Ossian B. Hart

Ossian Bingley Hart (born January 17, 1821 in Jacksonville , Florida , † March 18, 1874 ibid) was an American lawyer and politician and from 1873 to 1874 the tenth governor of the state of Florida.

Early years and political advancement

Ossian Hart grew up on his parents' plantation on the St. Johns River . He attended schools in Jacksonville, but also in Washington, DC After studying law, he was admitted to the Florida bar. His political career began in 1844 with his election to the Florida Territory House of Representatives . Hart was one of the slave owners in Florida, but he was a staunch supporter of the Union and against all secession plans . With this attitude he had an increasingly difficult position in Florida, especially during the Civil War .

Florida governor

After the war, Hart became a member of the Republican Party . He tried to help rebuild the state. Under the provisions of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, he was charged with overseeing the elections and restoring the administration. From 1868 he was a judge at the state's Supreme Court . He held this position until 1873. He had now been nominated as a Republican candidate for the 1872 gubernatorial election. After the successful election he took up his new office on January 7, 1873 as the successor to Harrison Reed .

During his tenure, the state's budgetary position improved mainly because the governor sold government bonds and thus brought money into the state treasury. In addition, a first, but not yet sufficient, civil rights law was passed. But Hart didn't have time for further political reforms. He contracted pneumonia, which he died of on March 18, 1874. His tenure was ended by his lieutenant governor Marcellus Stearns . Ossian Hart was married to Catherine Smith Campbell, with whom he had two children.

Web links

• Ossian Hart in the National Governors Association (English)
• Florida Governors' Portraits (English)
• Ossian B. Hart in the database of Find a Grave (English)