John Hart (politician, around 1713)
John Hart (born around 1713 in Stonington , Colony of Connecticut , Kingdom of Great Britain ; † May 11, 1779 in Hopewell , New Jersey , USA) was a British farmer and politician. He signed the United States 'Declaration of Independence for New Jersey , making him one of the United States' founding fathers .
Life
Soon after he was born, his parents moved from Stonington to Hopewell Township, New Jersey . His father Edward Hart had led a militia unit in the French and Indian War. In 1739 John Hart owned his own farm near Hopewell, New Jersey, and married Deborah Scudder the following year. The couple had 13 children before she died in 1778.
Hart was elected a freeholder of Hunterdon County in 1750 . He was first elected to the New Jersey colonial parliament in 1761 and remained there until it was dissolved in 1771. He was appointed to the local security committee and the correspondence committee and became a judge at the General Court of Appeals.
When New Jersey formed an independent parliament or provincial congress, he was elected in 1776 and served as its vice-president. In June 1776 the delegation from New Jersey spoke out against independence in the Continental Congress . As a result, the entire delegation was replaced and Hart became one of the new delegates. He was a member of the Continental Congress from June 22, 1776, just in time to vote for and sign the US Declaration of Independence. He only stayed in Congress until August of that year.
In August 1776, New Jersey elected a general parliament with a new state constitution. Hart returned there and served as speaker of parliament until 1778. During the parliamentary assembly in autumn 1776, his farm and mill were burned down by Hessian troops . He was forced to hide in the woods and in caves. When George Washington won the Battle of Princeton in 1777 , Hart returned home, but his health was irreparably damaged. He died at home of kidney failure and was buried in the First Baptist Church cemetery in Hopewell, New Jersey.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hard, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British farmer and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1713 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stonington , Colony of Connecticut , UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 11, 1779 |
| Place of death | Hopewell , New Jersey , USA |