John Hart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named John Hart, see John Hart (disambiguation).

John Hart

John Hart (about 1711 or 1713–May 11, 1779), was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New Jersey.

[edit] Personal life

John Hart, signer, was born in around 1711 or 1713. He was the son of Edward Hart, a Justice of the Peace, public assessor, and farmer. John Hart, signer, was the grandson of John Hart, a carpenter who came to Hopewell from Newtown, Long Island. An ancestor of John Hart also named Edward was the clerk for the town of Flushing on Long Island. On December 27, 1657 he authored the Flushing Remonstrance a noted document of historical worth, considered the first expression of religious freedom in America. John was born in Hopewell Township, New Jersey in what was then Baptist Meeting House, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. His father was Edward Hart, who had led a militia unit in the French and Indian War. By 1739 John had acquired his own farm, near Hopewell and that year he married Deborah Scudder. The couple would have 12 children before her death in October of 1778.

John Hart was not born, as has been mistakenly reported, in Stonington, CT. His father, Edward, had already moved to Hopewell township before he married his wife, who was from CT. He was a member of the Pennington Presybterian Church, but handed over property to the Baptists so they could build their church in Hopewell.

John and Deborah Hart had 13 children: Sarah, Jesse, Martha, Nathaniel, John, Susannah, Mary, Abagail, Edward, Scudder, Daniel and Deborah. One was not mentioned because he was loyal to the British, and was tarred and feathered. His name is unknown. Only Daniel and Deborah were still minor children during the war and at his death.

[edit] Political career

John was elected a Freeholder of Hunterdon County in 1750. He was first elected to the New Jersey colonial Assembly in 1761 and served there until it was dissolved in 1771. He was appointed to the local Committee of Safety and the Committee of Correspondence, and became a judge on the Court of Common Pleas. He was often called "Honest John".

When New Jersey formed a revolutionary assembly, or provincial Congress, he was elected to it in 1776, and served as its Vice President. In June 1776, the New Jersey delegation in the Continental Congress was opposed to independence. As a result, the entire delegation was replaced, and Hart was one of those selected. He joined the Continental Congress on June 22, 1776, in time to vote for and sign the Declaration of Independence.

He served only until August of that year, then was elected Speaker of the new Assembly of New Jersey. In December, 1776, the British forces came to Pennington, NJ, and raided Hart's home in Hopewell. They damaged his farm, but he escaped and had to hide in the Sourland Mountains a few winter days and nights, a hardship for an elderly man. His two minor children went to nearby family members. His wife had died in October before the British invasion. In August of 1776, New Jersey elected a General Assembly under their new state constitution. Hart was returned to that body, and served as the Speaker of the Assembly until 1778. He was a member of the Council of Safety, given extraordinary powers to run the state during emergencies. He died at home of kidney stones, ("the gravel"), on Tuesday, May 11th 1779, age 66 and is now buried in the First Baptist Church Cemetery in Hopewell, New Jersey.

On May 19, 1779, The New Jersey Gazette said: On Tuesday the 11th instant, departed this life at his seat in Hopewell, JOHN HART, Esq. the Representative in General Assembly for the county of Hunterdon, and late Speaker of that House. He had served in the Assembly for many years under the former government, taken an early and active part in the present revolution, and continued to the day he was seized with his last illness to discharge the duties of a faithful and upright patriot in the service of his country in general and the county he represented in particular . The universal approbation of his character and conduct among all ranks of people, is the best testimony of his worth, and as it must make his death regretted and lamented, will ensure lasting respect to his memory.