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JOHN HART

JOHN HART, president of the Doylestown Trust Company, and his brother Frank Hart, of Doylestown, retired banker, are the sons of Josiah and Sarah (Brock) Hart. The former was born in Doylestown township, February 3, 1846, and the latter February 24, 1851. On the paternal side they are of Scotch-Irish descent.

Among the thousands of Ulster Scots who migrated to Pennsylvania in the first half of the eighteenth century were those who formed two distinct settlements within the present limits of Bucks county, one on the banks of the Neshaminy in Warwick, Warrington and New Britain, and the other on the banks of the Tohickon in Plumstead, Tinicum and adjacent townships. In the latter settlements were the Stewarts, Harts, Means, McGlaughlins, Pattersons, Armstrongs, Erwins, Davies and a host of others, more or less united by ties, consanguinity, and common interest, whose names are found on the earliest lists of military companies organized for the defense of the frontiers against their hereditary enemies, the French and their savage allies.

Among these early settlers on the Plumstead side of the Tohickon about 1735, was Samuel Hart and his family, consisting of wife and nine children, the eldest of whom, James, was born in the year 1717, and the second son William was probably three or more years younger. Samuel Hart obtained a warrant of survey for 100 acres of land on March 9, 1737, and settled thereon. Ten years later in 1747 when the first clouds of war appeared on the horizon, companies were formed in the several townships for the defense of the frontiers. The Plumstead company had for its captain the veteran Charles Stewart, lieutenant, James Hart, and ensign, William Hart, both of the latter being ancestors of the subjects of this sketch through the marriage of a grandson of the latter with a granddaughter of the former many years later. Across the Tohickon in Tinicum the captain of the company was James McGlaughlin, who had married Mary, the eldest sister of the Hart brothers, and the lieutenant was James Davies, whose son William was a brother-in-law to them, all three having married daughters of William Means or Main, a neighbor and compatriot. Samuel Hart, the elder, died in April, 1750, devising his plantation to his sons James and William. His other children than the three above mentioned were: Joseph, John, Jean, who married Samuel Mathers and removed to North Carolina, Elinor, Samuel and Elizabeth.

James Hart, born 1717, died May 4, 1766, was an innkeeper in Plumstead, near Wismer, where he had purchased a tract of about 400 acres of land in 1751 adjoining the plantation of his father. He married Jean, daughter of William and Mary Means, and their children were: Samuel, born August 30, 1746, died January 21, 1831, unmarried. William, born March 24, 1748, died January 2, 1830, married Elizabeth Means, his cousin. John, born March 24, 1748, died February 24, 1803, married Mary McCalla. Elizabeth, born February 13, 1750, died in infancy. Mary, born January 15, 1752, married James Ruckman. James, born December 27, 1753, died young. Joseph, born February 16, 1755, married Elinor Wilson and removed to New Jersey. Elizabeth, born February 28, 1757, married John Johnston and removed to New Jersey. James, born March 17, 1759, married Ann Hankinson, removed to New Jersey. Solomon, born August 30, 1762, died April 27, 1810, married Isabel Long, daughter of Captain Andrew Long, of Warrington, and settled in Warrington. Jane, born August 4, 1765, married Samuel Opdycke, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey. Jean (Means) Hart was born August 30, 1726, and died January 31, 1799.

William Hart, second son of James and Jean Hart, married in 1776 his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of John and Grizelda (Patterson) Means. He purchased in 1783 of his brothers and sisters the whole of his father’s plantation in Plumstead, but a few years later removed to Hartsville, then known as "Warwick Cross Roads" and purchased the old tavern property, where he served as "mine host" for many years. He died January 2, 1830, and his widow died January 10, 1841. She was born March 15, 1753. Their children were: Jane, born June 28, 1779, married Joseph Carr, of Warwick. John, born December 17, 1780, died January 27, 1811. Mary, born February 19, 1783, married Samuel Hart, son of Joseph Hart, January 6, 1806. James, born March 6, 1785, married Jane Baird, of Warwick. Grizelda, born March 19, 1787, never married, died October 5, 1868. William, born January 4, 1789, married Martha Carr, daughter of Adam and Frances Carr, of Warwick. Joseph, born November 9, 1790, died 1872, unmarried. Elizabeth, born April 14, 1794, married her cousin William Hart, son of John and Mary Hart. William Hart, father of the above children, was commissioned major of second battalion of Bucks county militia, May 6, 1777, and rose to rank of colonel. Both James and William Hart, the two eldest sons of Samuel, the pioneer, died comparatively young, whether in the service of their country or not is not known.

Of the children of William and Margaret (Means) Hart we have record of but one, Joseph Hart, born November 20, 1745, died August 31, 1797. His mother, Margaret (Means) Hart, married a Beatty. His early manhood was spent in the neighborhood of Hartsville. He was a member of the Associated Company of Warminster in 1775, was commissioned a captain, May 6, 1777, and rose to the rank of colonel of militia. He married, January 1, 1770, Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas and Esther (Craven) Gilbert of Warminster. She was born July 9, 1748, and died January 26, 1841. In 1772 the 173 acre farm of which Nicholas Gilbert died seized in Warminster on the Street road and Warrington line was adjudged to Joseph Hart in right of his wife Elizabeth and they settled thereon. Joseph Hart later sold the Warminster farm and removed to the mill on the York road in Warwick, near Hartsville, now owned by John M. Darrah, where he died August 31, 1797. His children were: Josiah, born October 15, 1770, died May 20, 1850, unmarried. Levi, born August 16, 1773, died young. Mahlon, born March 11, 1775, died young. Elizabeth, born November 2, 1777, married first Jonathan Conrad, second Samuel Croasdale. Samuel, born November 1, 1783, died November 25, 1863, married first Mary, daughter of William and Elizabeth Hart, born February 19, 1783, died February 28, 1828.

Samuel Hart, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was but fourteen years of age at the death of his father, and Robert Loller, Esq., of Hatboro, was appointed his guardian, took him to his home and superintended his education. He studied surveying and conveyancing and assisted his guardian in these pursuits, and at the death of the latter succeeded to his business and was employed in settling a number of estates. He was for many years a justice of peace and surveyor. He married, January 6, 1806, Mary, daughter of Colonel William and Elizabeth (Means) Hart, and had by her seven children as follows: Mary, born October 9, 1808, married June 17, 1834, William C. Jamison, of Warwick. Elizabeth, born January 22, 1810, died unmarried. Josiah, born September 15, 1811, died 1898, married November 24, 1842, Sarah Brock. William, born August 24, 1813, married April 19, 1844, Isabella Mann. He died February 25, 1867. Irwin, born December 9, 1815, died young. George, born April 4, 1817, died February 7, 1871. Nathaniel, born October 15, 1819, died November 14, 1862, married December 10, 1843, Susan L. Cox. Samuel Hart was a member of Neshaminy Presbyterian church, of which he was trustee for thirteen years—1810 to 1823. In 1829 he joined the Society of Friends. He married Amy, widow of John Mathews, and daughter of Benjamin Kinsey, of Buckingham. His only child by the second marriage was Samuel Hart, of Doylestown township, born in 1832, married Ellen Eastburn.

George Hart, son of Samuel and Mary Hart, studied law and was admitted to the Bucks county bar November 16, 1843. He was a man universally admired and respected for his many good qualities. He was thrice married; (first) February 1, 1842, to Zallida, daughter of James and Amelia (Brockway) Goff; (second) January 22, 1846, to Sarah, daughter of Nathan and Sarah (Callender) Cornell; and (third) February 1, 1854, to Martha, daughter of John and Martha (Duncan) Watson, a sister to Judge Richard Watson.

Josiah Hart, son of Samuel and Mary Hart, was born in Warwick township, September 15, 1811. He received a liberal education and on June 18, 1834, was appointed clerk in the Doylestown Bank and December 8, 1847, was promoted to the position of cashier, which position he filled for ten years, being succeeded by John J. Brock, November 19, 1857. In the following year he organized a banking institution in connection with his brother, George Hart, Richard Watson, Willam M. Large and Jonas Fretz, under the name of J. Hart & Co. During the civil war Messrs. Fretz, Large and Watson retired, and after the death of George Hart, John and Frank Hart became partners with their father and sole proprietors of the bank. Josiah Hart died October 16, 1885, and the sons continued the business until 1896, when the business was closed out. Josiah Hart married, November 24, 1842, Sarah, Daughter of Stephen and Mary (Jones) Brock. John and Frank were their only children. On the organization of the Doylestown Trust Company, March 24, 1896. John Hart became its president. Both John and Frank Hart received a liberal education and early in life became clerks in their father’s bank and later proprietors as above stated. At the closing of the bank Frank retired from active business. John married Grace Vansant, and has one child, Rebie. Frank married Lizzie Pallett, who is now deceased, and he has one son George.

Text taken from page 318-319

Davis, William W. H., A. M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III