so they decided to build their town there, and called the crossing “Hart’s Ford”. It has changed over time to Hartford, Connecticut. Stephen Hart researchers now declare that this was not the way Hartford got its name, but rather from the town of Hertford in England where Thomas Stone, Reverend Hooker’s assistant, had previously lived. Subsequently, this small, fiercely democratic colony discovered the Farmington river valley, then inhabited by the Tuxnis Indians. This was a very fertile area, probably waving then with Indian corn, and was much coveted by these farmers. They made agreements to co-exist with the Indians, and soon large farms were producing many food crops for household use, as well as for bartering and sale. Hart’s farm was one of the first purchased, and is still known to this day as Hart’s Farm, near the present town of Avon, Connecticut. Deacon Stephen was very active in the government of Connecticut, as an elected representative. He held this office from about 1647 until 1655, then again in 1660. He combined this with his occupation as farmer throughout his life, and died in 1682 at the age of seventy-seven years. He had six children, three daughters and three sons with his first wife, whose name has not survived. When she died, he married Margaret Smith, widow of Arthur Smith. She survived him and died in 1693. Descendents of Deacon Stephen Hart living in America today number in the hundreds of thousands if not over a million, so I believe that his descendents have been more prolific than that of any of the other Hart immigrants of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Many believe that he is the ancestor of John Hart, signer of the Declaration of Independence, but that is not true. John Hart, the signer is from another Hart family who a completely different route before settling in New Jersey. Probably the next to visit these shores was Isaac Hart, born in Scratby, Norfolkshire, England. His birth is recorded as about 1614. He left from Yarmouth, England as a servant for a Richard Carvey of Scratby, on the ship “Rose” under the master, Captain Anderson. Their arrival in New England came only sixteen years after the Mayflower arrived in 1620, so they reached America sometime late in 1636. How long he remained as a servant is not known, but by 1642 he bought an acre of land in Watertown, Massachusetts and built a cottage there. In 1650, he married Elizabeth Hutchins at Habstown, Massachusetts, daughter of Anne Hutchins. Isaac sold his acre and purchased a 170 acre farm from Thomas Hutchinson in Reading, Massachusetts. Isaac became a soldier in “King Phillip’s War” and served during 1675-1676 before returning home. Elizabeth was accused of witchcraft and sent to prison in Boston on May 18, 1692, and remained there for several months. She was finally tried along with the many others who were caught up in the hysteria of the incident. Several were put to death, while others died in prison, awaiting execution, but Elizabeth’s name does not appear on either list. No information has been found as to her ultimate fate. While some of the descendants of Isaac and Elizabeth Hart stayed in Massachusetts, many of them moved up into Canada along the St. John’s River in New Brunswick and in Nova Scotia. There were a lot of them who became ministers in the Baptist faith. John Hart, great-grandfather of John Hart, the Signer,2 was born in England around 1595 or 1600. He migrated to New England in 1635, then moved on to Connecticut where his five children were born to his wife Mary. (Other researchers believe that his family was complete before he left England). He moved across Long Island Sound to Newton, Long Island, New York and was a carpenter. He died there in 1671. His son, John Hart, moved to Hopewell, New Jersey with his five sons. In New Jersey, John's son, Edward Hart, was a farmer, as well as a justice of the peace, public assessor, and held many offices in the community of Hopewell, then called Baptist Meeting House because of the church there. Edward’s son John was born in Hopewell in 1713 and grew to manhood there, getting as much schooling as was the norm at that time. Young John married Deborah Scudder in 1739 and they had a total of twelve children before 1765. John was active in the politics of his area and was elected to several positions which elevated his status to that of “gentleman”, and he was called John Hart, Esquire. In 1761 he was elected to the New Jersey Provisional Assembly, and in May of 1776 was re-elected to another term on the Continental Congress and became one of five delegates with authority to vote for Independence. On July 4, 1776, he signed the Declaration of Independence. His wife, Deborah died soon after and his children were scattered by the ravages of the war. John died in debt, a man broken by society, on May 11, 1779 at his home in Hopewell. He was a patriot of his new country until his death, and had been forced to choose between the needs of his family and the needs of his new country. He chose the latter. The next few immigrants are hard to catalog. There seems to have been several arriving within a few years, with little or no apparent connection. John Hart first came to Massachusetts in 1632, but soon returned to England. He immigrated again on the “James” in July of 1635, bringing with him his wife Mary, and their daughter Judith. He was a shoemaker and lived in Salem, Massachusetts, then moved on to Marblehead. His second wife was Florence Norman (?) who survived him. Next to arrive was Isaac Hart in 1637. He came from Yarmouth, England to Watertown, then later to Lynn, and on to Reading, all in Massachusetts. His three children were identified, but not his wife. Then Samuel Hartt arrived in 1640 in Lynn, Massachusetts. Although the spelling of the name is different, he is believed to be of the Devonshire branch of the family. Samuel had ten children between his two wives, Mary Howe and Mary Whiteridge. Next to arrive was Thomas Hart and wife Alice who came to Ipswich, Mass. They were in Ipswich prior to 1641 and had at least four children. Some believe that this is the same Thomas who was at New Haven, Connecticut in 1645, and later at Newport, R.I. That Thomas married Freeborn Williams and had three children. Others believe that they are two separate Thomas’s living in the colonies at the same time. Lawrence Hart was at Newbury before 1679, because in that year he married Dorothy Jones. All we know of them is that they had seven children. This diverse group of pioneers seems to have little in common, yet they settled within a few miles of each other during the span of a few years. There must be a common bond of some sort to this group, but so far it has eluded us. Following that is a group of un-connected Harts into the colony at Virginia. These are mentioned in various sources, and I will list them with the only known information. * Captain Hart & Josiah Hart, Virginia census in 1624, living in Jamestown. * John Hart, 33 years old, transported to Virginia on the “Phillip”, 20 June 1635. * Thomas Hart, 18 years old, transported to Virginia on the “Constance” 24 Oct 1635. * Samuel Hart, 1652 Virginia. Tobacco seized on the vessel “Golden Lion”, on the Charles River. * Robert Hart, 5 July 1665, Quaker condemned to be transported to “the Plantations”. * Richard Hart, apprenticed in Bristol, England for five years in Virginia to William Coleburne, 12 Nov 1666. * Edward & Thomas Hart, apprenticed in Bristol, England for five years in Virginia to Elizabeth Day, 10 Sept 1669. * William Hart, apprenticed in Bristol, England for seven years in Virginia to Thomas Peasley, 11 November 1667. Jane Windsor is apprenticed to Nicholas Hart in Virginia, 4 October 1672. John Hart was born in Witney, Oxfordshire, England, on Nov 16, 1651. His parents were Christopher and Mary (Bleckley) Hart, and he had an older brother Robert, a sister Mary, and a younger brother Joseph. These were Quakers, members of the Society of Friends, and were also suffering religious intolerance at the hands of the Church of England. John was engaged to Susanna Rush, a member of his congregation, and their wedding date had been set. This was quite a procedure in the Quakers, so making or breaking an engagement was very serious and could be the cause for excommunication from the church. Before the time of the wedding, in 1681, William Penn published his startling approach to government; shared ownership of the colony of Pennsylvania. John was hooked and met with Penn to purchase 1000 acres of land in Byberry, in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. John had to postpone his wedding to Susannah, and prepared to sail for Pennsylvania. He knew that his elder brother would inherit the family property in England, so there was no reason for him to stay. His sister Mary, and brother Joseph, decided to accompany him, so they left England behind and arrived in Pennsylvania sometime late in 1682. John had managed to prepare and settle on five-hundred acres of the land by the time Susanna and her family arrived the next year, and they were married Sept 16, 1683. Shortly after John’s marriage, Joseph married Ann Fowler Dec 25, 1683, and the newlyweds moved to Jamaica where Joseph went into business. I don’t know when Ann died, but Joseph died unmarried in Jamaica. John and his family were dedicated “Friends”, and were active in the faith, but in 1691 a man named Keith drove a schism in the orderly business of the group, and most of them spun off and became Baptists. John and his sons became ministers in the Baptist faith and helped to establish that religion firmly in the colony of Pennsylvania. There were many distinguished ministers and public officials descended from this branch of the family. Another of the Harts to settle in Virginia and be traced was Thomas Hart from London. He arrived in Hanover County in 1690. He was born about 1662, and his wife was named Mary. Not much else was known about them. His son, Thomas Junior, married Susanna Rice, and had six children. Theirs is a large family in America today, and considerable genealogical information is available on them. Among the children of Thomas Junior was Benjamin Hart. He married a woman named Nancy Morgan who was a heroine of the revolutionary war. Hart County in Georgia is named for her, as is a highway, a city and a state park. Many of you have heard of the man who had to take his wife with him everywhere he went because she was too ugly to kiss goodbye. Nancy Morgan was the poster child for that story. She was about six feet tall and muscular, with smallpox scars on her face, flaming red hair and freckles, with eyes that crossed frequently. She also had a very salty vocabulary that she used like a whip. She called her skinny husband a “sorry old stick”, and she towered over him by several inches. Even the nearby Indians called her “The War Woman” out of respect and fear. There are numerous versions of the stories told about her fearlessness in dealing with the enemy, and her role during the revolutionary war has become legendary. In a well-known incident, she detained five Tory soldiers at her log cabin, under the guise of cooking them a meal. When she had won the soldiers' confidence with food and liquor, she began to disarm them, passing their muskets stealthily to her daughter, Sukey. A soldier caught her stealing his musket so Nancy shot him, and then held the others captive until her husband's band of militia could arrive. Nancy urged the militia to hang the captives, claiming that these soldiers were responsible for the ambush and murder of John Dooly, a celebrated patriot and neighbor. According to the legend, Nancy sang "Yankee Doodle" as she marched the soldiers out to be hanged. Recent digs around her cabin reportedly uncovered five skeletons. Nancy also spied on enemy troops. In one case, she fashioned a raft by tying logs together with a grapevine. Then she rafted across a river to reach a Tory camp and bring back news about troop numbers and weapons. In another tale, she pretended she was deranged so she could roam through the enemy ranks, picking up information. In this instance she dressed and acted like a half-witted man, engaging the soldiers in conversation and acting crazy. They would carry on their own conversations around her, frequently divulging information she could take back to the militia. Three other sons of Thomas Junior and Susannah (Rice) Hart distinguished themselves in another way. Nathaniel, Thomas and David Hart are the ones mentioned earlier that formed the Transylvania Company4 with Daniel Boone and others, and bought large tracts of land from the Indians. The last of the early Hart settlers arrived in Pennsylvania about 1735, from the city of Belfast, in County Antrim, Ireland. Samuel Hart brought his wife Mary and nine children, and settled on the Plumstead side of the Tohikon River. Just what date and on what ship they originally entered America has not been established, but the land warrant for their 100 acres of land is dated March 9, 1737. Generally, immigrants lived on leased land for a few years before making a purchase, so we believe they were here at least two years prior to that date. This group of immigrants settled on the opposite bank of the river, and, “just down the street”, from the John Hart family from England, but was no relation at all. The Samuel Harts were Scotch-Irish from Belfast, Ireland, and were Presbyterians. The John Harts were Quakers, turned Baptist’s from Oxfordshire, England, yet they lived within a few miles of each other. Their families did not intermarry, mainly due to religious and cultural differences, but the Samuel Hart descendants did marry each other, providing many double cousin relationships. This is the list of the known early Hart immigrants to this country. After this date, the floodgates of immigration were thrown open, and many thousands of people arrived each year from England and Ireland. I do believe that the majority of Hart families in America can trace their roots to one of the families listed above. I recently took the DNA test to prove my own relationship to one of these immigrants. That test proved that my own ancestor, Reuben Hart, b ca1780 in North Carolina, is not related to any of the above families. The only proven relationship for Reuben is with Samuel Hart of Chatham County, North Carolina, who received two substantial land grants in Washington County, Georgia and moved there before 1800. Reuben also appeared in the same small community of Tennille in Washington County around 1800, so we are reasonably sure of the connection but have not proven what the relationship actually was. These new Americans were fiercely independent explorers, willing to take a chance on the unknown and unproven. They took this chance in order to give their families the religious and personal freedoms we take for granted, and made our comfortable existence possible. We owe them our very lives. Copyright © 2002 Gilbert, Arizona Rahart3@cox.net Updated 10/25/2007 3 Southside Virginia Families, Volume II. By John Bennett Boddie 1 Deacon Stephen Hart. Several Internet articles. 2 Internet biographies of John Hart, the Signer. 4 Transylvania Company. Several articles on the Internet. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 1