The Hart News

Volume 1, Issue 2 February 2000

The Top ‘O the Morning and a happy St. Patrick’s Day to all the descendants of the Patrick and Mary Moffet Hart family. Patrick and Mary say thanks for remembering them and straightening their gravestone. It's evident that things are going well down on earth. They're putting in a good word for each of us up from above.

As we review the history of the Hart family in Milan township, we know that Patrick Hart first bought land in Milan township around 1864. As you drive down Shabbona road, south of Perry road, you can see the farmstead with " Hart Homestead 1864" painted on the barn. The present owners of the buildings have done a great job maintaining them and take pride in keeping them looking as they do. According to Jim Hart (son of Francis and Kit), Patrick built a small cabin-like dwelling to live in when he first lived on the land. The cabin was east of the present farmstead on high ground. His son Christopher later lived in the house we see there today. Christopher's son, Grover, later operated and lived on the farm with his wife Kathryn. Members of Grover and Kathryn's family still own the original Hart Farm.

Later, Patrick bought 160 acres directly East of the original farm. His son Thomas E. Hart, who is my grandfather, lived there. The farm where I grew up is just south of where Thomas E. Hart called home. In case you are confused as to who I am, I am Bob Hart, son of Charles C. and Elizabeth Hart. Eugene Hart and Mary Nolan are my brother and sister. Gene and Veronica Hart & their son Chuck and his family, live on and operate the land today.

One of the subjects of our first newsletter and reunion was Patrick and Mary's tombstone. You remember it was leaning badly and the lettering was barely visible. As our new picture shows, the task has been completed, thanks to Jerry and Edie Hart and their committee. The stone has been re-lettered and straightened and should be serving another 100 years. Stop by St. Patricks cemetery and see for yourselves. Thanks to the generosity of everybody, all expenses were covered for the grave marker and reunion. There is currently a savings account at Resource Bank in Malta called "Hart Reunion Fund." The $223.00 balance will go toward future expenses. Visit it at HartSav.com (Just kidding).

Thanks to the current descendants of the Francis (Frank) P. Hart family, we had a very successful reunion at St. Patrick’s in Rochelle on September 12, 1999. Almost 200 family members attended and although we accomplished a great deal, many felt there wasn't enough time to get acquainted.

A special thanks to Rita Friestad , who gathered a few of the committee members together and talked about how to proceed. The consensus is that we hold another reunion this year, details are given below. We will follow the same format, but allow more time to reminisce and answer questions. We will drop a card to some of the older family members closer to the time and ask them to spread the word.

One question following the 1999 reunion came from members of the younger generation. They wanted to know more about how the Harts happened to migrate from Ireland to Duchess County New York. In the first "Hart Newsletter" Mary Rita Fnestad Nelson very capably touched on this subject. Perhaps in review we can say that: 1) poverty was rampant in Ireland in the days of the potato famine, 2) people heard of the glorious opportunities in America, and 3) many were farmers and heard of the chance to buy or homestead land in America.

As Mary Nelson pointed out, in 1770 a Philip Hart (relationship not know) came to Duchess County, New York and formed an area called Hart Village, now known as Millbrook. Apparently, Philip started a milling company. In 1876 many of his relatives still resided there. It's easy to imagine that this was an incentive for later generations to migrate to that area.

When: Sunday, September 10, 2000

Where: St. James Church, Lee IL

Time: A special Mass will be said for family members living and deceased at 11:00 A.M.

Activities: Lunch at the parish center immediately after mass

After eating we will allow time for visiting. If there is a favorite family story from the past that has been passed down from generation to generation, come prepared to share it with us. Jack and Ann Hart, entrepreneurs in the field of carriage rides, have indicated they will have carriage rides available. The cemetery is close so a visit would be possible if desired.

We're open to suggestions as to what else you would like added to the gathering. Bring your thoughts on when and how often you might like to gather again. Plan to bring a dish to pass, as we did last time. Meat, coffee, drinks, and table service will be supplied.

In October 1999, Ed and Rita Friestad visited Ireland. Rita states that they visited with a few cousins there. Their names are Bridget Keating and Mary and Jack Hussey (cousins on the Mary Gannon side the family). Corner Rita at the reunion in September to learn more about their trip.

Someone was once cleaning house when a Bible was thrown into the junk pile. A while later someone else saw the Bible lying in the dirt and junk. Upon examining it they noticed it contained Hart history and thought this might be of value to Mamie Hart. it was given to her. She kept it for a while and decided that it really belonged to Gene, Mary and Bob Hart because it was a~ their family. The Bible changed hands again this time going to Gene Hart. Gene had always known that there were Hart

who were brothers of his father. They had died young but where were they? No one knew. After looking at the dates of the 0 births in the family we thought we knew where they fit in the family lineup. One day Gene called to say their names were Fr and William and they died in 1880.

One day it was snowy and gloomy out so I asked Bob if we could go to the DeKalb library to look at cemetery records. Alter an hour and a half of research my heart quickened. Was it atrial fibrillation or had I stumbled on the answer? There in the oldest l of the cemetery were the names Frankie and Willie. One had died in 1880. That was too much of a coincidence. In who's were they interred? Upon examination a Catherine Maley was buried near them. Now Catherine Maley was Frankie and Will] grandmother! It seemed that the infinite power who rules the world had decided that Frankie and Willie had been lost for too long. Now was their time to be found.

The rest of the story is filling in the blanks. It seems reasonable that when Frankie and Willie died the parents had no grave but the grandparents did. Who better to entrust Frankie and Willie to but their grandmother. She would look after them in Heaven and lying close to their graves was appropriate too.

It has been suggested that we compile a Hart cookbook. The success of such a venture depends on how many recipes are contributed. If we have more than 50 recipes, we will go to press. If you are interested in doing this, send your favorite recipes to Gerry Hart, 19387 Tower Road, Rochelle, W 61068. The completed books would be available at the next reunion on September 10, 2000. The deadline for sending recipes is July 31,2000.